Mountains, and at the mouth of the delta that went into the Mississippi River and all the lush farmland in arkansas. What we do is husband and i are firstgeneration broadband, cable tv and phone provider. We cover about five counties right at the cusp of the bootheel. Host you say you serve about five counties. In what way . Guest we are broadband, video and the phone provider. Host just like and how many customers do you have . Guest at the last building with 4258. Host can you make money with 4258 customers in the broadband industry . Guest oh, absolutely you can. We have done everything as frugally as possible. We have no middlemen. I have a very shallow bench. I have all first string players. My husband i built this company ourselves so we are first generation providers. We have been in the underground Construction Business for about 18 years and then we have had e opportunity to buy a home in rural Butler County where we were both born and raised and we had no video. We kind of looked around and thought, well, how can we give video to our house . We decide to build our own and we started out singularly as a video provider in 1992, and then we marched into broadband and internet service, and then [inaudible] host so patty boyers, when you look at the economys of scale, are your costs higher than the next entities cost per customer . Guest yes, sir, absolutely. It cost more for broadband. Cost more for programming. It costs more, becse when you think in ter of x amount of dollars per mile for a charter or comcast, thats the same cost as myut it might have 200 or 300 homes they might have been that mile or in an apartment ilding setting or metropolitan area. I am lucky to have threeo five o yes, it cost us a lot more for our broadcast stations i the district. It is aifferent story for the rural provider. Host when you think about legislative and regulatory issues, what are your big concerns, and what is helpful to you and what is harmful to you . Guest what supple to meet is organizations like aca connects that we belong to. There are a litany of others that are probably just, i dont know if theyre just as effective because aca has adopted over the last 27 years. The best thing for us is to, we operate lean and mean and we understand our business. We understand our communities. We understand the customers that we serve. In order for us to do that, the best thing for us is for the government to get out of my way and let me run my business the way that is [inaudible] host do you find that washington gets in your way . Guest oh, my gosh. How much time have you got, peter . Weve got office space figuratively speaking, an office building, not only to have the irs and you all the Public Service commissions, much of the fcc and every time you turn around somebody wants a piece of something for something. Theres regulatory, theres cpa, theres Department Natural resources. We deal tremendously lots with the Department Conversation because conservation because we border the forest. We have lots of entities that we have to deal with on a daily basis. Host well, you mention aca connects and we want to bring matt polka into this conversation. He has been on the communicators before and he is president and ceo of aca connects which is what, mr. Polka . Guest aca connects, peter, is nationwide organization that serves approximately 800 smaller independent companies all across the United States at the many of the territories. Its a great to be here with you today with our chairman, patty boyers come from Southeast Missouri. She is representative of who our members are and, frankly, why we exist as an organization. We started way back in 1993 because of frankly disproportionate impact of federal regulations and laws on smaller Communications Providers and that principle still exist today as we fight to help our members not only to succeed but also to work hand in hand with washington, the congress, the senate, the house, the white house, many agencies on sensible laws and regulations that allow our members to invest and deploy and serve their customers needs. Host when you were listening to patty boyers, what did you hear as far as concerns when it comes to washington . Guest it goes back to the 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 the areas where patty is serving today in four of those five counties. I know she knows always are perpetually impoverished according to federal standards. These are very, very remote places that are hard to serve, and as you pointed out it costs the same to build that the same broadband phone or internet service. And, frankly, as we work with washington handinhand with her with them in lockstep in terms of saying to them look, we are with you on serving rural areas with world Broadband Service but you have to understand how our members differ than those larger providers sizzurp urban areas. Thats a very general principle in terms of what we do it aca connects. There are many rule makings that we work on at the fcc, my bills will work on up in congress but primarily it saying to washington we are here to work with your hand in hand. We will help you. We live and work in these areas. Work with us and understand our different will make sure to get these problems altogether. Host a question for both of you. How has the pandemic affected your business . Guest matt, you want me to go . Ill tellou something, peter. I am 6 i do not believe that i have lived through something quite like this. But i will tell you that, and when this all hit everybody went home. Everody agreed to shelter in place. Missouri had a little bit different take on this than the east andest coast, but nonetheless the independent small world