Rural Connect

NRTC offers Rural Connect as a place for its members and others interested to follow all topics related to communications technology and how it affects rural electric cooperatives and telecommunications providers. NRTC uses this blog to announce and discuss its products and services. NRTC posts all Rural Connect content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, where you can use the blog to discuss technology, regulatory, legislative and business issues.

Jun 17, 2019

FCC Seeks Nominations for New Precision Ag Task Force

by Randy Sukow

The FCC, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is forming a 15-member “Task Force for Reviewing Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States.” But it will be better known by the slightly less cumbersome Precision Ag Connectivity Task F...

Jun 12, 2019

Pai Plans Action on Broadband Mapping Order in August

by Randy Sukow

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said today that he plans to ready an order to improve the broadband data gathering process in time for the Commission’s scheduled Aug. 2 meeting. The FCC has come under increasingly high pressure from members of congress, industry groups and the general public in recent m...

Jun 10, 2019

Tennessee Study Finds Broadband Improves Rural Employment

by Randy Sukow

A study of all 95 counties in the state of Tennessee has concluded that access to high-speed broadband service “has a significant effect on county-level unemployment rates.” The study, titled “Broadband Speed and Unemployment Rates: Data and Measurement Issues,” also found ev...

Jun 4, 2019

Rural Providers Concerned as FCC Contemplates USF Budget Caps

by Randy Sukow

The FCC late last week proposed to place a budget cap on universal service fund (USF) support. By a 3-2 party line vote, it adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement a cap on the expenditures in entire program in order to better manage the approximately $12 billion annual fund. The propos...

Jun 3, 2019

Rural Telcos Dip Their Toes in High-band 5G Spectrum

by Randy Sukow

Seven NRTC-member rural telephone companies are investing more than $3.7 million to acquire a total of 52 high-band spectrum licenses in the FCC’s “Spectrum Frontier” Auctions. The Commission today released names of the winners of Auction 101 for 28 GHz licenses, which ended in Jan...

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