Poplar Bluff resident Patricia Jo Boyers, ACA Connects chairman and communications executive, traveled to Kelowna, British Columbia recently to address hundreds of attendees at a national telecommunications forum on issues related to the expansion of broadband deployment in rural markets.
Boyers is president of BOYCOM Vision, a cable and broadband provider in rural Missouri.
She was invited by Canadian Communication Systems Alliance to speak at the group’s annual conference in western Canada.
Boyers was featured on a panel called, “The Leadership Connection.”
Others on the panel were Culture Connection CEO Carol Ring, CCSA COO Jillian English, Novus Communications Co-CEO and CCSA Chair Donna Robertson and Hay Communications General Manager an CCSA Vice Chair Angela Lawrence.
“It was an honor to represent ACA Connects at this terrific CCSA event and discuss the rewards and challenges of offering rural markets advanced communications services,” Boyers said.
She was especially pleased to discuss “high-speed internet access so necessary in order to connect these areas to the global economy. By deploying broadband to these remote areas, small and rural independent operators are the ones who will close the digital divide.”
The three-day event offered networking, educational sessions and hospitality.
CCSA represents more than 110 independent companies providing Internet, television and phone services across Canada.
CCSA CEO Jay Thomson said, “It was a real pleasure having Mrs. Boyers join us and provide the U.S. perspective on many of the same issues our CCSA members are tackling every day, including broadband rollout in rural markets and leadership in this age of constant disruption.”
Thompson continued, “this was a great opportunity for us to learn from each other about our respective challenges and successes and to continue to build on the relationship between our two organizations.”
Boyers and her husband, Steve, started BOYCOM in 1992. BOYCOM serves about 3,000 customers.
Boyers testified earlier this year before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology about reauthorizing the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act of 2014.