ASTAC's recipe for success: integrity, dedication and innovation.

The invitation from Dave Fauske, manager of Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC; Anchorage, Alaska), came in the form of a question: "Would you be interested in spending a week in July visiting ASTAC's service area and participating in the cooperative's 26th annual meetings?" Without hesitation, I responded in the affirmative. After all, when else would I have the opportunity to observe the extreme conditions this NTCA member encounters in providing communications services on Alaska's North Slope?

Within weeks, as details of the trip emerged, it quickly became obvious that I was in for quite an adventure. First, I was advised to bring plenty of mosquito repellent to ward off the region's pests. Next, I received reminder notes about dressing in layers to prepare for the varying weather where, even in summer, temperatures might be sub-10 degrees. And then there was the foreboding matter-of-fact meeting notice itself that read:

  "Resolved, that the general manager shall take such steps as are
necessary to properly organize and notice out the twenty-sixth annual
meeting of the subscribers of the Cooperative. Subject to availability
of aircraft, accommodations and weather, the schedule shall be
substantially as follows: Point Hope, Monday July 16, 2:00 p.m.; Point
Lay Monday July 16, 7:00 p.m.; Barrow Tuesday July 17, 7:00 p.m...."

Onward it read, listing a total of nine exchanges in eight villages, as well as the Prudhoe Bay oilfield, to visit over the course of five days. A map and additional information was provided, underscoring the stark realities ASTAC confronts in providing communications services. It has 2,500 customers served by 5,320 access lines concentrated within the borders of one village. The villages are spread distantly from one another, not connected by roads, over a geographic area encompassing 93,000 square miles. The cooperative's economies of scale only allow it to employ six rotating service technicians who travel between villages to take care of local service equipment and technical needs. Similarly, back at ASTAC's Anchorage office and in two satellite offices at Barrow and Deadhorse-Prudhoe Bay, the cooperative has 36 employees, with the assistance of seven, part-time village reps, to handle all of its customer service and operational requirements.

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With these facts in mind, I departed Anchorage on July 16 in a small, seven-passenger turbo prop on a 2,600 mile annual meeting journey that would have us crisscrossing the ASTAC service area over the next five days. Arriving in Point Hope that afternoon, we went through the drill that would be fairly standard for each of the subsequent stops throughout the week: arrival on a gravel air strip; greetings by an ASTAC employee or local villagers; unloading meeting supplies and equipment from the plane into the back of a pickup or a company boom truck; driving or walking a short distance to the village community center, where the meeting was held; and eventually departing to the next location.

Likewise, the presentation for each meeting was mostly consistent with the only real variation being the board of directors elections that were held at three of the locations. Interestingly, a great number of villagers speak both English and their traditional dialect of Inupiaq. Consequently, in order to further ensure uniformity between the meeting reports, a substantial portion of the program was presented via an audio/visual PowerPoint presentation in the Inupiaq language.

Participating in each of the subsequent village meetings at Point Lay, Barrow, Atqasuk, Wainwright, Kaktovik, Prudhoe Bay, Nuiqsut and Anaktuvuk Pass, it was striking to witness how similar the concerns and questions were with individual villagers. The three main things that stood out about the villagers were their interest in mobile services, their desire for the best possible customer service, and their recognition that ASTAC is doing a superior job in the face of extreme geographic, economic and competitive challenges.

Explaining that it all boils down to economies of scale, Fauske noted that the Prudhoe Bay region already has traditional mobile services on a software defined radio platform, and ASTAC is rolling out one of the nation's first 700MHz wireless broadband systems. This is largely due to substantial business anchors in the area, which makes it economically feasible to deploy such services. He went on to announce that ASTAC recently entered into a facilities sharing partnership with another NTCA member OTZ Telephone Cooperative (Kotzebue, Alaska) to help both cooperatives to more economically provide mobile services to portions of their respective territories.

To address customer service concerns, Fauske and his staff reminded cooperative members to let ASTAC know of service issues in as quick and specific a manner as possible. He noted that the cooperative constantly struggles to maintain an appropriate balance between simultaneously keeping overhead and staff related costs low, consumer rates affordable and customer satisfaction high. Yet, he indicated that the cooperative's very best efforts can still be entirely thwarted by the weather, which can prevent service technicians from leaving one village and arriving at the next on a timely basis. At every meeting, the villagers nodded their heads in acknowledgement of understanding these realities.

Nevertheless, as we traveled from village to village, I was shocked by the level of selective competition regulators have encouraged in this sparsely populated, economically challenging, remote region of the world. In each of the villages, an array of duplicate relay satellite dishes sat next to one another to provide equal access. Major wireless carriers appear in Deadhorse and Barrow, but they have no interest in the remote villages, lessening the economic prospect of wireless service in all the communities of the region.

It is baffling to comprehend what policy-makers are trying to accomplish by encouraging such an environment where there is a distinct possibility that all could ultimately fail due to the blind pursuit of competitive neutrality.

Despite the many challenges facing the cooperative, the ASTAC board, staff and members/owners all remain eager and enthusiastic about confronting them head on. Truly, this is a cooperative on a mission.

As we were making our way to Anchorage at the end of our journey, the pilot diverted slightly to circle the dome of the majestic Denali (Mt. McKinley). It was a breathtaking sight to see up close, yet it paled in comparison to the awe-inspiring integrity, dedication and innovation that I observed ASTAC putting forth to provide communications services to the northernmost part of the United States. ASTAC sets an example that should be emulated.

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Did You Know?

The association will launch the GetSmart with NTCA campaign in January. The GetSmart campaign allows member telco employees and board members to earn SmartPoints when they register and attend select NTCA conferences. The six telcos with the most accumulated points by November 30, 2008, will receive gift certificates valued at $150, $250 and $500. For campaign details, visit www.ntca.org/getsmart.

By Tom Wacker, NTCA Vice President of Government Affairs