Category: News & Alerts

By: Jess Gilbert, Public Relations Manager

As the world around us continues to shift in unknown ways, one constant is MTA’s commitment to our employees and the community around us. Last year, Brandi Burchett, Mat-Su Senior Services CEO, came to me with a true problem; seniors in our community desperate for connectivity.  In order to help this vulnerable population, we decided to implement our first-ever employee giving campaign.

Our goal with this campaign was to help give back to the seniors in our community and get our employees engaged with and aware of new fundraising programs for the MTA Foundation, which has long demonstrated its commitment to pioneering technological growth within our serving area. Thanks to the generous effort from MTA employees, we raised a total of $30,000 in donations for Mat-Su Senior Services.

These funds have allowed us to gift the senior services provider with a high powered tech hub to stimulate technology literacy within Alaska’s senior citizen population. Our employees’ generous gift will also fund 3 years of unlimited connectivity to the tech hub. We know that our commitment goes beyond broadband, so we will also be offering regular digital literacy and cyber security classes exclusively for the members at Mat-Su Senior Services. We couldn’t complete this project without working with Brandi to design a senior-friendly gaming area in the hub, providing seniors a new way to engage.

It’s been so fun and rewarding to watch this project progress and work with Brandi and the Mat-Su Senior Services team, and we can’t wait to see the finished product.  I spoke with Brandi about our partnership and this project, and you can read our thoughts below:

Jess Gilbert (JG): MTA has prioritized technology education for years now, particularly to our more senior members. Why was it important from your point-of-view to have this space in the Mat-Su Senior Service Center?

Brandi Burchett (BB): For many seniors, not just here, but around the world, they tend to feel disconnected and out of touch with their grandchildren or families. By creating a space for connection and learning, this computer center will allow the exposure of technology and kick start new passions and hobbies within the seniors – something I’m really looking forward to seeing. 

JG: It’s inspiring to see the difference the Foundation is able to make for the greater Mat-Su area and this project is just one of many examples of that. What does this initiative by MTA mean to you?

BB: This project and donation from MTA really showcases the love and support of the community around us. By being able to gift the Mat-Su Senior Service Center with a computer lab, internet connectivity and tech literacy sessions, it means the seniors will feel more loved and connected. I hope that by seeing this project, people may feel motivated to give back to the community they are located in.

JG: Our hope is that this will be a relationship that continues to evolve over the years. How do you see the tech hub being used in years to come?

BB: I think the seniors will love this new space. It gives them the chance to learn, connect and play – something many of them haven’t been able to experience much of in recent years. I see this space becoming a hub for community in the center and a place where seniors get together to try new things and help each other. 

JG: Why is closing digital divide important to this community and demographic?

BB: For too many in Alaska and throughout the country, the digital divide has never been deeper than it is today. The gap between those with and without reliable broadband has only continued to widen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, especially within the senior community in long-term care facilities. Being able to provide them with computers, tablets and learning sessions means they will be able to connect with their families and feel a sense of community.

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 Big or small donations, alike, let’s work together to continue to close the digital divide. You can get involved today at mtafoundation.org. 

By Wanda Tankersley, COO

The U.S. Census estimates that computer and engineering occupations hold 80% of the science, tech, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce; but of these positions, only about 15% are filled by women. Narrowing this gender gap in tech is the driving force behind the national non-profit organization Girls Who Code.

Partnering with like-minded organizations to advance future generations in the communities we serve is at the heart of our mission here at MTA, and we were thrilled to serve as the official tech partner of Girls Who Code Camp for Mat-Su Borough students. On June 1, we kicked off the first day of camp, where I had the honor of delivering a keynote presentation on my experience as a woman in tech. The final day of camp was held in our new location at the Shoppes at Sun Mountain. The day was spent exploring the high-tech workspace we’ve created there, hearing from a women-led panel of MTA employees, and collaborating as teams. The panel, featuring women of various career paths within MTA, had a strong focus on how each department uses tech.

Heading into this women-powered week, I reflected on a time when I was in these young women’s shoes. Today, I’m the COO of a tech powerhouse that generates over $100 million annually, though this hasn’t always been the case. I was a solidly average student in middle and high school, and I didn’t come from a particularly fruitful background.

