OPASTCO: Rural groups unite on grassroots messaging

BOSTON--Four rural telco organizations have joined forces to create a unified message to Congress and regain a positive image of small telcos.

Speaking at the opening of the Organization for the Protection and Advancement of Small Telephone Companies (OPASTCO) Summer Convention, Robert Williams, chairman of the group, said small telcos have lost the upper hand in the public relations battle among several groups. Citing recent editorials in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today that questioned the future need of the Universal Service Fund, Williams said small telcos are no longer viewed in the “motherhood and apple” mode that they used to be.

“It’s become apparent through some of the press that we’re still not exactly wearing the white hats,” he told the group today.

In an effort to rebuild that image among the press, customers, Capitol Hill and employees, four organizations--OPASTCO, the National Telephone Cooperative Association, The Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance--have hired a public relations agency and are meeting weekly to create a unified message. Part of the problem is translating what admittedly is regulatory minutiae into something those groups can relate to, said Williams, who also is president of Oregon Farmers Mutual Telephone in Oregon, Mo.

“We know why we need high cost support, but if you talk to the average guy on [Capitol] Hill or the average customer, their eyes glaze over,” he said. “We have to develop a message that says, ‘We are the guys in the white hats.’ We are at risk. If we don’t get out and mobilize, we’re going to have a tough time.”