One of the concerns that independent telco friends have expressed about applying for the broadband stimulus monies are the unknown rules that may be imposed upon them at a future date. Fears of the bean counter are justified, as many independent telcos have been through painful and costly USAC audits over the past couple of years. These audits have confirmed that the telcos are following the rules. Steve Meltzer of consulting firm John Staurulakis, Inc. explains, in this video interview filmed at OPASTCO’s Summer 2009 Convention, the importance of diligent record keeping to improve the process of the inevitable audit.

Ed Heuck, formerly of Hargray in South Carolina, and now with Graycliff Enterprises provides a unique perspective on the stimulus, given his current and former roles as an operator and someone building broadband networks for communications providers. As you will hear in the interview from the OPASTCO 2009 Summer Convention exhibit floor, the broadband stimulus has already had impacts on telco projects; impacts that might not be so obvious at a superficial level.  

Communication between government agencies has been a challenge since before the advent of the modern telecommunications era. Telecommunications has sometime made intra-agency communications even more difficult as agencies often use proprietary radios. SilverStar Communications is one of the first to provide a bridge between proprietary radio solutions through a “Software as a Service” application that connects disparate systems at costs much lower than hardware based alternatives. SilverStar has found an unique application for this SaaS application among one of its mining customers.

Produced by Roger Bindl and Ken Pyle… www.viodi.tv