“We are going to prevail,” exclaimed Patty Boyers, president of Boycom in the above ViodiTV Real-Time Conversation. Boyers was speaking about the efforts to connect the community while protecting employees and customers from the risk of COVID-19. And the demand for Boycom’s network has increased by 70% since the start of the pandemic. This has flattened the traffic peaks that were often seen on Friday primetime to all times throughout the day.
Highlights from the above conversation:
01:47 – Tom Coughlin explains the resources available to IEEE-USA members especially during this time of COVID19.
10:41 – Matt Polka provides an overview of ACA Connects and what its members are doing to support their communities
21:57 – This author references a blog post, that Matt wrote, about the importance of balancing private and public resources in serving the unserved.
23:46 – Patty Boyers provides the inspirational story of how she and her husband founded a cable company to serve the area where she lives. This grew out of their underground construction business. She touts the SBA as a great resource for small operators (see this video for more detail).
29:11 Patty reveals what Steve Boyers and, the late, great Country and Western singer, Tammy Wynette have in common.
30:24 – Boycom was able to connect the Gamma Labs CEO via a Fiber to the Home installation in a protected way using their pole to ped to the porch installation technique outfitted in full protective equipment.
32:53 – Patty describes how Boycom is working with their communities and setting up WiFi Hotspots in Church parking lots. What makes this unique is that the teachers visit in person.
37:18 – Matt Polka explains the Connected America Pledge and the associated response by ACA Members to make sure that the COVID-19 pandemic does not worsen the so-called digital divide.
40:56 – The participants discuss how access, affordability, and devices are key elements to keeping students connected.
42:53 – The idea of a virtual school infrastructure is discussed.
47:44 – Tom Coughlin points to the different type of traffic flows and how broadband and associated applications have worked and will change things going forward.
49:45 – This authors mentions a counseling organization of which Matt Polka is a board member and an article referenced on that organization’s website about the importance of the physical in human-to-human connections and that is still lacking with electronic communications. Going forward, as virtual reality becomes more prevalent, perhaps this will change.
52:10 – Patty talks about her impressive cattle operation and gives her opinion about golf, ““The biggest waste of a good pasture is a golf course.”
54:51 – Matt makes the determination that Patty did not use one of the FCC”s seven forbidden words. Tom points out to Ken that she was referring to a farm animal.
55:53 – Patty talks about enjoying being Chair of ACA Connects. She points out how local broadband providers connect their communities beyond broadband by being the sponsors of youth sports teams, etc.
01:00:20 – Matt talks about the stickiness of retransmission fees and why the cost of programming has not yet decreased, unlike in other industries, such as it has in other industries, like auto insurance.
01:03:11 – Tom reflects on the importance of the telecommunications industry to everyday life.
1:05:09 – Patty describes a grant they were just awarded to serve 1,600 rural homes with FTTH. This is a grant program where the State of Missouri is putting up half the money, with the other half from Boycom. At approximately $200 per home, it is extremely efficient. Boyers believes a decentralized approach, whereby government funding is at the state level is much more efficient as it is easier to match needs and supply.
