For the Smart Rural Community, Broadband is Just the Beginning

“A robust broadband network is the foundation of a smart rural community,” according to an NTCA White Paper entitled The Smart Rural Community; but “It is important to note that the mere presence of a robust, next-generation broadband network does not create a smart rural community.”

The NTCA paper explores the meaning of “smart rural community” by providing insightful examples from rural areas across the country. The paper also makes declarations about how smart rural communities benefit local consumers and businesses by going above and beyond simply providing a fast, fat pipe to the premises. Generally speaking, “A smart rural community relies on broadband networks to enable a series of applications that the community can leverage for innovative economic development and commerce, top-notch education, first-rate healthcare, cutting-edge government services, enhanced security and more efficient utilities use.” By reading the smart rural community examples in the NTCA paper, you can visualize a smart rural community as a stack of interrelated applications and services from the individual household level all the way up to the government level, and everything in between.