Upcountry Fiber wins national Smart Rural Community Showcase Award
November 10, 2026
Upcountry Fiber, a high-speed fiber internet provider serving Anderson, Greenville, Oconee and Pickens counties, has received a 2026 Smart Rural Community Showcase Award from NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. NTCA recognized Upcountry Fiber for its community education program, which offers free classes on streaming, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and Wi-Fi management to residents across its service areas. NTCA CEO Mike Romano announced the winners at the association’s 2026 Fall Conference in Nashville, Tenn.
The Showcase Awards honor rural broadband providers that deliver reliable connectivity and also lead collaborative projects that put that connectivity to work for their communities. Upcountry Fiber was one of only eight providers nationwide to receive the award this year. NTCA’s Smart Rural Community program includes 300 communities across rural America supported by NTCA member providers.
Upcountry Fiber is a partnership between two South Carolina cooperatives: Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative and West Carolina. The two organizations were founded generations ago to bring electricity and telephone service to rural areas that larger companies passed by, and they launched Upcountry Fiber in 2020 to do the same for high-speed internet. Blue Ridge Electric builds the mainline fiber, and West Carolina connects homes and businesses and provides service.
“Fiber gets the internet to your door, but it doesn’t teach you how to spot a scam or set up a guest network for the grandkids,” said Chris Townson, CEO of West Carolina and co-CEO of Upcountry Fiber. “Every one of these classes started with a question a customer asked us. Being recognized nationally for listening and answering those questions means a great deal to everyone at Upcountry Fiber.”
Upcountry Fiber launched the program with a single class, Streaming 101, to help customers understand their broadband service and feel confident cutting the cord. Conversations in that class revealed that many attendees had been targeted by online scams, so the team added Digital Defense, a cybersecurity class taught by network technicians. Customer feedback later led to classes on getting the most from managed Wi-Fi and AI 101, a plain-language introduction to artificial intelligence and its risks. The program held approximately 20 classes in 2026, with nine more scheduled, and averages 25 to 30 attendees per session, with wait lists for upcoming courses.
Classes take place in service centers and wherever communities already gather, including churches, community colleges, libraries, town halls and senior living communities. Upcountry Fiber works with county sheriff’s departments, which share emerging fraud trends that keep the cybersecurity curriculum current, and with Tri-County Technical College, which hosts classes and cross-promotes programs with Upcountry Fiber.
“When our members learn how to protect themselves online and get more out of their connection, the whole community benefits,” said Jim Lovinggood, president and CEO of Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative and co-CEO of Upcountry Fiber. “Upcountry Fiber exists because two cooperatives decided they could do more together than apart, and this award shows what that partnership can accomplish.”
Upcountry Fiber recently added a full-time Education Manager to lead and expand the program. The next phase focuses on youth, with a partnership framework for local schools that introduces digital skills, online safety and technology literacy to students.
About Upcountry Fiber
Upcountry Fiber is a high-speed fiber internet provider to Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens counties. Established in Fall 2020, Upcountry Fiber is the product of a partnership between Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative and West Carolina. Founded by organizations created to electrify and connect rural areas of South Carolina; decades later, Upcountry Fiber’s mission is to bridge the digital divide. Offering symmetrical internet speeds up to 1 Gbps over a fiber network, Upcountry Fiber has the fastest and most reliable high-speed internet in the area. To learn more about Upcountry Fiber, visit us at www.UpcountryFiber.com.
