Highline Recognizes Eleven Townships in Michigan’s Menominee County for being Designated as Smart Rural Communities

ESCANABA, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Highline celebrates eleven Menominee County townships—Spalding, Holmes, Cedarville, Stephenson, Daggett, Menominee, Lake, Nadeau, Meyer, Mellen, and Waucedah Townships—for being named Smart Rural Communities. These townships represent areas in the Upper Peninsula where Highline has connected customers to its gigabit-speed fiber internet.

“Our fiber-based gigabit internet – that is, 1,000 Mbps – provides fast and the most reliable internet available, which Michigan residents deserve”

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In early 2022, Highline was named a Smart Rural Community^SM (SRC) provider by NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. SRC 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.

Highline delivers its subscribers 100% broadband, at 1000/1000 Mbps. As a result of Highline’s national recognition, all of the communities it has connected to real high-speed internet will now be celebrated as Smart Rural Communities¹ in program materials and online at ntca.org/smart-rural-community, joining a national network of similarly innovative communities.

“Our fiber-based gigabit internet – that is, 1,000 Mbps – provides fast and the most reliable internet available, which Michigan residents deserve,” said Bruce Moore, Highline President & General Manager Midwest.

NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield also recognized Highline for this achievement, noting, “We are so excited that as a Smart Rural Community provider, Highline keeps increasing the number of SRCs in their area that are delivering the fastest speeds in some of the most remote and rural communities of our country. I applaud Highline and all of the SRCs for their commitment to enabling cutting-edge technologies that drive innovation and promote economic development in their region and nationwide.”

About Highline

Highline’s mission – to provide an exception al internet experience empowering our customer to work, plan and thrive in a connected world. We believe everyone should have access to the most reliable, fastest internet service at a fair price, regardless of where you live and work. Highline’s heritage companies have been in the telecommunications business for more than 126 years and have built, owned, and operated fiber networks for more than 27 years. Highline currently serves the communication and internet needs of residents and businesses in Michigan, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. Highline is building 10G state of the art Fiber-to-the-Premise, lightning-fast networks to provide Gigabit internet service to tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the country that are currently unserved, underserved and unhappily served.

About NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association

NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA members are leading the technological evolution for rural consumers, delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. ntca.org

About Menominee County, Michigan

Menominee is the southernmost county in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It includes a land area of 1,044 square miles or about 668,000 acres. Nearly 80% of the county is forested with another 10% in agricultural use. The economy is anchored by a large manufacturing base in the city of Menominee and agribusiness - most notably dairying and forest products. It leads the Upper Peninsula in dairy production and agriculture overall.

¹ To receive recognition as an SRC provider, Highline was required to affirm that it offers a minimum of 25/3 Mbps broadband to at least 50% of its service area, that it has broadband subscription rates of at least 50%, and that it is committed to program principles of collaboration and innovation.