Spokane Is Really A Wired Scene Communications System’S Full Capabilities Unknown

Spokane has an extraordinary telecommunications system that does not get all the notice it deserves, experts in the industry said Thursday.

Although several employers have moved to the area or increased the size of their operations because of the number of fiber-optic and cellular carriers, the full capabilities remain somewhat unknown, said a consultant from SeaTac, Wash.

J.R. Simmons said Spokane is among the most wired cities in the United States.

As recently as 20 years ago, he noted, more than 20 percent of local phones were rotary dial.

Simmons is the chief executive officer of TMC Group LLC, a consulting firm.

He predicted telecommunication devices worn on the wrist will soon have greater communication, computing and data-storage capabilities than much bigger machines on desktops and in computer rooms.

The technology will be based on the use of light-based or chemistry-based computing faster than today’s electron-driven technology, Simmons said.

But he told a business and student audience at Spokane Falls Community College that fascination with technology must not distract from the basics of human interaction.

“We’re starting to lose that personal touch,” Simmons said.

Terry Sticka, Northwest manager of sales and systems engineering for Touch America, advised students to focus on basic English and math skills. Then take all the technology and information-processing classes you can handle, he said.

Sticka said telecommunications vendors in the Spokane area outnumber those of comparable communities like Boise and Omaha, Neb.

“It is extraordinary what we have here,” he said, adding that businesses not only benefit from the variety, but the competition that drives down prices.

Sticka said companies that rely on high-speed telecommunications are drawn to communities that have those resources in depth.

The recent decision by ICT Group to locate a service center for AOL customers proves that, he said.

Glenn Blackmon, an expert in telecommunications policy with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, said Spokane has benefited more than any other city in the state from legislative and commission decisions to open the communications market to as many vendors as possible.

“We hear about Spokane all the time,” he said, because the city is on the cutting edge of the new world of new communications services.

“Spokane is important to telecommunications in this state,” he said.