Stories of Innovation

The following is the third preview installment of an upcoming Smart Rural Community SM paper on ag tech. Previous installments provided an overview of the U.S. farm industry and examples of ag tech for crop and livestock production. AG TECH...

The independent community-based communications world lost a giant in our industry this past week with the passing of Marjorie Silliman Rose Becker, a life-long resident of Middleburgh, NY and the Chairman of The Middleburgh Telephone Company (MIDTEL). She was known...

By Jason Smith This article is presented by the NTCA Innovation & Business Opportunity Committee (IBOC). The author currently serves as chair of the IBOC. Like other rural communications providers, Rainbow Communications (Everest, Kan.) enjoys a special connection to its...

We talk so much about the digital divide – and we certainly have learned a lot about that gap over the course of the last fourteen months. Across the country, one of the things we’ve really learned is that those...

The following is part of an ongoing Smart Rural Community SM series on ag tech. In our first installment, published May 11, we shared an overview of U.S. farm markets. In the following section, we will explore examples of ag...

This week had me pulling out my handy carry-on suitcase and getting out on the road to visit with our NTCA broadband providers in my home state of Wisconsin. Even though this has not been my first plane ride since...

The NTCA Marketing & Sales Conference is always a delight, with heaps of optimism and enthusiasm for the future. The 2021 Marketing & Sales Conference Online was no different, with a future focus that left attendees jazzed about what a...

Here at NTCA, we took another step forward this week with our two new member programs: Smart Tribal Community SM and Smart Connected Community SM , all under our fabulous Smart Rural Community SM network. The power of this Smart...

This week has been exciting in the opportunities that NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association has had in sharing our timely thoughts on broadband deployment with Congress. The ability to catch our collective breaths and share some thoughtful reaction on the importance...

On May 12, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association sent an urgent notice to our members about CISA and FBI best practices following the highly publicized Colonial Pipeline cyberattack. These expert agencies recommend that critical system owners and operators prioritize...

Broadband is a critical component of our nation’s infrastructure system, no doubt about it! As attention continues to grow around infrastructure initiatives, with broadband in the mix, when allocating resources for broadband, we should really ensure that as a nation...

Over the next several weeks, Smart Rural Community SM will publish preview installments of an upcoming paper on agricultural technology and the role of broadband in supporting farming and farming communities. Readers are invited to submit comments to or request...

An oft-repeated narrative, and one that frequently generates inquiry, is the so-called “shrinking” of rural America. But a look at the underlying data reveals those impressions may deceptive, and that the so-called shrinking of rural America in fact reflects pockets...

One doesn’t even need to look at a calendar to know that we have been in a Pandemic-driven virtual world for over a year because here at NTCA, we just finished hosting our second annual virtual Legislative and Policy Conference...

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently featured a report on healthcare tech. It discussed the so-called obvious and non-obvious, including developments in telemedicine spurred by COVID-19 and whether AI can replace human therapists . For the latter, there is a...

SolarWinds, Microsoft, Target, Marriot….the list of CyberSecurity breaches of international proportions has only accelerated over the past few years and then a Pandemic hit! Here at NTCA, we started our CyberShare product as a pilot project 5 years ago, ahead...

As we begin what really could be “Infrastructure Week”, it is clear that the knives are sharpening around possible funding that might be coming under consideration for broadband deployment (and hopefully sustaining that broadband as well). While I do think...

It has been a slow and cautious road to figuring how when and where to travel again as we start to peek our head out of the burrows that we have made during the Pandemic. For a number of reason...

NTCA members have always been committed neighbors who step up to the plate when their communities need help. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, NTCA providers have worked alongside their community partners to make sure people were connected when life went almost...