June - the Vernon Communications Cooperative!

June 2014
Your Communications Provider
Vernon Communications Continues on with Fiber Construction
Over the last several years, Vernon Communications has provided some of its members with Fiber
Optics, which is the most advanced in broadband
technology. Fiber Optics provides faster internet
speeds, more
television
choices, and
the insurance of future
technologies.
The internet
has changed
the way we do
business and
communicate
with each other.
In 1995 there
were 16 million users, and
today there
are 2.9 billion
users, which is 34.3 % of the world’s population.
Social media and mobile technology has changed the
way people use the internet. The original uses of the
internet were for research, and today it is used for
anything from day-to-day business activities, general
information, communicating with friends and family,
and global informational purposes.
Last year, Vernon plowed 285 miles of fiber to rural users, which gives its members better bandwidth
than many inner city users. Because of the terrain in
our area, plowing fiber to some of our locations is
not an easy task. Many times we are digging through
Viroqua Open House
Infinity Technology and Vernon
Communications are celebrating the new look
of the inside office! Stop by for refreshments on
Saturday June 14, 2014 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00
p.m. at Infinity Technology in Viroqua.
rock, hillsides and flood prone valleys, as well as
trying to cooperate with Mother Nature.
This summer, it is projected that 350 miles of fiber
will be constructed in the areas of Genoa, DeSoto,
Liberty Pole, Readstown, Viola and Yuba. This will
connect 1200 members to state of the art equipment. If you live in any of these areas, it will be
very important that when you receive a notice,
an appointment will need to be made for us to
hook up fiber-to-the-home. The old copper cable
that feeds your telephone, internet and television
service will be completely decommissioned, and we
will not be able to keep it in service after the new
cable has been installed and activated. This new
cable requires that we bury a new fiber-optic line to
your home and install a modem and a backup power
supply. If you already have television or internet
service, we will be replacing the current modem you
have. This upgrade enables us to greatly enhance
our television and internet service with more choices
for future products.
By 2015, most members of Vernon Cooperative
will have fiber-to-the-home. Vernon was quoted in
the May 2014 issue of Wisconsin Farmers Union
News as “Working for it’s members and not trying to
deliver a return to Wall Street Investors”. Because
we are a cooperative, our Board and CEO, make decisions to do what’s right for our members and their
future. Making sure our members have as good, if
not better, technology than urban areas is important
not only to our current members, but also to those
making the decision to telecommute.
New Channel
You can now see FXX on Channel
114, which is offered on the Expanded
package. FXX is aimed at young men
in the 18 - 34 age range and it focuses on original and acquired comedy series, some
dramatic programs, and feature films.
Viroqua Legion Tournament
The Viroqua Legion is hosting a baseball
tournament on June 26 - 29, 2014 at the Viroqua
Park Bowl and Vernon Communications will be
there to broadcast it LIVE on Channel 14.
New Board Member
Steve Woodhouse is the new board member for District
1 (Genoa), and will serve for three years. Steve is familiar
with Vernon County as he has lived
in the area since he was a child. He
grew up in the Stoddard/ Genoa
area where he attended school,
Tyler Ike is helping us out for
married, and raised his children.
He and his wife Karen of 43 years,
the summer and will be working
raised three children, two girls and
with our community channels,
a son, all of whom still live in the
taping events, and editing. He is
area. He has five grandchildren and
a Westby graduate of 2011, and is
another one on the way! He and
his wife have worked side by side,
attending UW-Plateville with two
owning Steve’s Country Meats
majors: Business Administration
located on Highway 56 in Genoa since 1978. Steve has
with an emphasis in Marketing
been a lifelong member of St. Charles Catholic Church in
and also Media Studies with an
Genoa.
emphasis in video and audio production. His hobbies are:
Steves hobbies are: farming along with his son, gardening,
and horses.
dirt biking and snowboarding.
We would like to welcome and thank Steve as he serves
We would like to welcome Tyler Ike to our team!
Vernon Telephone Cooperative and our members.
New Employee
Reminder: Change your online passwords!
Recently, a flaw in internet security called Heartbleed made the headlines. Heartbleed is a serious
sec u r i t y t h r e a t t h a t h a s t h e p o t e n t i a l t o e x p o s e u s e r s ' p r i v a t e i n f o r m a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g p a s s w o r d s ,
financial details and instant messages, among other things. Most websites recommend changing
y o u r p a s s w o r d s a s a p r o a c t i v e m e a s u r e a g a i n s t t h i s t h r e a t . Ve r n o n o ff e r s P a s s w o r d G e n i e
for $1.95/month. Password Genie stores all of your usernames and passwords in one secure
location, which makes them easy to remember and easy to change when security threats
e m e rg e .
C a l l o u r o ff i c e t o s i g n u p f o r P a s s w o r d G e n i e a n d
install it right over the phone.
Vernon Employees participate in local parades
Syttende Mai marks the first parade of the season and our employees were there to show off the new look of our van!
Vernon TeleCommunicator Published by Vernon Communications
103 N. Main St., Westby, WI 54667 • 214 N. Main St., Viroqua, WI 54665
Phone: (608)634-3136 • 1-800-543-2029 • Fax: (608)634-2000
Chief Executive Officer: Rod Olson • Editor: Jana Pedretti
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
Westby: 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Viroqua: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
E-mail: [email protected]
Billing inquiries 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.