The Foundation for Rural Service reports…

Thanks to the generosity of NTCA members, the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) creates opportunities for policymakers to experience firsthand the realities of rural America. Last week, 14 staff members from the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate joined FRS for the 2026 Congressional Broadband Tour — an immersive, four-day educational program that this year spanned South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. We believe the true impact of broadband is best understood by visiting communities where reliable connectivity is transforming lives, businesses, healthcare, education, agriculture and public safety. That was the tour’s purpose: to move beyond maps and funding formulas and invite congressional staff to experience rural broadband where it is being built, maintained and used every day.

I’ll skip right to the Minnesota portion of the tour…

From Flandreau, S.D., we traveled to the second and third states, where attendees witnessed broadband construction in action. Stops with Terry Nelson, general manager of Woodstock Telephone Company (Ruthton, Minn.), and Ryan Boone, CEO of Premier Communications (Sioux Center, Iowa), highlighted the complexity of fiber deployment — from underground boring to splicing fiber on the side of the road — and underscored the significant investments required to reach even the smallest rural communities. Many thanks to Ryan Boone and the team at Premier Communications for the tour of their central office and for the opportunity for congressional staff members to try their hand at splicing fiber.

The group also saw how broadband has become indispensable across virtually every sector of rural life. At Dordt University’s Agriculture Stewardship Center, a presentation highlighted the importance of agriculture to the state economy and how data-driven equipment, remote monitoring, and connected technologies help farmers improve efficiency and sustainability. The stop also gave attendees the chance to get inside a brand-new John Deere combine.