Contact: Lauren Gaydos, 703-351-2015
Dallas, Texas (February 15, 2022)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield today announced the winners of the 2021 Smart Rural CommunitySM (SRC) Showcase Awards, presented annually to top-performing NTCA member broadband providers to recognize their extraordinary achievements in promoting rural broadband networks and their broadband-enabled applications in rural communities.
The following communities were recognized:
- Alexandria, Tennessee (served by DTC Communications)
- Bemidji, Minnesota (served by Paul Bunyan Communications)
- Greenfield, Indiana (served by NineStar Connect)
The Smart Rural Community program is a network of communities supported by NTCA members who are committed to driving growth and creating opportunities through robust broadband service. The Smart Rural Community Showcase Awards recognize extraordinary achievements in promoting rural broadband networks and their broadband-enabled applications in rural communities. Communities are awarded based on their ability to demonstrate the use of these technologies to enable innovative solutions to improve economic development, education, health care and other vital services.
“To be a Smart Rural Community provider means going above and beyond to provide the highest quality service to your neighbors,” said Bloomfield. “And the Showcase Award Winners are those who best exemplify the ways a broadband provider can change lives and help their community thrive. I congratulate DTC, Paul Bunyan, and NineStar Connect on their tremendous work and thank them for their commitment to serving rural America.”
The 2021 Showcase Award Winners were announced at the 2022 Rural Telecom Industry Meeting and EXPO (RTIME).
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovative change in smart rural communities across America. In an era of transformative technological developments, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are advancing efforts to close the digital divide by delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks. Their commitment to building sustainable networks makes rural communities fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit us at www.ntca.org.