A semiconductor package and a package mounting substrate can be joined using a conductive material column. Each of the semiconductor package and the package mounting substrate include an insulating protective opening exposing a wiring layer therein. The solder column resides within the insulating protective openings to electrically couple the wiring layers. The insulating protective openings protect the solder column against stress faults to form reliable electrical connections and to support high-density electrical connections between the semiconductor package and the package mounting substrate.