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Economic Impact of FTTH at the Household and Regional Level
Professors Brian Whitacre and Roberto Gallardo analyze the significance of fiber broadband in housing markets and regional economies. Whitacre’s study found a 1-1.5% housing price premium in areas with fiber access across Texas, Iowa, and Minnesota. This increase could potentially elevate rural housing values nationwide by $36.9 billion. Gallardo’s preliminary research in Indiana suggests that…
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What is a Smart Rural Community?
Nancy J. White is the right person to answer the question, “What is a Smart Rural Community?”. As the General Manager of one of the first recipients of this award some ten years ago, White understands what it takes to receive this highly coveted designation. Fundamentally, it is about helping the community take advantage of…
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The Smart and Secure Farm & More
“Agriculture faces no less of a threat from cybersecurity incidents or adversarial impacts than any other industry,” says NTCA’s Josh Seidemann. In the above interview, filmed at NTCA’s Smart Rural Community Live, Seidemann, who is NTCA’s VP of Policy and Innovation, provides terrifying examples of potential vulnerabilities as agriculture becomes increasingly reliant on technology. He…
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The Invisible Factory Enabled by the PRTC FTTH Network – #SRCLIVE
Description: The focus of FOCUS is economic development in the five-county area that PRTC (The People’s Fiber Network) also serves with a state-of-the-art, all-fiber optic network. Thanks to that network, PRTC is recognized as an NTCA Smart Rural Community. This southeastern Kentucky-based non-profit and cooperative communications provider, respectively, “Envision Rural”, as FOCUS’ tagline indicates. That…
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Connecting and Collaborating at SRC Live and Beyond
Video Summary “What we are trying to do here at this meeting [SRC Live] is to connect all the dots,” explains NTCA CEO, Shirley Bloomfield, in the above video. SRC Live is about communications, collaboration, and sharing best practices between NTCA Smart Community members. It is about learning how to maximize the value of the…
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Making the Community Smart and Attractive
One of the bigger challenges for rural communities is creating career opportunities for young people; particularly those who leave for college, as many times never come back to their hometown. Clint Carter, Director | New Technology and Service Introduction for North Central Telephone Cooperative (NCTC) lived this reality as his options when he started his career were away…
