NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association is a membership association with the goal of improving communications services in rural America. With a membership comprising nearly 850 independent rural American telecommunications companies in forty-four states, NTCA provides training and employee benefit packages to its members. It also advocates rural issues to legislatures, including universal service, rural infrastructure, cybersecurity, telemedicine, and consumer protection.
History
In 1949, the Rural Electrification Administration loan program was established to give long-term, low-interest loans to rural telephone systems. In response, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association created a committee of representatives from emerging joint electric-telephone cooperative organizations. On June 1, 1954, the eight committee members founded the National Telephone Cooperative Association as a separate national organization that would represent telephone cooperatives. In 1956, NTCA successfully advocated for the maintenance of the REA telephone loan program, which the Eisenhower Administration had attempted to terminate. The organization soon entered into an agreement with NRECA to make the NRECA's insurance and benefit programs available to the employees of NTCA member organizations. By the end of 1956, NTCA’s membership had grown from its original eight members to sixty members, with that figure growing to nearly one hundred members during the 1960s. Throughout the 1960s, NTCA worked to improve the availability of financing to its members by supporting the REA and advocating for the creation of a supplemental bank for rural telephone systems. In 1971, Congress established the Rural Telephone Bank to provide financing to rural telephone companies. In 1970 NTCA allowed locally-owned and controlled commercial telecoms to join the association as non-voting members and in 1971 held its first legislative conference. During the 1970s, NTCA’s membership grew to nearly three hundred. During the 1990s, NTCA participated in the advocacy efforts that led to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a rewrite of the communications regulations of the United States that would deregulate and increase competition for the broadcasting and telecommunications markets. NTCA also urged the Federal Communications Commission to retain effective competition standards for small cable systems and to support the removal of the telephone and cable television cross-ownership ban. In 1994, NTCA established the Foundation for Rural Service, a nonprofit foundation with the goal of spreading awareness of rural issues. In 2002, NTCA changed its name from the National Telephone Cooperative Association to the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. In 2013, NTCA and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies merged into one organization called NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. The new organization included NTCA's 580 members and OPASTCO's 372 members.
Programs
NTCA has several programs to further its goals of supporting rural telecommunications cooperatives, including Smart Rural Community, Gig-Capable Provider certification, and the Foundation for Rural Service. Smart Rural Community is a program with the goal of increasing the use of broadband and technology in rural America and Canada by providing educational programming, providing grants, and giving awards. Gig-Capable Provider certification is a program that certifies telecommunications companies that are capable of delivering gigabit broadband speeds to rural communities. The Foundation for Rural Service spreads awareness of rural issues by distributing educational resources, performing research, and giving scholarships to rural students. Through its subsidiaries, NTCA also provides insurance and benefits programs to its members, runs a political action committee, and sells telecommunications equipment and technical services at group rates.