broadband providers, we didnt go hom we went to wor we had to write in, literally had to wait in durin defendant because our networks were going to be challenged. Nobody really worked a childs quite like what we had in the pandic. But what we learned coming out on the other side of this is that weot stronger. Where we brought it more cable and coming u with creativeays of providing more robust brdband for those folkshen they got home, heck yes, we did. And still are. We still are. What we learned was that the american ingenuity, the american drive, the arican get up for yourselves up by t bootstrs and lena do something is alive and well in the independent broadband providers association. Guest peter, i was some half of our association we are strong, active, engaged perhaps more so than ever by way of telling our members story in which with members of congress as well as the fcc and other agencies. Our work is ongoing. As patty said the work didnt stop. We kept working harder than ever. We do miss seeing each other but we are learning how do that much more effectively with the technology today. But but i would echo her commens regarding how our members really just jumped into the middle of the pandemic to say all right, 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, some colleges, from hospitals, where ever they were working to did work at home and to rely on that Broadband Service. The stories weve seen across our membership, it really i think its an untold story, a great story about the pandemic and have people truly have been connected with a broadband connection because of the members of aca connects, and we are very, very proud of tm and what they have done. Guest could i i interject a little of the here . Just to be a little more specific. On of the things we learned very quickly the second week in march was that we didnt closer front doors to our customers coming and going. I rallied my 17 employees in a meeting and we a talked about protecting our own bubble, a that we segregated theeople in the office from the gentleman in the field and the ladies in t field, and we instigated, or initiad what i call my pads to the pause to theorts policy. We came up withnnovative ways to i mean, we raniber drops to peoples windows. We put modes of peoples porches. We sat out and the driver on the phone and we talked to people how to hook that modem of themselves. We were given p equipment from a local laboratory so we can get fiber to the home drop to t ceo when he was home and work. My husband and i raise cattle on the side i guess youd call on the site. We have about65 cows, black angus beef cows. That kind of subsidize the industry for us i the earlier years. What are the tngs that became scarcely needed was the closing of all the packing houses was readily available ground beef. Steve and i we just hauled off andaid three cows to the aughter and add them all processed into ground beef and we gave it to all our employees. We had a huge freezer out in her shop and we just put 1200 pounds of ground bf after and said, yall take it home as you need it. It wasnt that they couldn afford to buy it. You couldnt buy it. Things like tha thats how we roll our sleeves up and we [inaudible] patty boyers, when it comes to telecom did you see the strain under broadband or increase in the usage . Was spin the effect of zoom, that product on your company treachery oh, my goodness, i love zoom. This is fun. Soon is a great equalizer. It has allowed us to get into the offices of legislators. If youre looking at the screen, my face is the same size as your face. And as mats face. If you go up on the hill in person, that old boy on charter in front he fills up the doorway than i do. Zoom has been a great equalizer for stick it has allowed us to stay connected to one another so we can continue to take care. Its allowed us to be creative and for us to come up with innovative ways to stay connected to our associations and our legislators, to just about everyone, to cspan. Help me stay connected to cspan. Gst if i could add, as the pandemic was starting of course there is great concern not only in washington but across the country a millions of people were heading home to work as i said before, and it was great concern that Broadband Networks could meet the need. Initially, we s an incredible surge in usage upload speeds, et cetera in particular. But during the pandemic what we determined through a through at we get all of our members is that because of the building are members of that over the last four years to invest and integrate and depy to use new and alternative technologies, they were preparing, actually preparing to meet this pandemic before it even happened. And then once we were in the pandemic situation the Broadband Networks because of that investme and innovation and deployment were actually ready to meet the need. What we found through our survey,ur broadband dashboard as we call the company is there wa capacity to spare. Our members continue to do so today because we know that to you. Abouthe question regarding zoom, i think this kind of technology will be part of our new normal as we g forward. We will see much greater usa from home as people migrate slowly back to the office and mae not even atll. The fact we are prepared, we are able, in beating the need Going Forward is really a testament to what our members have been able to do to the investment, innovation and deployment. Host matt polka, during this pandemic have you seen toward getting increase, decrease, what . Guest its been an interesting dynamic to watch. Certainly streaming is very popur, more popular than ever. Since the pandemic start of the essenes new streamingervices come