Good morning District 27. On Saturday, September 28th, I attended the 72nd Annual Cooperative Meeting of Golden West Telecommunications (GWTC) in Wall, South Dakota. I had spent the previous day getting signs up in Wall. I decided to overnight in Wall to attend the meeting and learn about our telecommunications cooperative since I have been a member for over 20 years. It was my first time attending the annual meeting. There were a lot of people from within District 27 in attendance and it gave me another opportunity to meet the voters amongst attendees from other districts that live within the coops service area.
As a candidate running for office, I was introduced to the audience as a visiting guest. After the Pledge of Allegiance, reports from the credential committee, introduction of guests, approval of past meeting minutes, and acceptance of the published financial report, I was able to listen to the General Manager and CEO Denny Law’s annual report and the outlook of the telecommunications cooperative.
In his report, Denny shared that there are presently 32,076 cooperative members with a service area density of 1.2 customers per square mile. He also shared with the audience that the coop has 11,000 miles of fiber optic cable installed across the service area and the coop has invested a half billion dollars in fiber optic infrastructure development. The goal of GWTC is to provide fast, affordable and reliable fiber optic service to all of its members. GWTC provides economic opportunity for small business growth in rural areas across South Dakota. The development of fiber optic infrastructure is the hidden gem behind many small business enterprises within District 27 that rely on fast and reliable high speed broad band internet for the best experience in video streaming and tele-networking. GWTC has also provided unique needs and tailored its operations towards it membership with its commitment to serving rural communities within South Dakota. GWTC fosters connections by strengthening our communities with its phone, cable, and high speed internet access bundled packages. Lastly, Denny mentioned that GWTC hires locals first and fosters a culture within the work environment of “neighbor helping neighbors.” Denny also mentioned that GWTC provides local tech support that is based in South Dakota to support the communities it serves rather than relying on tech support from a person located overseas.
From my own personal experience, I have found that Golden West Telecommunications truly does have a “neighbor helping neighbors” work culture. I see it when I need technical assistance from our local GWTC technician here in Martin. Stuart Livermont has always been helpful in providing me with technical assistance when I call upon him. I have also contacted customer service and over-the-phone tech support and each time the customer service agent and tech support personnel have been very helpful in getting my billing questions answered or providing me with trouble shooting guidance over the phone when my internet is down (which is rare when it is down). These folks are our neighbors and I find it comforting knowing that I am a part of a cooperative that has an initiative to hire locals first. Moreover, I appreciate the customer service agents who are engaging and understand the needs of its customers without a language barrier getting in the way of our conversation. Finally, one other thing I like about being part of the cooperative is receiving a dividend check in the fall of the year. It is always a pleasant surprise when I see the check in the mail with a particular dollar amount that goes towards paying down other bills for the month.
I also want to emphasize that my home in Martin was serviced with fiber optic cable/internet service in January 2019 and I rarely have problems with my internet service. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I hosted many people from both east and west coasts who were teleworking “from home” in my basement apartment and many of the guests said that I had topnotch upload and download speed for a rural area by comparison to a major urban center. The fiber optic cable installed directly to my home made video streaming and Zoom meetings a breeze for these employees while working from my basement.
After Denny’s presentation, the membership voted on a new slate of board of directors for those whose terms had expired. Various prizes were awarded to attendees with a $500 grand prize drawn. Seldom do I ever win a door prize, but I enjoyed hearing what had been happening at our local telecommunications cooperative. Meal tickets were provided to all members in attendance, and I chose to eat my lunch at the Red Rock Restaurant on 506 Glenn Street that prides itself on its locally raised beef. I can attest to it, the open face beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of green beans and bun was excellent. After lunch I made my way to Quinn and Cottonwood to get up a few more jumbo signs along US Hwy 14 within Pennington and Jackson Counties.
Throughout my campaign, it has been brought to my attention that not every home on the reservation has a fiber optic cable run up to its home because of the lack of payment for easements on the reassignments of property causing many residents to go without high-speed internet service. Several of the homes are connected only by copper wire which does not provide a fast and reliable internet service for small business owners. This information was shared with me by several voters and was confirmed by a local contractor on July 1, 2023. During my listening sessions of last summer, my neighbor, who was hired to perform the directional drilling for the electrical conduit installation that carries the fiber optic cable to and from the home, confided with me that connections were being made with copper wire and not fiber optic cable. This easement issue has been going on for a few years now and ultimately the residents on the reservation are affected by this issue. However, in its July 2023 Horizon's Magazine issue, CEO Denny Law testified before Congress on the Universal Service Fund (USF) and its importance for rural Americans' broadband needs. See article below. Interesting enough, my USF fee went up from $2.24 to $2.33 based on my September and October 2024 billing statements. If the USF fee is to be used to deliver broadband service to rural Americans, then there should be no excuse as to why some folks on the reservation should be excluded from its access.
If elected your state senator, it will become a priority of mine to engage both the Tribe and GWTC in making sure the residents within District 27 gain high speed internet access. As a candidate who wants to be well-informed of the issues, I have reached out to GWTC twice regarding clarification and comment on this issue. With all the federal funding available for the development of fiber optic infrastructure, I am surprised that the two parties cannot come to an agreement or settlement as to how the residents can receive fast, affordable and reliable fiber optic service. Have a good week. God bless.
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