SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The following was issued today by Pioneer Holdings, LLC:
U S WEST is planning to release a poll today regarding the role the telephone plays in the love lives of Americans. National Family Opinion Research did the polling for U S WEST and the researchers reportedly asked 1,000 Americans about how modern communication services have impacted their relationships. Unfortunately, some of what city dwellers consider basic telecom services are unavailable to many Americans. Residents of rural communities and small towns in this country are fighting for the right to benefit from competitive telecommunications and the big phone companies like U S WEST are standing in their way.
U S WEST's president and CEO, Solomon D. Trujillo, recently stated in a speech to the Economic Strategy Institute's ''America's Broadband Future'' forum that, ''residential and small business customers are suffering, rural areas are suffering and minority communities are suffering, as competitors ignore them to pursue lucrative business customers.''
Mr. Trujillo's remarks came at the same time that U S WEST and its allies stepped up pressure in Iowa to stop legislation that would provide rural areas and small towns access to competitive phone service in the form of competitive municipal telephone utilities.
''U S WEST, GTE and many of the big telephone companies have publicly announced their intention to abandon small town America,'' said Mike Thompson, president of Pioneer Holdings, LLC. ''Meanwhile they aggressively lobby Congress and state legislatures to protect their monopolies until they can realize a profit by exiting the market. Contrary to Mr. Trujillo's remarks, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 can work and rural communities and small towns will benefit, if U S WEST and the other telephone giants stop using the legal and legislative process to hinder municipal competition.''
Pioneer Holdings, LLC is working with approximately fifty Iowa cities including the City of Hawarden and numerous other rural communities across the country to design networks that will provide telephone and other communications services. Pioneer believes that the opportunities of the information age should hold the same promise for those Americans who live in rural communities and those who in live cities. Access to telecommunication services is more than fodder for a special interest story. This access is the key to the future for small towns and rural communities.
Pioneer Holdings, LLC, a partnership between Long Lines, Ltd., Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative and MCI WorldCom, is bringing competitive modern communication services to rural America. Pioneer's background support and services are designed to strengthen the relationship municipals and rural electric cooperatives have with their customers. This makes Pioneer's efforts unique in the telecommunications industry. The communication networks designed by Pioneer and its partners allow the communities being served to be competitive on a global scale.
For more information, please call Graham Gillette at 515-244-1900 or visit Pioneer Holdings at pioneerholdings.com.
SOURCE: Pioneer Holdings, LLC
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