online certainly with things like disney plus anoer Peacock Network where consumers are being driven to more streaming choices. I would say cord cutting is certainly an iue. Cord cutting is being driven by a lot of reasons, many that weve talked about before, the higher cost of retransmission consent which are with the broadcasters call their free over the air signals which drives cable Prices Higher and higher, pushing customersore to strming options. But the good news is tha a company even like patties in very rural areas of Southeast Missouri as willur 800 and all across the country, becausef the Broadband Networks have the options to give consumers the chces the want. Certainly we still have a segment of our subscribershi our Customer Base thats very committed to gave him an offer that to them as a service. But as consumers make different choices in their own households about what matters most and what they want to consume most, we have those options for them, whether its streaming only, whether it is cable only or a mix which we are seeing more frequently. Host patty boyers, is cable the 21st Century Technology . Guest the traditional video side of the house is for the most part still a 21st Century Technology. In my neck ofhe woods. One of the things about this pandemic, i like to say is when it first came out, they talked about it all being, evebody being in the same vote. Thats not the case. We were all in the same storm but we were all in a bunch of different boats. My my vote is different on the Technology Side then folks on e east and west coast and even the metropolitan areas in the midwest. I sti have a section a customer bas that has been impoverished, tha is financially strapped. They dont have the Credit Rating or credit car to even pay for the services. So cle Television Products is stilliable for our neck of the woods. However, we see that migrating re and more, i would say. The cord cutting didt necessarily cease but it certainly slow down during this pandemic. People went home and the uncertaint of their income became more prevale. We saw more people looking bk up to cablev but we also saw again a increase in rock band usage and in broadband customers. One of the main things they are working towards in this dital divide is to g broadband in every home, but its also to get it affordable and to get it to the folks who really dont even never want it. Those are some of the challges that we have come so thingsre different in Southeast Missouri than even they are in st. Louis which is about three hours away. Host patty boyers, have these streaming services that are coming online vet talked about, are they helping your business . Guest absolutely. The goal of any broadband provider is to provide the biggest, the smartest and the most reliable. So what your consumers let your consumers choose what they want to watch come if you want to watch hulu or cbs live or if they want, whatever their flavor is, they can get that with my broadband and they can get it directly. They can get what they want, watch when you want to watch it and theres a huge percentage of our Customer Base that does utilize that. Absolutely it makes the broadband were in different as a broadband provider as to what you watch, but youre going to need that in your house in order to watch. Host matt polka, a lot of your job involves being in washington talking to regulators, talking to members of congress. What have the last several months been like for you . Guest 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 just like patty said, theres still much work to do. So we jumped in as did the commission at the fcc and their staffs, as well as the staff and members of congress, using zoom and of the platforms to connect. I do this now daily on an everyday basis where we are seeing members of congress, the fcc, their staff, our staff at aca connects is doing the same thing, our members are doing with us as we join on zoom calls with members of congress and their staff, et cetera. So our business goes on but, frankly, it is very much the same only using technology now that really is enabled by the Broadband Networks provided by our a connects members as well as other broadband providers. We at aca connects are very much engaged on everyday basis, and we continue to do what we always do since 1993 when we first started this organization, and that is look forward to every day where we have the opportunity to work with the house. We work with the senate and the work with the majority, we work with the minority, it doesnt matter. We are interested in working with people at the fcc as well as on capitol hill to help solve problems. His unique particular problems in rural areas, and we are still doing and we look forward to doing it. I will tell you this, i have been back in washington since february. I am looking forward to come back and seeing folks face to face and will engage with them, im very, very happy and pleased to have this opportunity we have now to technology to stay connected with them. Host his is a question of both of you, should brobande included in any infrastructure built that might come bore congress . Guest let me start with that answer, and i think broadband i today a certainly critical of it of our nations infrastructure. There is no doubt that what we ha seen over the past six months has rlly emphasized and underscored the need for broadband connections. I do think there are important things that congress and the fcc can do by wayf an infrastructure bill or any kin of infrastructure blueprint that will really help sve many of the gaps it might still exist. For instant our mbers have done such a great job of serving thr communities and beating the