When I think about how I transitioned from where I started to where I am today, I think about the wonderful teachers I had that encouraged me every step of the way. For me, education was the key for me to change the life I had been born into, and I grabbed onto that like a lifeline. By the time I finished college, I had become a strong student – not because I was the smartest in the room, but because I was curious, persistent and hard-working.

Even in my professional life, though, tech has not always been at the center of what I do. I started off in accounting, working for one of the Big Four accounting firms, but soon realized that what I love doing most is solving problems to help make a community the best it can be – and working in both tech and telecom allows me to do just that.

It was awe-inspiring to be able to share my story and experiences with the young women of the Mat-Su Borough, and to help serve as the beacon of light that once guided me to where I am now. I, like MTA as a whole, remain dedicated to fostering and empowering the next generation of women tech leaders and setting them up to pioneer our community’s ever-bright future.

We thank Girls Who Code for allowing MTA to be a part of this journey and look forward to future partnerships that can help get young women excited about all the possibilities that the tech field can offer them.

Scholarships for Alaska’s Future
By Jessica Gilbert, MTA Foundation Manager

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been excited to roll out the refreshed MTA Foundation, which serves to grow talent, promote technology awareness and boost economic development and entrepreneurship in our service area and throughout the great state of Alaska. (It also has a wonderful new website!)

Who knows what Alaska would look like if its current business leaders didn’t receive any training or education in technology? From our point of view, MTA initiatives like the landmark AlCan ONE all-terrestrial fiber line or the eUnlimited™ BYTE Gaming Tournament might not even exist, and residents all around our service area would be sorely lacking in reliable and secure internet connectivity.

With full-fledged and “all-in” support from our parent company, MTA, the MTA Foundation invests in communities so all of us in the Mat-Su Valley and those same residents of our service area do not miss out on technological and economic opportunities. A cornerstone of the MTA Foundation and its commitment to our community is the wide range of scholarships it awards to support students who are focusing their educations on honing technological, business and entrepreneurial skills. Through these scholarships, we are proud to sustain and prepare the next generation of tech and business leaders who might create the projects and initiatives of tomorrow that all of us can only dream of today.

Awarding $75,000 throughout three categories, the MTA Foundation Scholarship Program encourages the pursuit of a variety of educational goals for many kinds of students, including:

• First-time college students
• Returning students
• Students participating in a vocational program or homeschool program
• Students pursuing professional development that leads to a degree or certification

Our 2020 application period is now open and runs through April 6, 2020. To learn more about the range of scholarships being offered and apply, visit: https://mtafoundation.org/scholarships

Through these scholarships, Alaska’s students – and in turn, the rest of our great state – will be able to grow and reach their full potential.

When it comes to technology education, we believe in funding the future of our state. The sky is truly the limit in the Last Frontier.

MTA crew members are working hard to ensure connectivity in the Willow area impacted by fires.

Ensuring the safety and connectivity of our members is very important to MTA.  If you are in an area impacted by the recent fires and need to make account or payment arrangements, please contact us.  We are committed to helping our members during this difficult time. Stay safe.

This page will be updated as any pertinent information becomes available.

MTA: Life. Technology. Together.
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The highest recognition of individual achievement by NTCA is the eXcellence Awards Program, which honors individuals in ten categories.

Gary Enloe, MTA’s Vice President of Network Planning and Operations, was recently honored on the main stage at NTCA’s RTIME as the first-ever NTCA Innovator of the Year. This recognition is for Gary’s development of a tool that simplifies the process of defining parameters required to deliver broadband to our members — allowing connectivity to be provided reliably and at maximum speeds. Gary’s dedication and innovation make MTA better equipped to expand reliable broadband access to rural areas where it is most needed.

We remain committed to providing quality services to our members and expanding access to reliable broadband in remote areas. As the leading technology provider in Alaska, we know our work is constantly evolving – and never done. We’ve been committed to serving the communities we live in for 70 years and are always strengthening our network to deliver new solutions and empower our members to live more connected lives today and for generations to come.

