In the far west of United's region, the average is half a household per square mile, according to Carlson. Worse, the rural population is in decline, which explains why U S West has left to concentrate its efforts in profitable metropolitan centers. Cooperatives have no such luxury. It's in their charters to serve all the customers in their areas, regardless of cost. To be sure, some receive federal subsidies, but neither United nor Garden Valley sees much of this money since both keep costs below the national average.
Subsidies kick in only when the cost of laying phone lines rises above average.
One answer is to expand the customer base, as United did. It bought Turtle Mountain Communications Co. to create a service area of 12,000 customers. United also has a 40 percent share in North Dakota Telephone Co., based in Devils Lake, which means it gets 40 percent of the profits. Another method is to diversify. For many years, Garden Valley has relied on fees paid by long-distance carriers to go through its network.