[S]PRINGFIELD — FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was calm when he was lifted 20 feet in the air by a cherry picker in the pouring rain to see a communications tower at the top of a muddy hill.
“I wore the wrong outfit,” said Pai, who was in a suit and tie as he put on a safety helmet and strapped himself into a bucket Wednesday to see the work of VTel, the small Springfield company that provides some of the fastest internet speeds in the world.
Pai visited Springfield as part of a New England tour, which started on Monday and concludes Friday. Pai has been visiting rural areas all over the country to hear their challenges since becoming chair of the FCC in January 2017. His priority, he said, is to connect all Americans with high-speed internet.
Pai and FCC special counsel Nirali Patel sat in on a roundtable discussion at VTel headquarters before he was driven through Vermont’s backroads with VTel President Michel Guité.
Guité and Pai had never met before Wednesday, Guité said, but Pai has publicly acknowledged VTel in recent statements over and over again. Pai cites the firm as an example of success since he fell under sharp criticism following his December announcement that he’d repeal net neutrality rules, established during the Obama administration.
In May, Pai tweeted a copy of a letter Guité wrote to Sen. Patrick Leahy in which Guité praised the FCC’s decisions on net neutrality, saying they “created a positive regulatory climate” for VTel to make investments. Guité said his company would make a $4 million investment in Wi-Fi calling because of what the FCC was doing.
Pai mentioned VTel in a June commentary published by CNET. Pai highlighted Guité’s letter again in his Aug. 16 testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Pai, using VTel as an example in the testimony, said the FCC’s decisions “are helping boost investment and close the digital divide.”
Pai has argued that net neutrality rules impede innovation, threatens jobs and negatively impact small internet providers. But some fear a deregulated internet.
Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order Feb. 12 in response to Pai’s net neutrality decision, saying internet services must meet net neutrality standards in contracts with state agencies.
Guité, who support’s Pai’s repeal, said he’s been “criticized endlessly” by Vermont politicians.
Guité told Pai Wednesday that revenue is “drying up” and rural telecom companies everywhere are suffering. He said operating costs are break-even, in part because of intense competition with giants.
In a roundtable discussion with Pai and area businesses and organizations, Guité said he’d like a policy that tells AT&T, Verizon and others that they must roam on the strongest rural tower in that region or build their own tower. Guité said such a policy would support some of his expansions.
Meanwhile, Springfield Hospital Chief of Practice Operations Joshua Dufresne spoke of the rise of telemedicine while State CIO John Quinn commended the FCC for providing funding.
“Keep doing what you’re doing,” Quinn told the chairman.
Pai was rushed from one place to the next to keep on schedule during his short visit Wednesday.
Pai visited Dave Fuller’s small farm, off a dirt road in Perkinsville, to FaceTime with Fuller’s son Ben, a musician who is recording country songs and trying to make a name for himself in Nashville.
Pai listened to a song Ben wrote about someone struggling with addiction.
“It brings home this problem is widespread,” said Pai, who views technology as a “gift” to help reach those who are suffering with addiction by making counseling available remotely.
Pai was also shown Vermont hardships that extend beyond lack of internet.
Before being lifted in the cherry picker to see the tower, which is located behind Guité’s house in Springfield, Pai stopped inside Guité’s home to make a phone call on a landline with a reliable connection.
On the trip up to the tower, Guité’s SUV got stuck in the mud. On the way down, the SUV slid sideways, nearly hitting apple trees on each side of the path before Pai’s assistant, who was behind the wheel, straightened the SUV before losing control again.
Pai said he was used to the struggles of living in a rural area. He grew up in a small town in Kansas, where the lack of internet affected schools and jobs.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” joked Pai, as he finished his tour of Springfield, soaking wet.