ACA Applauds House Focus on Rural Telecom

The American Cable Association is applauding the creation this week of an House Commerce Committee working group to promote the rural telecom service many of ACA’s members provide.

The 18-member bipartisan group -- nine Republicans, nine Democrats -- was launched by Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Bob Latta (R-OH). "From broadband access and spectrum issues, to problems with call completion, rural areas of our districts often have unique concerns," said Rep Welch. "This bipartisan working group will serve as a forum to educate committee members on rural issues to ensure that rural priorities are understood and addressed in the important work of this committee." ACA is hoping the group will extend its gaze to a host of issues of high interest to the small and midsize operators it represents, including the cost of sports programming, program bundling and retransmission.