Nevada Lawmaker To Share Rural State Perspective On Key Communications Issues
PITTSBURGH, February 22, 2013 – The American Cable Association today announced that Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), a member of the Senate Committee that has oversight of cable TV and broadband Internet providers, is scheduled to address ACA’s historic 20th Washington Summit, offering a rural state perspective on the vital communications issues now before the new Congress.
“ACA is delighted that Sen. Heller will speak to hundreds of ACA Members at our historic 20th Washington Summit as the new Congress begins to examine the major issues confronting the independent cable community,” ACA President and CEO Matthew M. Polka said. “We’ve enjoyed working with Sen. Heller in the both the House and Senate in a joint effort to find ways of ensuring that ACA Members can continue to deploy critical broadband infrastructure in some of the mostly costly areas to serve.”
Sen. Heller is scheduled to address the ACA Summit on Wednesday, March 13, from 9:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. He serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, the panel that oversees not only the Federal Communications Commission, but also communications industry participants like ACA Members that offer voice, video and broadband Internet services.
Sen. Heller was sworn in to the U.S. Senate on May 9, 2011. Prior to his Senate service, he was the Representative for Nevada’s Second Congressional District. Sen. Heller has also served as Nevada’s Secretary of State and in the Nevada State Assembly representing Carson City.
In addition to the Commerce panel, Sen. Heller currently serves on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; and the Special Committee on Aging. Jobs and the economy continue to be Senator Heller’s top priorities.
Sen. Heller is joining an exciting lineup of speakers slated for this year’s ACA Summit. ACA previously announced that Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is planning to address the ACA Summit on Wednesday, March 13, from 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Other leaders in the field of communications policymaking who have accepted invitations to take the stage at the ACA Summit include: Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Commissioner Ajit Pai of the Federal Communications Commission. ACA expects to announce more speakers in the future.
Rep. Scalise is scheduled to address the ACA Summit on Wednesday, March 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
FCC Commissioner Pai is scheduled to have a one-on-one discussion with ACA’s Polka on Wednesday, March 13, while Rep. Barrow will speak the following day, delivering that morning’s address moments before hundreds of ACA Members head to Capitol Hill to discuss issues important to voice, video and broadband providers and consumers.
Independent cable operators from communities all across the great American heartland will gather in Washington, D.C., on March 12-14 to celebrate their two decades of achievement at the 20th Summit.
This year’s ACA Summit – cable’s premier event for smaller, independent and competitive cable operators – will take place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. The Summit is widely considered as the best opportunity for small business owners serving hometown America with advanced communications services to advocate for change in face-to-face exchanges with Obama Administration officials, Capitol Hill lawmakers and senior FCC personnel.
The 20th ACA Summit will extend its tradition as the most important forum nationally to honor the critical role played by independent cable operators that serve rural and remote regions of the country that are typically much more costly to build out with advanced technology.
The year’s ACA Summit will once again underscore the trade group’s firm commitment to finding consensus and highlighting progress made on many critical issues, especially retransmission consent, broadband deployment and access to content on fair and reasonable terms.
ACA is currently seeking exhibitors and sponsors for the event. Interested parties should contact Stacey Leech at [email protected] or (412)-922-8300, ext. 15.
Meanwhile, to register and learn more about ACA Summit 2013, please visit: http://acasummit.org/
About the American Cable Association: Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing about 850 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7.4 million cable subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA’s members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their business. For more information, visit https://acaconnects.org/