WILLCOX — Safford, Thatcher, Willcox and Sunsites are now known as Smart Rural Communities, thanks to Valley Telecom.
Valley Telephone Cooperative was recently named a Smart Rural Community provider by NTCA — The Rural Broadband Association.
Smart Rural Community is a national network of communities powered by innovative rural broadband providers that are building a brighter future for small-town America. The program promotes rural broadband and its role in supporting innovative economic development, effective education, efficient energy distribution and use, state-of-the-art health care and other important issues for rural America.
In order to receive recognition as a SRC provider, Valley was required to affirm that it offers 100 Mbps broadband to at least 50 percent of its service area; that it has broadband subscription rates of at least 50 percent; and that it is committed to program principles of collaboration and innovation.
Valley Telecom has also partnered with Fiber Homes, the nation’s first fiber internet search service, to give people looking to buy or rent a home in their service areas a convenient way to determine the quality of internet available at any given address.
Valley has certified over 5,000 fiber serviceable addresses with Fiber Homes locally. They join over 100 other fiber providers from around the country in Fiber Homes’ database of over 1.8 million certified fiber addresses. The database is updated in real time, ensuring that when new homes are connected to a fiber network, consumers consulting FiberHomes.com are the first to know.
“Reliable broadband internet is no longer optional for homebuyers, it’s become a basic requirement for anyone wanting to fully participate in the modern economy. Our goal with Fiber Homes is to make sure that anyone looking to buy or rent a home has access to this crucial information,” said Robert Gilbert, CEO of Fiber Homes.
In today’s world, people are working from home, getting work assignments, medical care, taking college courses and of course getting entertainment through HD online streaming services. As a result, fiber broadband internet services that provide for these capabilities have become as critical to consumers as connections to gas, electricity, and water supplies.
