Mark Pryor

I can speak firsthand to that because I use that sometimes.

Like, maybe before football season starts?

Yes. I think that is what happens on the other side.

And AETN is a statewide network, in a sense.

Thank you all. You guys have shown great discipline, but also you just--typical Arkansas, you just want to get down to the meat and potatoes and don't have to hear yourself talk.

I think that just points out the urgency and the need for us to kind of go through this and work through some of the issues.

Senator Pryor, we appreciate your continued leadership on many important issues in our industry, including your co-sponsorship of an amendment earlier this year that would have extended the moratorium on taxation of the Internet.

And how does the money work? How does the money work with public broadcasting and cable?

I was just at the VA up in Fayetteville and they have added a new wing up there.

And part of this is the availability of technology, but part of it is just the cost to the end user, right? It is just hard for a lot of our people in this state to afford.

Let me also note that all of our panelists have done a great job today of keeping their comments to the 3 minutes.

And you just don't ever--you really don't know unless you get a complaint.

The country has done a good job in building a network for voice communications, and we don't want to see anything fall apart.

So, if I can, Mr. Gardner, let me ask you some of those same questions about where your company is on IP transition.

There's an opportunity here for Federal policymakers to assist us in building the networks of the future.

But is it true that your cost of programming continues to go up in terms of what----

That is what we always hear, right?

We do not want to see the tale of two Americas, where you have urban and suburban America that have the latest and greatest and best technology and they have the investment and the innovation and all those good things, and then you get…

I hope when you are in Arkansas it is not all work, work, work. I hope you have some fun while you are here too.

Thanks to the efforts of Senator Pryor and others, NATCO in 2010 received a Broadband Initiatives Program grant loan.

But the fact that you are saving the veteran the hours and hours of leaving their home...

There are a lot of people in our state that may have access to broadband--and, again, some of that is going to be the definition of 'broadband' and what is adequate, but, nonetheless, they have access, but they don't utilize it.

A big piece of that is also education. You know, there is a direct tie there.

So, yes, the technology is great.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in today's field hearing on the state of communications in Arkansas.