A few weeks ago, I was at the Poke Salat Festival in Arab, AL, when a customer approached me to ask why OTELCO was selling phone numbers to telemarketers. She said she would receive these calls from local OTELCO numbers, answer the call assuming it was someone in town trying to reach her, and then get accosted by some scammer. OTELCO is not selling numbers to telemarketers, but what that customer was experiencing is something… Read more »
This week was particularly busy for OTELCO where community broadband in Maine is concerned. We had back to back engagements on the topic, starting with the unorganized territories of Penobscot County and ending in the city of Portland. A Need for Speed in Argyle On Tuesday, May 21, OTELCO conducted a public information meeting for the citizens of Argyle Township, ME. Argyle Township is about 20 miles north of Bangor in Penobscot County, and is… Read more »
The Telecommunications Association of Maine (TAM) has teamed up with Consolidated Communications and The Island Institute to conduct a statewide survey to understand the usage, needs, and importance of broadband in Maine. TAM, along with its rural telecommunications provider members, like OTELCO, is dedicated to promoting affordable voice and Internet services in rural Maine. The survey asks residents and businesses from all regions of Maine about the importance of Internet-dependent pursuits, such as telecommuting, aging… Read more »
With a newly retooled sales team, OTELCO Director of Sales, Tracy Peters decided to go back to basics at a recent monthly sales meeting. The OTELCO marketing team offered to do a message map exercise at that meeting. Message Maps What is a message map? It is a tool designed to help businesses develop a unified message that answers, “who we are,” “what we do,” and “whom we do it for.” While everyone at OTELCO… Read more »
With infrastructure week right around the corner and a new spending bill in the works, OTELCO wants to take this opportunity to stress the importance of broadband as infrastructure. Rural Americans Need to be Connected As it stands now, the digital divide continues to grow in rural America. According to Sharon Strover, the director of the Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute, rural America is being left in the dust when it comes to broadband. 39%… Read more »
Cybersecurity statistics can be both shocking and unsettling, and sadly... More »
Can you believe 2020 is halfway done? The OTELCO Blog has covered a lot in... More »
Even as Maine reopens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses... More »