It is an honor to represent my state. Southeast missouri is a predominantly rural area. We are at the foothills of the mountains. It is the mouth of the delta that runs through the Mississippi River and all the lush farms are in the state of arkansas. My husband and i are broadband,ation cable tv and phone supplier. Rightvice five counties at the cusp of the. You serve about five counties. In what way . Patricia broadband, video and phone provider. Peter just like and how many customers do you have . Hadicia last check we 4258. With can you make money 4200 58 customers in the broadband industry . Patricia absolutely, you can. I have no middleman. Shallow bench. First string players. My husband and i built this company ourselves. We are firstgeneration providers. We had been in the underground Construction Business for about 18 years and then we had the opportunity to buy home in rural Butler County where we were born and raised in we had no video. Thought, around and how can we get video to our house . We decided to build our own and we started that singularly as a video provider in 1992. Then we marched into broadband and Internet Service and then fullservice. Peter patty boyers, when you look at the economies of scale, are your costs higher than at trinitys costs higher than xfinitys costs per customer . Patricia absolutely. It costs more for programming, for broadband. When he think of in terms of x amount of dollars per mile for a charter or comcast, they might might00 or 300 homes they test in that mile or Apartment Building setting or metropolitan area. Homes per to have 35 cast. It costs us more for broadcast stations in the district. It is a different story for the rural provider. About when you think legislative and regulatory issues, what are your big concerns . What is helpful and what is harmful to you . Patricia what is helpful to me is organizations like the intervening organizations and we belong to. Their are a litany of others that are probably just as effective. The aca has adopted over the last 20 years. West thing for us is operate lean and mean. We understand our business. We understand our communities and the customers that we serve, and in order for us to do that, the best way for us is for government to get out of my way and let me run my business the i do. Peter do you find that washington gets in your way . Patricia oh my gosh. How much time you got. , peter . [laughter] we have office space, and in our office building, not always do you have a irs and all the Public Service commissions, but , and they arecc always trying to somebody once a piece of something. There is regulatory. Resources. We deal with the department of conservation. We border the ozark nation. We have to count on their support. That we have to deal with on a daily basis. Peter you mentioned aca connects. We want to bring matt polka into this conversation. He has been on the the communicators before and he is president and ceo of aca connects which is what, . Matthew aca connects is a nationwide organization that serves approximately 800 smaller, independent companies all across the United States and many of the territories. It is so great to be with you here today with our chairman, patty boyers from southeast, missouri. She is representative of who are members are and why we exist as an organization. We started in 1993 because of that disproportionately impact of federal regulations and laws on smaller communications providers. That principle still exists today. We fight to help our members not only to succeed, but also to work handinhand with washington, the congress, the senate, the house commend the white house and many agencies on sensible laws and regulations that allow our members to invest and deploy and serve their customers needs. Peter you are listening to patty boyers come out what to do here is for us concerns when it comes to washington . Matthew it goes back to that very principle that we fight for and that is there is a difference between providing broadband, phone, and Cable Service in densely populated, urban areas, versus areas where patty is serving today. Four of those five counties, i are that she notes perpetually impoverished in federal standards. These are very remote places that are hard to sorrow, but as she pointed out it cost the same to build that mile of broadband phone or Internet Service. As we work with washington handinhand, we are with them in lockstep in saying to them, we are with you in serving rural areas with broadband service, but you have to understand how an thoseers differ th larger providers that serve urban areas. That is a general principle in terms of what we do at aca connects. There are many rulemakings that we work on at the fcc, many bills we work on in congress. But primarily it is safe to washington, we are here to work with you handinhand, we live and work in these areas, work with us and understand the difference and we will make sure to get these problems solved together. Peter a question for both of you, how has the pandemic affected your business . Patricia matt, you will be to go . Matthew go ahead . Patricia i will tell you something, peter, i am 62 years that i i do not believe have ever seen something quite. When this all hit, everybody went home and everybody agreed to shelter in place. They may have had a little bit take on that than the east and the west coast, nevertheless, the independent moral urban ral urban ru providers especially those at the aca, we didnt go home. We went to work. Intoterally had to lean the pandemic because our networks were going to be challenged. Nobody had ever faced a challenge quite like what we saw in the pandemic. Our networks got stronger. Cable. Out more coming up with creative ways of providing more robust broadband for those folks. Yes we did, and we still are. So what we learned is that the american ingenuity, the american drive, the american, get up, pull yourselves up by your intstraps is alive and well broadband providers in the country. Peter i would say on behalf of our association matt i would say that on behalf of our association, we are strong and engaged more than ever by the way of telling our members story and working with the congress, the fcc and other agencies. Our work is ongoing. Like patti said, we never stopped. We are learning how to do that more effectively with technology today. s commentso patty regarding how our members really jumped into the pandemic to say, we are on the ground. We live and work in these areas that we serve, and we need to keep people connected as they are coming home from work, from school, from colleges, to hospitals, wherever they were working, to do their work at home and rely on that broadband service. The stories we have seen across our membership, it really is an untold story, a great story about the