The Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC) is a national membership organization dedicated to assuring that rural areas in the United States have access to the information and support they need to obtain and use advanced telecommunications services and technology for social and economic development.
The world of telecommunications is constantly changed by new applications that carry us deeper into the Information Age. Public policy often lags far behind the impacts that new technology has on individuals and society. Rural communities often lag behind cities in deploying new technologies that are so critical to community and economic development, so we must work to ensure that we do not create "digital dustbowls" of the future.
The RTC is based on an old-fashioned idea, designed to serve as Rural America's "party line" of today's Information Age in the same way the telephone party line was used the 20th Century to share news and information within a community. RTC offers a new way to link broadband-enabled communities of interest with industry and rural community leaders and innovators. The opportunity is to develop vital networks within a virtual environment to learn from each other about projects - an opportunity to celebrate and share successes and to identify our barriers to success and create a nationally recognized common voice to overcome them.