The Montana Telecommunications Association held its 2021 Annual Meeting on August 23-25 at Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Montana. While attending that annual meeting, Rich Stuker, Triangle Communications Board President/Chairman, was recognized for his 35 years of service to the Cooperative. Stuker also shared information about policies affecting the telecommunications (telecom) industry.

Montana Telecommunications Association (MTA) represents rural telecom/broadband providers of Montana like Triangle Telephone Cooperative (TTC), a company owned by its members. The MTA Annual Meeting is a telecom policy conference attended by more than 100 senior executives from Montana's telecom industry.

Stuker described the MTA as a statewide lobbying arm for rural telephone cooperatives. "Essentially, we provide public policy advocacy and consultation, training and education, and related services to independent rural telecom service providers throughout Montana," Stuker explained.

As a member of the TCC Board of Directors, Stuker is required to attend continuing education seminars and is also expected to participate in regional and national meetings such as the MTA Annual Meeting to keep informed on the industry. In fact, Stuker also represents TCC on the MTA Board, serving as President.

Following Tuesday morning's workshops and the General Session with welcoming remarks from Geoff Feiss, General Manager for the MTA, Stuker received his award at an Awards Luncheon on August 24. Feiss presented the award while expressing gratitude to Stuker. "His dedication and service have greatly enhanced economic opportunity for Montana's citizens and businesses by extending the benefits of broadband connectivity in rural Montana. Thank you, Rich!"

Stuker was originally nominated to the TTC in August of 1986 by Russell Benson. After all these years, he explained that what keeps him committed to the Cooperative are conversations about community needs-such as broadband for schools-and finding ways to meet those needs.

"Without the Cooperative's help, we wouldn't be able to leverage the resources required in Montana for broadband access, for example. Knowing that we're meeting needs with telemedicine and for schools and students keeps me interested," Stuker said.

One of the speakers at the MTA Annual Meeting, Kirk Miller is the Executive Director for the School Administrators of Montana (SAM). Sharing Stuker's view on the value of educating Montana's youth, Miller has represented Montana students on committees at the federal level and served on many statewide committees to improve education. In his role with SAM, Miller believes in establishing high quality educational opportunities and is dedicated to educational advocacy.

Another speaker at the Conference was Senator Jason Ellsworth (R-Hamilton) who serves as the Chair on the Montana Broadband Communications Commission. Ellsworth also sponsored Senate Bill 297, an act providing for broadband infrastructure deployment laws, establishing Montana broadband infrastructure accounts, and forming the Montana broadband deployment program.

On May 11, Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 297 into law. The ConnectMT Act, as it came to be called, captures $275 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act for federal funds to expand access to reliable broadband across Montana.

According to Stuker, Ellsworth and his Commission are just getting started. They are doing the paperwork and research necessary to determine how the money for broadband will be allocated in Montana and whether it makes more sense to partner with another agency or to work independently. In a state celebrated for its wide-open spaces, rural telcoms are investing millions of dollars each year to build out the capacity and connections that will serve future generations of Montanans.

"With information we receive from people like Kirk Miller and Senator Ellsworth, we get ideas about where we need to head, in what direction we must go. By working together and sharing expertise, we can make progress and increase access to high-quality education or to secure other important services," says Stuker.

Another concern on the federal side, Stuker explained, is the issue of mapping where all the fiber is located. "When people say they don't have access to internet, sometimes that's not true. They have cable, but they may have made the choice not to pay for the high speed broadband," Stuker stated.

Stuker also clarified why Triangle will no longer be a mobile phone service provider. "When we signed the contracts to provide mobile phone service, we had to sign agreements with Verizon for using the towers in the area. These contracts gave them the option for a buy-out down the road, and that's what they have elected to do. In order for us to try it, we signed, and those were the conditions. Many of the towers that were built never would have happened, though, without those contracts, so some good is coming from our trial, and hopefully Verizon will continue to maintain them. Now, in order to keep the towers operational for 5G upgrades, Verizon will have to abide by the Federal Communication Commission's 'rip and replace' guidelines that will update Huawei equipment to meet security codes."

Huawei has faced allegations, primarily from the United States and its allies, that its wireless networking equipment could contain backdoors enabling surveillance by the Chinese government. Huawei exited the U.S. market due to these concerns. In April, the Biden administration added seven Chinese supercomputing entities to a U.S. economic blacklist citing national security concerns.

Dealing with challenges and issues such as these that relate to regulation changes keep Stuker interested in serving the Cooperative. As stated on their website, the key purpose of any TCC Board Member is to ensure the company's prosperity by collectively overseeing the company's affairs, while meeting the appropriate interests of the membership. Stuker is committed to that purpose and to the belief that Montana's locally owned rural telecommunications companies strengthen our communities by empowering education, expanding economic opportunity, improving access to healthcare, and connecting friends and family.