NRTC Boosts Strategic Planning Capability With CrowdFiber Acquisition

Today, NRTC announced that it has acquired CrowdFiber, a Rome, GA-based software leader in broadband marketing and online sales automation. CrowdFiber excels at using analysis of geographic areas to plan business and marketing strategies. Many NRTC telco and electric members are already CrowdFiber clients. This acquisition will strengthen NRTC’s support for members planning and operating broadband, smart grid and mobile businesses.

NRTC said that current CrowdFiber customers will see no changes to services or staff. CrowdFiber also will continue to work with other companies and consultants outside of NRTC who are assisting rural broadband providers.

CEO Tim Bryan gave members attending the NRTC’s March 1 Annual Meeting in New Orleans a heads-up that the acquisition announcement was coming. He said that CrowdFiber’s analytic abilities would be especially useful during the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) application and bidding processes. In his speech, he provided a short demonstration of what CrowdFiber mapping software can do.

“Where to bid? What to bid? We don’t think there’s anybody more capable of taking care of your needs than NRTC,” Bryan said. “[CrowdFiber has] a great mapping technology, a great marketing and sales approach, and the wonderful thing is for a company like NRTC that has telephone companies as well as electrics, their customers are split roughly evenly between telcos and electrics.”

In a message to NRTC members earlier today, NRTC said that it has helped its members connect 550,000 rural homes and businesses. “The CrowdFiber platform will help members attract and retain subscribers and provide the tools needed to expand their businesses continually,” NRTC said.