pandemic and how people truly have been connected with their broadband connections because of members of aca connects and we are very proud of them and what they have done. Patricia can i interject a little bit here, just to be a little bit more specific . One of the things that we learned very quickly that second we didntrch is that close our responsibility to our customers, our foot traffic. I rented my employees in a meeting and we talked about protecting her on bubble our own bubble. We segregated the people in the office from the gentleman in the field, and the ladies in the field, and we initiated what i called the policy. We went to work, coming up with innovative ways to we ran fiber drops through peoples windows, on peoples porches, we set out in the driveway on the phone and we talked to people who had to hook their modem up themselves. We were given the local given ppe we were from the local laboratory. Ave about 106 that kind of subsidized the industry for us. A lot of things that became scarce immediately was all. [indiscernible] we gave all the beef to our employees. Letter pounds of ground beef and said, take it home if you eat it. It was in that they couldnt afford to buy it, you can buy it. Things like that. That is how we rolled our sleeves up. Peter patty boyers, when it comes to Telecom Limited dca strain on your broadband or telecom, did you see a strain on your broadband or an increase in using it . Patricia oh my goodness. I love zoom. It is a great equalizer. It has allowed us to be in the offices. When you look at it, my face is the same size as your face and matts face. Charter, he fills up the doorway bigger than i do. Equalizer. En a great it has allowed us to remain connected to one another. It has also allowed us to be creative and allowed us to come up with innovative ways to stay connected to our associations, our legislators, just about cspan. , to it helps me stay connected to cspan. Matthew if i could add, as the pandemic was starting, of course, there was great concern not only in washington, but across the country as millions of people were heading home to work, there was great concern that Broadband Networks couldnt meet the need. Initially we saw an incredible usage. N upload speeds, etcetera, in particular. But during the pandemic, what we determined through a study we did with all of our members is not because of the ability of our members have had over the last four years to invest and deploy, to use new and alternative technologies they were actually preparing to meet the pandemic before it even happened. Then once we were in the pandemic situation, the Broadband Networks, because of that investment in deployment were ready to meet the need. What we found through our survey was that there was capacity to spare. So our members were ready to meet the need and continue to do so today because, we know to your point about the question oom, i think this technology will be part of our new normal when we go forward and we will see greater usage from home as people slowly migrate back to the office or even not at all. Able, prepared, we are and meeting the need Going Forward is a testament to what have been able to do through their investment, innovation and deployment. Peter matt polka, during the pandemic, have you seen costcutting increase, decrease, what . Matthew has been an interesting dynamic to watch. Certainly, streaming is very popular, more popular than ever. Since the pandemic started we new streaming Services Come online certainly was things like disney plus and now the peacock network, where consumers are being driven to new streaming choices. Cost cutting is certainly an issue. Cordcutting is being driven by a lot of reasons, many of them would have talked about before, the higher cost of retransmission consent which is what broadcasters call their free over the air signals which drives cable Prices Higher and higher, pushing customers more to streaming options. But the good news is that accompanied even like patties s,ompany even like patty because the Broadband Networks have the options to give consumers the choices they want. Certainly we still have a ,egment of our subscribership our Customer Base that is where he committed to them as a service, but as come you as consumers make their own choices about what they want to consume most, we have those options for them, whether it is streaming only, cable only, for mix which we are seeing more. Peter is cable a 21st Century Technology . Patricia the traditional video is for the most part still a 21st Century Technology. In my neck of the woods. One of the things about this pandemic, when they first came out and talked about it all be, somebody being in the same boat. That is not the case. We were all in the same storm but in slightly different votes. My boat is different on the than from side the east and west coast and even the metropolitan areas. I still have a section of my Customer Base that is impoverished, that they dont have the Credit Rating or credit card to even pay for these services. Cable Television Products is still viable for our neck of the woods. However, we see that migrating more and more, i would say. For us, the courtcutting didnt necessarily cordcutting didnt necessarily hit, but it certainly went up as more people went home and the uncertainty of their income became more prevalent. Looking backeople but we alsole tv saw an increase in Broadband Usage and in broadband customers. One of the things we are working towards in this Digital Divide is to get broadband in every home. Folkss also to get it to who never really wanted it. Those are the challenges that we have. So things are different. So, patty, have the streaming services that are coming online, are they helping your business . Absolutely. The goal of any broadband provider is to provide the biggest, the smartest, and the. Ost reliable if they want to watch netflix, cbs live, whatever their flavor is, they can get that. They can get it directly. They can get what they want, watch when they want to watch it. There is a huge percentage of our Customer Base that does utilize that. Absolutely it makes the broadband. Its different for a broadband provider as to what you watch. Matt, a lot of your job involves being in washington talking to regulators, talking to members of congress. Would have the last several months been like for you what have the last several months been like for you . Different for sure but very much the same. After we sort of all got over the shock of what we were dealing with collectively in the pandemic sort of in our own little worlds, we realized there is still much more work to do. So, we jumped in, as did the commission at the fcc and their staffs, as well as the staffs and members of congress, using zoom and other platforms to connect. I do this now daily