{"id":3216,"date":"2018-05-14T19:09:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T19:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tenntel.org\/?p=3216"},"modified":"2020-05-19T16:36:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T20:36:27","slug":"fcc-chairman-meets-with-members-of-tennessee-telecommunications-association","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2018\/05\/fcc-chairman-meets-with-members-of-tennessee-telecommunications-association\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC Chairman Meets With Members Of Tennessee Telecommunications Association"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The rules guiding expansion of rural broadband must be modernized, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said during a visit to Middle Tennessee in April, when he met with members of the Tennessee Telecommunications Association.<\/p>\n

The FCC has announced $500 million in support for rural broadband deployment, and Pai said the FCC wants more predictable, long-term support so rural communities served by small carriers are not \u201cstuck on the wrong side of the digital divide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rules governing expansion are important for TTA members, whose companies provide high-speed broadband and fiber to more than 136,000 rural residents and businesses across Tennessee.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, joined Pai at the meeting. \u201cOur rural areas cannot have 21st-century economic development, 21st-century health care, 21st-century law enforcement or 21st-century education without high-speed broadband,\u201d Blackburn said.<\/p>\n

Levoy Knowles, executive director of TTA, said assistance through federal funding is paramount for TTA members.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members are working and pouring everything they\u2019ve got into getting rural Tennesseans connected,\u201d Knowles says. \u201cWe are grateful to Chairman Pai and Congressman Blackburn for all the work they\u2019ve done to see that we receive federal funding for our efforts. We are very appreciative that they joined us today to discuss these critical issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

TTA members have installed more than 21,000 miles of fiber in rural areas across the state, and by 2019, they will have spent more than $243 million to connect rural Tennesseans with gig-speed fiber.<\/p>\n

Several issues were discussed at the meeting with Pai.<\/p>\n