Large cable companies are making headlines as mobile virtual network operators, successfully selling wireless services under their own brands. Can the emerging MVNO business model work for smaller, rural cable companies and broadband operators? The answer is yes, according to private wireless expert Alex Besen, guest on this episode of All Day Digital with host Jeff Johnston.

As national wireless operators expand their coverage in rural America, rural telecom operators’ local knowledge may help them enter the tower industry. In this episode of All Day Digital, Jeff Johnston hears from Scott Soden, managing principal at Alpina Capital LLC, about what’s changed for the tower industry and how it’sachieved high valuations and predictable cash flows.

While inflation and surging interest rates pummel other sectors, rural communications appears unscathed. One driver is the essential role broadband plays in consumers’ lives – and investors’ ensuing interest. In this episode of All Day Digital, Jeff Johnston explores the economic angle with colleague Andy Smith, CoBank managing director and tenured expert in banking the communications industry.

Satellites are the next giant leap in mobile phone communications, and could have a profound impact on rural Americans. In this episode, CoBank’s Jeff Johnston and guest Tim Courtney, vice president of sales and strategy at Further Enterprise Solutions, explore what it will mean in the near future when smartphones can work anywhere in the U.S., regardless of cellular coverage.

Now that much of the $65 billion in rural broadband federal funds are heading to states, local level implementation is about to get real. In this episode, CoBank’s Jeff Johnston is joined by Mike Romano, executive vice president of NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association. He outlines what rural stakeholders need to be aware of before they navigate the new Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

In many parts of rural America, building fiber to home networks is too expensive. So, lower-cost wireless networks are emerging as a solution. But not all wireless networks are the same. In this episode, CoBank’s Jeff Johnston talks with Frank Louthan, managing director, equity research at Raymond James, to examine the nuances of fixed wireless internet, and compares it to the expense of satellite.

Edge computing is the next long-term growth opportunity for rural telecom operators as data storage and processing that supports low latency applications moves into smaller communities. In this episode, two experts at the forefront of the edge computing join CoBank’s Jeff Johnston with insights on how rural operators can reap the benefits of an expanding market. Listen to Jeff’s conversation with Marc Dyman of Kinetic by Windstream and Brian Porter with the Tensor Group.

The metaverse is the next frontier in technology: personalized experience in digitally enhanced physical spaces with augmented and mixed reality. In other words, the world becomes your desktop or your home screen. What does this mean to enterprises, consumers, and communication providers? CoBank’s Jeff Johnston breaks it down with Qualcomm’s Brian Vogelsang, the company’s metaverse product management leader.

Supply chains snags continue just as U.S. communications companies are working to “rip and replace” Chinese-made equipment from their networks. How can small, rural telecom operators compete with the larger national operators to get the equipment they need? CoBank’s Jeff Johnston speaks with David Strauss, senior vice president at Ace Technologies, on effective strategies rural telecom operators can use.

The federal government promised to reimburse U.S. communication companies to “rip and replace” Chinese-made equipment from their networks. But Congress has yet to provide adequate funding, creating an environment of unusually high risk and uncertainty for rural operators. In this episode, CoBank’s Jeff Johnston speaks with Carri Bennett, a communications policy expert with the Rural Wireless Association and partner at Womble Bond Dickinson, and John Nettles, president of Pine Belt Wireless.