ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (May 17, 2010) – Ron Smith, president of Bluegrass Cellular, Inc., has been elected Chairman of the Board of the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), the premier advocacy organization representing rural and regional wireless carriers throughout the United States.
Leaders of rural and regional wireless carriers from across the country elected Smith during the Association’s recent Annual Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, NV. He will serve as Chairman until April 2011.
“Wireless communications are a fundamental part of people’s personal and professional lives,” Smith said. “The latest and best in telecommunications technology is something everyone deserves access to, regardless of whether you live in the big city or a more rural community.”
Smith’s election comes at a time when rural and regional telecommunications carriers are working to ensure that customers have access to the same handheld device technology that national carriers offer, that customers can access 3G data applications when roaming outside their carrier’s service area and that next generation 4G data services will be deployed quickly to rural and regional markets and have access to nationwide 4G networks.
Bluegrass Cellular, for instance, has negotiated agreements with other carriers in order to offer nationwide roaming for voice and 3G data services. Agreements for 3G data service enable faster transmission of pictures, web browsing, email access and other types of information over handheld devices and wireless air cards. “The need for all rural and regional carriers nationwide to have data roaming agreements is critical to their success,” Smith said.
“The rural and regional carrier deployment of next generation 4G data services and access to nationwide 4G data services for all wireless customers is also important to the customers of the members of the RCA,” Smith said. “The federal government’s goal for broadband services to be deployed throughout America is shared by RCA members.”
RCA continues its drive to work with the FCC and Congress in the development of legislation, rules and regulations that promote wireless broadband, as well as wire-line broadband services, throughout regional and rural America.
“This is a crucial time for our industry and for wireless consumers living in rural and regional markets,” said Steven K. Berry, President & CEO of RCA. “Ron has been a pioneer in rural telecommunications for more than 20 years, and we look forward to his leadership in the coming year.”
Smith managed the launch of Bluegrass Cellular in 1990 while working as an employee of GTE Mobilnet under contract to a consortium of independent telephone companies. Bluegrass Cellular was the first to offer digital cellular service to central Kentucky in 1998 and, today provides service to customers in central Kentucky, many in rural areas not reached by the networks of larger, national carriers.
Since his 1991 appointment as President of Bluegrass Cellular, Inc., Smith has managed the start-ups of Bluegrass Network LLC, an Internet service provider and fiber-optic network; Bluegrass Telecom LLC, a provider of long-distance phone service; and Bluegrass Wireless LLC, which operates under the Bluegrass Cellular trademark to provide wireless telecommunications service in southern Indiana and southeast Kentucky.
About Bluegrass Cellular
Headquartered in Elizabethtown, Ky., Bluegrass Cellular has been operating in Kentucky for over 19 years with 21 company owned retail locations and over 30 authorized agent locations. A pioneer in the wireless field in the state’s rural areas, Bluegrass was the first to offer digital cellular service to Central Kentucky in 1998. For more information on Bluegrass Cellular and for local store hours and information, visit bluegrasscellular.com or call 1-800-928-CELL. Follow Bluegrass Cellular on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Bluegrass_Cell or www.twitter.com/BCI_Android
About Rural Cellular Association (RCA)
Headquartered in Washington D.C., RCA is the nation’s leading association for wireless providers serving rural areas of the United States. The licensed service area of RCA’s nearly 80 members covers more than 80 percent of the nation.
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