on an everyday basis. We are seeing members of congress, the fcc, their staff, our staff is doing the same thing. Our members are doing it with us as we join on zoom because with members of congress and their staff, etc. Our business goes on. But frankly, it is very much the , only using technology now that really is enabled by the Broadband Networks provided by our aca connects members and other broadband providers. We are very much engaged on every day basis. We continue to do what we always when we first started this organization, and that is look forward to every day when we have the opportunity to work with the house, we work with the senate, we work with the majority, we work with the minority, it does not matter. We are interested in working with people at the fcc, as well as on capitol hill, to help solve problems. These unique, particular problems in rural areas, and we are still doing it. We look forward to doing it. I have not been back in washington since february. I am looking forward to come back and seeing folks facetoface and really engaging with them, but i am very, very happy and pleased to have this opportunity that we have now through technology to stay connected with them. Should broadband, this is a question for both of you, be included in any infrastructure bill that might come before congress . Let me start with the answer. Athink broadband is today certainly critical element of our nations infrastructure. There is no doubt that what we have seen over the past six months has really emphasized and underscored the need for broadband connections. And i do think that there are important things that congress and the fcc can do by way of an infrastructure bill or any kind of Infrastructure Movement that will really help to solve many of the gaps that might still exist. For instance, our members have done such a great job of serving their communities and meeting the need and keeping americans connected with so many of our members stepping up to adopt the fccs pledge to keep americans connected. But by the same token, we have also recognized that there are still continuing needs, needs to serve students, needs to work with schools, needs to work with hospitals and medical facilities so we can improve telehealth, ways that we can increase Broadband Network speeds, that we can serve unserved areas. Frankly, we think its very important to establish a mindset of really private and public activity to solve these. What i mean by that is private the way patty is using her own financing in many ways, finding financing to serve hurl communities, but with serve her rural communities, but with the help of the federal government to help fill those gaps. To make sure that we are connecting with the people that need to be connected most and serving those unserved areas. Its a very big country. You know what . We need to work in public and private ways to help fill those gaps. Peter, to add to what matt has been saying, its not a onesizefitsall. We have socialeconomic issues here, we have demographic issues, geographic issues here. The fcc talked about that Digital Divide and they have to the Digital Divide. Most rural providers are on the edge of that Digital Divide. The Mark Twain National forest, there might be a patch in the middle of the forest, private land, and somebody decides they want to live there. If they want it, we have to utilize lots of different technologies. We utilize wireless. Multi point, point to point. Electricr with a local cooperatives. Things like that, also regional planning. The state of missouri has rolled out a wonderful plan, and nobody knows missouri better than the state of missouri. So, our governor has launched plan. Onderful he is rolling it out where you can apply for pocket grants where you can get into these areas. With that kind of a partnership with the state of missouri, we are investing 50 of the money, they are investing 50 of the money, and we can reach some more of these folks that were unreachable monetarily. We would rather go to bed at night hungry than tired and hungry. Pay our bills at the end of the day, provide a working wage for employees and Management Team and still be able to provide to our consumers the product that they need and meet them where they are. Final question for both of you, lets start with patty. Do you consider the fcc to be an ally . Patty today . Yes. In the past, not so much. Sorry, go ahead, matt. It is a working relationship. It has been refreshing to work with the fcc. Whenompany joined the aca it was not even the aca. It was the cable tv providers association. We have kind of run handinhand through this whole thing together. Ily, the years, regulator the fcc has had many regulations. , the fccchairman now is reversing many of those and has this lighter touch that allows the industry to utilize its own capital to build these networks. If there was ever a test passed with a straight a,. It was the networks we have scorecards now to prove that the tests and availability of capital to invest in our company and then the investment was made and now the products we have been in washington with our Association Since 1993. We have certainly learned a lot. We have been very privileged to be there on behalf of our members everyday representing their independent voice. Candidly, and im not just saying this, but we consider them all allies. We have worked with many fccs over the years, we have worked es,. Many congress and many members. There are plenty of times where we disagree and we disagree strongly, but we disagree with respect to knowing that we are committed at aca connects to make sure our members voices are heard and represented. In most things, whether its a new congress or any fcc, there are things you are going to like as an association and may be as a company and there are things you are going to dislike. What i have found and what we have found for sure is that we have been privileged to work with washington, to roll up our sleeves, as we are doing now, looking forward to how we can make broadband more available, to increase adoption, increase speeds to meet the needs. We look forward to working together in this publicprivate way to ensure that our members can stay viable, can recover their costs, can invest, while at the same time, we also work with washington on the very Important Role that they have in overseeing our industry. So, its a pleasure and a privilege and an honor that we have to work with washington each and every day. Peter matt polkas president and ceo of aca connects and patricia joe boyerss vice chair of the board of the president of in missouri. Thank you for being on the communicators. You are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Created by americas Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your Public Television provider