need and keeping americans connected with s many of our members stepping up to adopt the fccs pledgeo keep americans connected. But by the same token we also recognize that there are still continuing needs, needs to serve students, needs to work with schools come needs to work with hospital and medical facilities so that we can improve telehealth, ways that we can increase the Broadband Network speeds, ways that we can serve unserv areas and, frankly, think its very important to establh a mindsetf really private and public activity to soe these. What i mean by that is private the way patty is using her own financing i many ways and financino serve our rural communities. But with the help of the federal government to helpill those gaps to telehealth, through the rate issues, through Distance Learning to make sure that were connecting with the people that need to be connected most. And serving those unserved areas. Its a very big country, and you kn what, we need to wor in public and private ways to help fill those gaps. Guest peter, to add what matt has been saying, its not a one size fits all. We have social Economic Issues here. We have demographic issues. We have geographic issues here. The independent broadband provider, the world provider, the fcc talks about that Digital Divide and that they have two the Digital Divide. Most of those independent broadband rule providers are on the edge of that Digital Divide. I have service runs right up to the Mark Twain National forest. There might be a a patch in the middle of that force at his is private land and somebody decided they want to live there. We have to utilize, if they want it, we have to utilize lots of different technologies. We utilize wireless. We utilize. 2. And we partner with the local electric cooperative. The state of missouri has rolled out a wonderful plan and nobody knows missouri and within the state of missouri. Our governor has launched this wonderful small grant program, rolling it out where you can apply for grants, a match where you can get into these areas. With that kind of a a partnersp with the state of missouri we are investing 50 of the money come they are investing 50 precip and the money and we can reach more of these folks that are unreachable monetarily. [inaudible] we had to be able to cut our bills at the end of the day for why a working wage for our employees and our Management Team and still be able to provide for our consumers the products that they need, where they are and meet them where they are. Host and final question for both of you. Lets start with patty jo boyers. Do you consider the fcc to be an ally . Guest today . Yes. In the past, not so much. I im sorry, go ahead, matt. Its a working relationship. Its a light touch that has been, it has been refreshing to work with the fcc. Our company join the aca when it was even the aca. It was a small cable tv provider association. We kind of run handinhand through this whole thing together, and over the years, regulatory lee, the fcc has had many regulations with the chairman now, the fcc is reversing many of those and invoking this lighter touch that allows the industry to flex its muscles, get out there and utilize its own capital to make its own investment to build these networks. If theres ever a test that was passed with a straight a come it was the network, david vitter providers. We have scorecards now to prove that the light touch and the availability of capital to invest in our companies, and then investment was made and now the product has input through. Guest peter, weve been washington with our Association Since 1993 and we have learned a lot and weve 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 can serve them all allies. We have worked with many fccs over the years. We have worked with many congresses and we have worked with many members, both on the commission as well as upon capitol hill. There are plenty of times when we disagree and we disagree strongly, but we disagree with respect knowing that were committed at aca connects to make sure that our members voices are heard and represented. Frankly, what ive learned in most things whether its a new congress or a new fcc, there are things are going to like as an association and maybe as a company, and i think youre going to dislike. But what i i found and what we have found for sure is that we have been privileged to work with washington to roll up our sleeves as were doing now looking forward to how we can make broadband more available to increase adoption, to increase speech to meet the needs we look forward to working together in this Public Private 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 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. Host matt polka is president and ceo of aca connects, and Patricia Jo Boyers is vice chair of the board and president of boycom vision in Southeast Missouri. Thank you both for being on the communicators. You are watching cspan2, your unfiltered view of the government. Created by americas cabletelevision companies as a Public Service and brought you today by your television provider. Good afternoon, everybody and welcome to politics and prose live at lunch where we bring you are politics and prose programming during a lunchtime hour. My name is beth wang, im an event courtney at p p and we thank you for joining here to lebrate the release of your livewired by dr. David eagleman. At any time during that you can click a link to what i will put a check to purchase a copy of tonight spoke on our website. You can ask the author a question afternoon by submitting it to the q a box, the button for which can be found at the bottom of your screen. Be sure to put your question in