WASHINGTON, August 13, 2003—The Appalachian Regional Commission will host Rural TeleCon '03, the annual conference of the Rural Telecommunications Congress, September 28–October 1 in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Capitol Hill. With its focus on national rural broadband policy and applications for economic growth, the conference is an event for all interested in making technology work for rural communities.

ARC Federal Co-Chair Anne B. Pope will welcome the participants. Speakers at the conference will include Montana senator Conrad Burns; Virginia congressman Robert Goodlatte; Federal Communications Commission commissioner Michael Copps; Progressive Policy Institute vice president Robert Atkinson; and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers senior member Alan McAdams.

The conference will hold more than 15 general and concurrent sessions on topics ranging from e-government to telehealth and telemedicine. Presenters will include Andrew Cohill, nationally recognized telecom expert, discussing community networking; Harry Roesch, ARC senior telecommunications adviser, reviewing demand aggregation strategies; and a number of federal agency program administrators identifying promising practices related to broadband implementation. There will also be a congressional briefing and reception at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, September 30.

Participants are encouraged to register for the conference online at www.ruraltelecon.org. The deadline for lodging reservations at the Hyatt Regency's special conference rate is August 28.