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About Us

Core Values
Scholarships
Our Team
Careers

About Us

A Better Experience Starts Here.

Polar Communications is a local telecommunications cooperative serving the Red River Valley and surrounding areas. We are proud of our rural roots, which stretch back to 1952, when a group of residents teamed up to bring telephone service to their neighbors. This care for our community has persisted through the decades, and we express it in ways that go beyond the literal phone, internet, security, and IT services we provide. We invest in new technologies and create new products that address today’s challenges. But more importantly, we give to good causes, fund scholarships, and take actions that make life easier for our members and non-members alike; ones that support the towns we serve and make them more attractive places to live and work. Because when our small towns thrive, so do the people in them.

Service Area

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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF:

Adams, Aneta, Argusville, Arthur, Arvilla, Backoo, Bartlett, Bathgate, Bowesmont, Brocket, Cavalier, Christine, Clifford, Conway, Crystal, Dahlen, East Drayton, Edinburg, Edmore, Emerado, Fairdale, Fordville, Forest River, Galesburg, Gardar, Gilby, Glasston, Grafton, Grand Forks, Hamilton, Hensel, Honeyford, Hoople, Hunter, Inkster, Johnstown, Joliette, Lakota, Lankin, Larimore, Lawton, Mapes, McCanna, Michigan, Minto, Mountain, Neche, Nekoma, Niagara, Northwood, Orr, Park River, Pembina, Petersburg, Pisek, Robbin, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Thompson, Walcott, Warsaw, Whitman, and Wolverton.

Committed to Community

Committed to Quality

Our Pledge to You

Our People

Over the years we’ve learned that the key to great communication isn’t amazing technology, it’s incredible people. And Polar Communications has proven that success isn’t measured in dollars, but in satisfied customers and loyal employees. Our roots are here in the heartland, and that means that the only thing you’ll appreciate more than the cutting-edge technology we offer is the outstanding service that backs it up. That’s our pledge to you.

Connected In Rural USA

Our Service

Polar Communications provides telecommunications services to more than 8,000 subscribers in North Dakota and Minnesota. Our fiber optic network allows us to bring you the very best in voice and broadband Internet services at an affordable rate. We also provide advanced business services such as phone systems, video surveillance, and advanced networking. Living in rural America doesn’t mean you have to be disconnected.

The Very Best Tech

Our Commitment

Polar Communications is committed to bringing our customers the very best communication technology available today, then backing that technology up with the same great service you’ve come to expect from us. Whether you’re Snapchatting friends, video chatting with your sister in Europe, or streaming your favorite series, our goal is to make your life easier and more convenient. That’s our mission, and it has been for more than 70 years.

Superior Customer Service

Our Mission

Polar Communications is an exceptional provider of voice and broadband Internet services in the Red River Valley and surrounding area. The services provided are the result of superior customer service combined with state-of-the-art network technologies.

About Us

Our Core Values

Technology & Innovation

Polar prides itself on consistently being able to offer the most up to date services and technologies available to the customers we serve to ensure a strong and healthy exchange for everyone.

People Driven

We are committed to ensuring the success of both our fellow employees and customers by focusing on building and maintaining relationships that are respectful, honest, and professional. consistently.

Teamwork

Success is built by relationships. Through respect, encouragement, and collaboration we will be a strong united team that completes great things together.

Commitment

By displaying commitment and pride in and for our Company and our customers, we will continue to help grow the community in which we serve.

Our Community

Our Community

Scholarships

For questions on scholarships, contact Amy Thompson athompson@polartel.com or 701-284-4361

John G. Walters

Scholarship

Named after Polar’s first general manager, the John G. Walters Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 each is being awarded to fifteen graduating high school seniors who plan on continuing their education at an accredited 2-year or 4-year college, university, or vocational-technical school.

Recipients’ parents or guardians must be full-time residents in the Polar Communications and Subsidiaries service area and have a voice or broadband Internet service account.

Application deadline: March 1, 2024

Apply Now!

FRS Youth Tour

The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) Youth Tour brings more than 100 high school students and chaperones from rural communities across the nation to Washington, DC, for five days to learn about legislative and agency processes and the important role of broadband services in rural communities. This unique educational experience provides an opportunity to visit Washington, DC, meet high school students from other states, and tour historical sites while also learning about Capitol Hill and the Federal government.

Application deadline: March 1, 2024

More InformationApply Now!

Foundation for Rural Service Scholarship Program

The foundation annually awards scholarships to graduating high school students for their first year of college or vocational school. All applicants require partnership with an NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association member company, of which Polar is a member, to be eligible.

One application qualifies students for several scholarships:
FRS General Scholarship – $2,500
Everett Kneece Scholarship – $7,000
Herbert & Isabel Bitz Memorial Scholarship – $5,000
JSI Scholarship – $5,000
Sarah Tyree Good Neighbor Scholarship – $5,000
Cronin Communications Scholarship – $2,500
Diana Jo Dreyer Memorial Scholarship – $2,500
Roger Cox Scholarship – $1,000
TMS Scholarship – $1,500

Recipients’ parents or guardians must be full-time residents in the Polar Communications and Subsidiaries service area and have a voice or broadband Internet service account.

Application deadline: February 16, 2024

More InformationApply Now!

Our Team

CEO & Board of Directors

Karl Blake
CEO
Park River
Amber Meyer
President
St. Thomas
Chris Nelson
Vice President
Edinburg
Lori Dahl
Secretary/Treasurer
Lakota
Cynthia Hejl
Asst. Secretary/Treasurer
Arthur
Brian Udby
Director
Lankin
James Longtin
Director
Neche
Wes Welch
Director
Park River
Gordon Johnson
Director
Cavalier
Dan Johnson
Director
Hoople