Q&A: Randy Young

In April 2008, two rural telecom trade associations in Minnesota—the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and the Minnesota Association for Rural Telecommunications—merged and took the name of the former. According to Randy Young, MTA’s president since the merger, the new association represents virtually all of the small and midsize telecom companies in Minnesota—companies offering phone, broadband, and video services. Twin Cities Business sat down with Young to learn more about MTA and the telecom business in rural Minnesota.

What is the purpose of MTA?

Our primary activity is legislative or regulation-related. Seventy little companies can’t afford to have a lobbyist in St. Paul, but that’s a service a trade association can provide. We also have safety training for our members’ employees so that they know the latest procedures and are in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In the area of education, we have developed peer groups within our companies. The plant superintendents, the office managers, the customer service representatives, the marketing folks—they get together twice a year to share ideas and best practices and to update their skills and expertise. We also put on the largest state telephone convention and trade show in the country.

What are the biggest issues currently facing MTA’s members?

Adjusting to the whole new financial structure of the industry is the big challenge. Historically, about a third of the revenue for these telephone companies has come from long-distance companies paying local telephone companies to use their network. Those revenues are decreasing as more and more people are using cell phones to place long-distance calls. And we are seeing a 2 to 3 percent reduction annually in the number of access lines as customers drop their landline and just use a cell phone.

We are also seeing the competitive marketplace become much more intense with wireless and with cable. Cable companies have realized that to survive, they can’t just be cable companies, but they have to be communications companies. They have to get in there and provide telephone service and broadband service. And our companies have realized they have to do the same thing, so now they are really no longer telephone companies. They are communications companies, and all of them are not only providing basic phone service, but also broadband, and a lot of them have gotten into video as well.