HOT SPRINGS, Va.--Independent telephone companies are at a critical juncture in their history and run multiple risks in both the regulatory and competitive arenas, speakers at the 43^rd Annual OPASTCO Summer Convention and Trade Show warned Monday.

This is the time for greater unity, especially on the lobbying front, OPASTCO Chairman Chad Miles told the assembled group at the event’s first general session this morning.

“Our unity is being challenged,” he said. “This is our defining moment.”

With issues such as telecom reform, net neutrality and Universal Service Fund caps all being bandied about in Washington, it is more important than ever that smaller companies speak with one voice so they can be heard “over the drum beat of the largest companies and their lobbying efforts,” Miles said, in promoting the Coalition to Keep America Connected that OPASTCO formed with other rural and independent telco groups last October.

Miles also challenged OPASTCO’s members to be constantly reaching out to local members of Congress and reminding them of the critical role that rural telcos play in deploying broadband services to smaller communities and less densely populated areas.

“We also need to be proactive in finding creative solutions instead of constantly going to Congress and saying what we don’t want,” he said.

As the issue of network neutrality continues to grow in Washington, to the point that it is overshadowing other telecom concerns, rural telcos are finding their interests don’t coincide with those of major players such as AT&T and Verizon, Miles added. Because OPASTCO members don’t operate Internet backbones of their own, they must count on non-discriminatory access to those facilities in order to bring their customers the services of tomorrow.

For that reason, OPASTCO has filed ex parte comments with the FCC seeking additional conditions on the AT&T-BellSouth merger that would guarantee affordable access to the AT&T network post-merger, he said.

“We had a very good meeting with AT&T,” Miles told the assembly. “They understood our concerns. But they also made it clear that in the regulatory arena, they are going to play hardball.”

At the same time, he added, AT&T might be willing to work with rural telcos on issues such as access to content. “We may have to look in strange places to find allies,” Miles said.

Affordable access to content is a growing concern for rural telcos that are adding video to their broadband service bundle, he said, and obtaining that access may also mean banding together as a team.