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Senator Klobuchar Gets Schooled on Sebeka’s Smart Rural Community

Sebeka, MN – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was in Sebeka, Minnesota on Tuesday to congratulate West Central Telephone Association (WCTA) and the communities it serves for recently receiving the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association “Smart Rural Community” award. The senator visited Sebeka School to learn first-hand about some of the innovative ways the school is using its robust broadband to be a smarter rural community

Superintendent Dave Fjeldheim explained how they now have wireless connectivity throughout the entire building by upgrading from a 1 gig backbone to a 10 gig backbone and installing several Wi-Fi access points. They use iPads in the elementary, Chrome Books in the high school with cloud-based storage through Google Chrome and Google Drive. The school also offers online college classes—in fact, several students this year will have near or over 40 college credits completed without even leaving the campus. A few teachers gave demonstrations on how they use iPads, Word Press and SMART Boards in the classroom.

WCTA General Manager Tony Mayer explained that the cooperative business model requires that all money made be either reinvested in the infrastructure or returned in capital credits, which is how a small rural telephone company has been able to provide nearly 100% fiber-to-the-home service to its members. “All of our money gets reinvested right here in the community, we don’t have to send it to faraway shareholders, and that’s how we were able to make such a substantial investment in our plant over the years.” Community members discussed other innovative ways the broadband infrastructure is being used, including marketing the community and its businesses through social media and other internet channels.

WCTA presented two souvenirs to the senator to express their thanks for her support in rural policies. She was first presented with a “#ruraliscool” t-shirt from the NTCA, and asked to remind her colleagues in Washington that there are many “cool” and innovative things happening in rural America that contribute to our national prosperity, such as the 21st century learning occurring at Sebeka School.

WCTA also presented her with an LED lighted cap as thanks for “enlightening” the FCC on the issues and challenges faced by rural rate of return carriers. Senator Klobuchar recently co-led a letter to the FCC with Senator John Thune urging the FCC to “address smaller carrier support mechanisms expeditiously, accounting for their unique operations…” because “Consumers in areas served by smaller rural carriers should have the same fundamental choices among reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates as consumers in other rural and urban areas.”

West Central Telephone Association is a full service telecommunications company providing local and long distance services, advanced telephone, broadband Internet services, IPTV, business phone systems, complete telecommunications wiring services and much more.