Rural = Stupid?

A funny PR pitch usually isn't

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

June 2, 2006

1 Min Read
Rural = Stupid?

6:00 PM -- There's nothing I like more than when PR folks attempt to entertain me with a pitch.

They usually succeed, but not quite in the way they're probably imagining. Witness this missive from M/C/C in Dallas:

It's true. People have some misconceptions about the services telcos provide in small and rural communities. The top five misconceptions are as follows:

1. In rural and small communities, the phone system consists of tin cans connected by twine.
2. When residents of rural communities talk about "broadband," they mean 150 lb. test fishing line.
3. For a rural community, the copper vs. fiber debate means paying for something with pennies or bartering a quilt or knitted pair of socks.
4. In a small town, there's no need for CallerID because you can just look out your window and see who is yelling at you.
5. In rural communities, people have no use for new-fangled doodads like "them tellyphones all the city folk are using."

In all seriousness, telecom providers that serve rural and small communities sometimes offer services that are on par or exceed what's available to customers in much larger communities. If you'd like more insight on the advanced services used by some small and rural communities, I'd love to schedule a briefing between you and an expert from TelStrat. You may also be interested in a contributed article on the subject. If so, let me know.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Excellent. I'm sure the folks at TelStrat International are glad you wrote. Maybe they're picking up the tellyphone to call you right now.

— Phil Harvey, Entertainment PR Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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