MetaSwitch eNews - July 2007

Mescalero Apache Telecom, Inc. (MATI) is a full service telecommunications company serving the Mescalaro Apache Indian Reservation in south central New Mexico. The Tribal Corporation is 100% owned by the Tribe and, in addition to providing leading edge services to its own subscribers, it is dedicated to improving telecommunications across all of Indian Country.

Background

In order to promote economic development in the reservation's 500,000 acre geography, the Mescalaro Apache Indian Reservation needed a robust, broadband infrastructure. With the ILEC at the time not willing to invest in its network, the communications service was poor and high quality voice and data services were not widely available. As a result, the tribal government purchased the ILEC's network that served the reservation and formed the company, Mescalero Apache Telecom, Inc. (MATI) in 2001 in order to develop the network and provide higher quality telecommunications services than previously available.

Once formed, MATI rebuilt the network and installed more than 100 route miles of fiber to provide a full bundle of wireline communications services. According to MATI's General Manager, Godfrey Enjady, "a tribally owned telephone company can control the capacity and speed of upgrades and align its own priorities to meet the reservation's needs such as providing high wage jobs to tribal members and help contribute to a greater per-capita income growth for the community."

The MetaSwitch Solution

MATI selected the MetaSwitch VP3510 Class 5 Softswitch platform to seamlessly support features such as LNP and CALEA and to support deployment of VoIP over its existing infrastructure and beyond its region through fixed wireless. Says Enjady, although it had previously installed a legacy Class 5 switch, "when we looked at the economics of upgrading our existing switch compared with that of deploying a MetaSwitch, the decision was pretty straightforward."

Results

The reservation has reaped the rewards of its efforts as evidenced by an increase in the percentage of homes with telephone service from 10 percent to 97 percent. Residents can now also take advantage of distance learning programs now available from local area colleges, and schools can now provide their students with computer labs which utilize high-speed Internet access. On the corporate front, it has supported the advanced communications needs of tribal businesses including of its two casinos that enjoy MATI-provided gigabit Ethernet and a VoIP IP PBX.

MATI Telecommunications Conference and Inter-Tribal Technical Mentoring

In 2003, MATI hosted its first telecom conference and was named Enterprise of the Year by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. The conference provides a forum for others who faced similar challenges as MATI, to share best practices regarding a range of topics - from technical, to marketing, to finance.

MATI trains its personnel through the MetaSwitch training courses covering the essentials of operating its platform, from basic training to advanced troubleshooting techniques. Leveraging its growing in-house expertise, MATI also supports other tribes that are interested in achieving their telecommunications goals, including the Pohoaque Pueblo in New Mexico and the Saint Regis Mohawks in New York.

The Case for Tribal Ownership

According to a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the telephone subscribership rate for Native Americans living on tribal lands has lagged behind the overall national rate and the FCC has identified that Native Americans were having difficulty obtaining access to advanced telecommunications services. Based on its success, MATI has become strong advocate for tribal ownership of its telecommunications network and frequently consults with other tribes on the topic. Enjady makes the case for ownership in order to:

MATI is also very cognizant of the challenges of owning and operating its own telecommunications company including financial and regulatory. With partners like MetaSwitch, many of the technical challenges associated with building and operating a network have been mitigated.

Their mission is now one of educating other tribes that ownership is possible and has real benefits. Cites Enjady, "MetaSwitch has been a great partner to us through our own development, and is at the forefront of understanding the opportunities of supporting delivery of telecommunications services to the underserved Indian Country."