Wall, S.D., Telecommunications Firm Improves Services to Reservation
Story-Date: 09:39 a.m. PST Sunday   , November 30, 1997

------------------------------------------------------------

Wall, S.D., Telecommunications Firm Improves Services to Reservation


By Kevin F. Peniska, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D.
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News

WALL, S.D.--Dec. 1--Golden West Telecommunications Inc. of Wall, S.D., has
been aggressively upgrading their services to the people on the Pine Ridge
Reservation.

Success is evident as this substantial upgrade solidifies Golden West's
commitment to bringing state-of-the-art technology services to the people
of rural South Dakota. The company recognized the overwhelming demand for
new services on the Pine Ridge reservation, according to Tim Fast, outside
plants supervisor.

"They're building a lot of new homes on the reservation, and we have placed
much of the new cable for these homes as well as upgrading the existing
services where they are more or less meeting the needs for technology as we
see them today."

Golden West Telecommunications serves most of the Pine Ridge Reservation
with the exception of the Batesland area. In the last five years, Golden
West has developed a new telecommunications network that includes
approximately 250 miles of fiber optic cable and several hundred miles of
copper facilities.

Some of the communities or areas served by the fiber optic network are
Prairie Winds Casino; Loneman School; Oglala, Pine Ridge; Manderson;
Porcupine; Evergreen; Oglala Lakota College; Kyle; Potato Creek; Allen;
Wanblee, Long Valley; Norris; and in the spring of 1998, Sharps Corner and
Rockyford.

The fiber optic system provides the long distance service and special
access services to these communities as well as the network services
between Oglala Lakota College and its community colleges throughout the
reservations for the college's interactive video system and Internet
service.

Because of extensive upgrading of services like long distance , voice data,
and caller ID, people are enjoying newer technology.

"In quite a few of the areas we already have these services, and in another
three to four months there will probably be several more areas with these
services," Mr. Fast said.

In addition, Golden West cable programming will soon be transported over
the same fiber optic cable, bringing customers high quality broadcast
signals.

According to Golden West, "the network itself utilizes a self-healing
design that drastically limits the chance of major outages to long distance
and other service in the event of a cable cut."

Mr. Fast said that customer satisfaction is one of their primary goals.

"Of all our areas we serve this area Pine Ridge is probably the fastest
growing area we have," Mr. Fast said. "We have two construction crews that
go full time down there all summer long just to keep up with requests for
the Pine Ridge and Kyle areas alone."

Pine Ridge Reservation and its communities are growing and so are its
telecommunication needs.

-----

Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at
http://www.indiancountry.com/

-----

(c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News.



------------------------------------------------------------