Connected by Fiber Broadband, We Can Achieve More Together

A Smart Community is about connection — neighbors to friends, teachers to students, doctors to patients, new businesses to customers, and a community to the world. Connected by fiber broadband we can achieve more, together.

NTCA’s Smart Communities are made possible by carefully vetted, fiber-based broadband providers who are committed to driving growth and creating opportunities — and by the educators, health care providers, farmers, small business owners and other partners who help their communities thrive. 

The flagship brand of NTCA’s Smart Communities is Smart Rural CommunitySM (SRC). SRC providers are committed, community-based providers offering high-speed broadband to the farthest reaches of the country. The program also includes Smart Tribal CommunitySM for broadband providers serving tribal lands, and Smart Connected CommunitySM providers, who serve more suburban communities. No matter where, NTCA Smart Community providers are committed to providing the highest-quality service. 

What does it mean to be a Smart Rural Community?

Bemidji, Minnesota is a small city surrounded by several hundred miles of farmland and forest. Paul Bunyan Communications has served this area of north-central Minnesota for nearly 70 years, and thanks to PBC's high-speed broadband, health care providers are offering safe, reliable telehealth services in one of the most rural areas of Minnesota.
 

Sacred Wind Communications began as a way to bring high-speed internet into a community that has historically been considered “too rural” to support. In 2020, Sacred Wind completed a project in partnership with the Navajo Housing Authority to bring fiber-optic cable to Navajo families.  For the people living in these communities, fiber has been a means of keeping their families safe, educated, and connected—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 

As a Smart Rural Community, Gainesboro, Tenn., served by Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative, is supporting a nationwide trend of leaving big cities behind for life in the suburbs and beyond. 

Upcoming Events

Smart Communities in Conversation

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill 

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Get Started With SRC

Are you an NTCA member who provides rural broadband service and actively leads or collaborates on innovative projects to advance the communities you serve? Join the network of Smart Community providers and be a part of the movement that helps put these communities on the map. 

Getting started is easy. To qualify as an NTCA Smart Community provider you must meet the following:

  • Be an NTCA ILEC member in good-standing
  • Offer 100 Mbps broadband to 50% or more of your service area
  • Have broadband subscription rates of at least 50%
  • Affirm your commitment to the SRC principles and collaborative innovation

 

Showcase Your Work: Smart Rural Community℠ Showcase Awards

If you are creating opportunities and enhancing the quality of life in your rural communities using your robust broadband networks, we challenge you to showcase your work by applying for the Smart Rural Community℠ Showcase Awards.

Your company has worked tirelessly throughout the year to promote rural broadband networks and broadband-enabled applications in your community through innovative economic development, education, health care, government services, safety and security, and other vital needs.

Share your achievements with the industry and inspire others in the SRC network by submitting your application. Together, we can work toward building a brighter future for rural America.

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Thank You to the SRC Sponsors

 

Platinum Sponsor

 

  • NCSC

 

  • Calix

  • CoBank

  • JSI

  • NISC

  • NRTC

  • VertiGis

 

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