Brian Thomason, CEO of Blue Valley Tele-Communications (BVTC), was one of several members of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association who traveled to the nation’s capital January 9–10 to meet with members of Congress and FCC staff on key policy issues, including the ongoing Internet Protocol (IP) transition.

Six representatives from community-based telecommunications providers in South Carolina, Minnesota, South Dakota and Kansas participated in the association’s grassroots SPIRIT (Supporting Policy Initiatives for Rural Independent Telecommunications) fly-in.

The rural telecom leaders also met with representatives of the FCC’s Technology Transitions Policy Task Force and other commission staff about the ongoing transition to IP-based communications technologies. The group discussed a variety of topics, including the importance of stand-alone broadband in rural communities, the infrastructure needed to offer IP-based voice services, how backup power is handled for IP technologies, the challenges of IP interconnection, and the role of fixed wireless services and anchor institutions in deploying advanced communications.

The meeting comes on the heels of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s announcement of the commission’s intent to pursue new rules regarding the technological transition, including potential trials relating to the ongoing transition to IP-based technology.

“Community-based telecom providers like BVTC have already made great strides in helping to ensure rural consumers can participate meaningfully in an IP-evolved world, but more remains to be done,” said Jada Ackerman, public relations director for BVTC. “We are encouraged by Chairman Wheeler’s early focus on these important issues and are eager to continue working with the commission to meet our collective objective of providing cutting-edge services to rural consumers while also holding true to core principles such as consumer protection, promotion and fulfillment of universal service.”

NTCA and rural telecom providers have been at the forefront of discussions about the ongoing IP evolution. In a petition for rulemaking filed in November 2012, NTCA urged the FCC to promote regulatory certainty and sustain the ongoing evolution of the nation’s communications networks to IP-based infrastructure by providing targeted, thoughtful regulatory relief and by establishing economic incentives to spur greater deployment and maintenance of IP-enabled networks. More information on this can be found at www.ntca.org.