The NTCA eXcellence Awards recognize broadband providers who have exceeded expectations to support their customers and community members and to advance communications services in rural America. 

By Michael Burke, CEO of MTA

As the leader of a forward-looking technology and telecommunications company, one of our core missions is to connect as many people as possible – just as it should be for broadband providers anywhere, but especially in rural areas.

I like to look at my role as that of a landscape architect: doing everything I can to plant the seeds of broadband infrastructure that will support amazing growth and progress in Alaska for decades into the future. 

For MTA, working to close the digital divide is not just a new trend or goal for this year – we’ve been focused on it for decades. We were pleased to receive a $1.9 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of its ReConnect Program, which focuses on building broadband infrastructure in rural America. Making broadband more accessible throughout Alaska is also one of the reasons we undertook the massive AlCan ONE fiber network project in 2020 (connecting Alaska to the lower 48 over the State’s first all terrestrial fiber broadband network) and continue our Alaska Plan build-out to provide our service areas with better connectivity. 

The recent passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has enhanced our jobs as landscape architects. I expect this law to change the landscape of broadband in our great state for generations to come.

Expanding reliable broadband access in rural areas is crucial for students trying to get an education, entrepreneurs trying to keep their small businesses running, and patients in need of telehealth services. This became clearer than ever during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when students in more remote areas found themselves stranded without high-speed internet necessary for virtual education. 

While we don’t yet know how this new law will specifically affect each MTA member, it will be a huge boost for Alaska as a state – and will be especially tangible and consequential for Alaskans in remote, underserved areas.

Crucially, this law prioritizes funding to community-built networks and co-ops like ours, rather than offering incentives to large, private companies – giving back to communities and their businesses along with the individuals using broadband in them. The law also includes various opportunities for rural and tribal communities, including Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure grants and funding for tribes through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Grant Program.

Given how technologically skilled and forward-thinking Alaska’s workforce has become in recent years, the sky is truly the limit, and we will do everything we can to harness those skills and innovation with the new resources arriving in Alaska with the help of this law.

Despite these advancements in the workforce, our digital divide remains too vast in some areas, but the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is an important first step. Our team will continue briefing and working with elected officials, Tribal leaders and business leaders to keep planting new seeds however and wherever we can to ensure Alaska’s continued growth.

With support from our members and leaders from throughout the state, we are optimistic that a lack of broadband in underserved areas will be a thing of the past in the not-too-distant future.

The Customer Experience & Telco Sales Association (CETS) recently announced the winners of the CETS 2022 Best in Class Awards.

“Each year, CETS (http://www.cets.org) recognizes teams and companies that demonstrate innovation and excellence related to customer experience and telco sales,’’ said Ellis Hill, President of ResearchFirst, Inc., CETS’s management firm. This year’s awards went to two service providers, MTA and Bell Canada, and one vendor company, Calix, each of which executed best in class practices over the last year

MTA has historically prioritized maintaining a physical presence within their community in order to meet members where they are. During the pandemic, they made the difficult decision to close all physical locations, which left them to conduct business solely over the phone. The customer experience has always been at the forefront of their minds, so they sought to re-establish a physical presence for our members while abiding by local, state, and federal safety regulations. They began planning their retail approach in Q2 2021 and fully implemented the plan by Q3. When they first opened their retail location to the public, they did not initially see a large response. With each passing month, they saw an increase in customers who preferred to come into their retail location instead of interacting over the phone. Currently, their retail location is still successfully operating under this plan.

“CETS is more than an organization of telco professionals. It is a collective think tank of connoisseurs of the industry who gather in a safe space to share ideas and best practices. Together we analyze what is working and what is not to aid in our collective success in our home territories. Our team at MTA is extremely honored to win the CETS Best in Class award for 2022,” said William Spear, Sales Manager at MTA.

About CETS

The Customer Experience & Telco Sales Association (CETS) brings together professionals from the service provider and vendor communities within the Telecom industry responsible for direct and indirect sales channels, customer care, and the customer experience. Members share channel best practices and industry trends in these areas with respect to all products and services sold by Telco providers.

View  http://www.CETS.org for more information.

Executive Director: ResearchFirst, Inc. (http://www.researchfirst.com)