262585 Beacon March Newsletter.Indd
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DATES TO REMEMBER BEK BILL PAYMENTS ARE DUE ON THE 20TH OF EACH MONTH MARCH 10 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME STARTS WATCH THE BISMARCK BUCKS AWAY GAME ON BEK SPORTS – TUCSON BEK COMMUNICATIONS COOPERATIVE MARCH/APRIL 2019 SUGAR SKULLS MARCH 15 & 16 BMHBA HOME SHOW IN BISMARCK THE NEED FOR SPEED CHEER ON THE BUCKS MARCH 16 FOR THE HOME GAME OPENER BISMARCK EVENT CENTER SIOUX Reprinted with permission from NTCA mix, it was good that we had a fi ber FALLS STORM - To read more of Shirley’s blog articles, broadband product in our home ST. PATRICK’S DAY visit http://ceoblog.ntca.org. that allowed for all of the capacity MARCH 17 D.C. had another one of our classic that we were using today. I had MARCH 30 recently upgraded our package and snowstorms yesterday. The predictions BISMARCK BUCKS VS NEBRASKA my provider was only too happy to were higher than the reality, pretty DANGER – BISMARCK EVENT CENTER typical for this region, but the mess make that upgrade super easy to of snow, sleet and freezing rain was do…another benefi t of fi ber since all APRIL 6 certainly enough to keep people off the it took was a click of the computer BISMARCK BUCKS VS SIOUX FALLS roads and schools and offi ces closed for mouse to select the next package. STORM – BISMARCK EVENT CENTER the day. But all of that got me thinking APRIL 14 Remember when a snow day meant when I saw the news this morning BISMARCK BUCKS VS IOWA that you dug the sled or saucer out of that Google Fiber is leaving their BARNSTORMERS – BISMARCK EVENT the garage and took the kids to fi nd a Louisville market. Cited by some CENTER media as Google Fiber’s biggest hill with enough vertical for sledding? APRIL 15 TAX DAY Or when you dug out the chocolate failure, the company will turn chip cookie recipe and dusted off your off service after trying some APRIL 19 GOOD FRIDAY, BEK new technology that led to fi ber baking pans? Or when you woke up to a OFFICES CLOSED winter wonderland and rolled back over installation failures and now the and went back to sleep? consumers are faced with returning APRIL 20 to the other large provider with WATCH THE BUCKS AWAY GAME ON Hmmmm – I’ve been slower service and higher speeds. BEK SPORTS – BISMARCK BUCKS VS Aside from the trenching snafus CEDAR RAPIDS RIVER KINGS too long with either kids that Google faced, it also continues EASTER SUNDAY or dogs or both to ever to face the challenge of providing a APRIL 21 remember that one. high value product in competitive APRIL 22 EARTH DAY markets because frankly the costs Either way, in the age of always being are high and trying shortcuts can APRIL 28 connected, those days are gone. Now a lead to even higher costs. However, BISMARCK BUCKS VS QUAD CITY snow day is simply a day in the virtual I admire their recognition that fi ber STEAMWHEELERS – BISMARCK offi ce with a diff erent view. Of course, is the future-proof technology of EVENT CENTER my view was pretty comfy and included choice and wonder what would MAY 4 a dog hanging around at my feet. have been the market outcome had they been able to negotiate pole WATCH THE BUCKS AWAY GAME ON BEK SPORTS – BISMARCK BUCKS VS But as I plowed ahead with iPad and attachments in their market. We’ll GREEN BAY BLIZZARDS iPhone in hand, Don was in the family certainly be seeing more innovative room on his two laptops and holding eff orts by carriers in the near future MAY 18 conference calls on his iPhone speakers. and hopefully can glean some BISMARCK BUCKS VS. TUCSON It got me thinking that if we chose to “lessons learned” as innovation tries SUGAR SKULLS – BISMARCK EVENT throw a streaming Netfl ix show into the to match demand. CENTER FROM THE CEO WHY LOCAL EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT MATTERS MARCH/APRIL 2019 The BEK Beacon is a bimonthly newsletter DERRICK BULAWA published by BEK Communications, Chief Executive Officer © 2019. It is distributed without charge to all customers. BEK COMMUNICATIONS COOPERATIVE Google Fiber has been a darling of the technology press over the last eight years. was founded in 1952 as a local It’s a product Google brought to more than a dozen urban markets. Selection telecommunications cooperative serving Burleigh, Emmons and Kidder Counties. of Google Fiber locations was closely tracked by media and online followers, Since then, we’ve invested in state-of-the- with continuous splash and fanfare, at least until 2016 when Google halted new art infrastructure, developed new products and services, and expanded to serve new construction. areas. BEK has changed quite a bit in 67 years, but we’re still a small-town As an international technology giant, Google has the resources to play in new cooperative at heart. markets with minimal risk to their core search and advertising business. New experiments come and go, sometimes even after nurturing a large and dedicated BEK COMMUNICATIONS COOPERATIVE user base. Side projects that stumble or shut down with little notice often leave 888-475-2361 customers shaken and disillusioned. This is especially true with critical services P.O. Box 230 like internet connectivity. 200 East Broadway Steele, ND 58482 In January, a large snow storm knocked out internet service to thousands of 325 2nd St. NW homes in Kansas City. It affected customers from several ISP’s. The smaller, local Valley City, ND 58072 providers quickly reassured customers and worked to restore services. But more than two weeks later, many Google Fiber customers were still without internet. It BOARD OF DIRECTORS didn’t take long for the story to hit the local and national news. DISTRICT I The common complaint among Google Fiber customers was the lack of clear Shane Morris communication and status updates from the company. A close second was the Regan quick buildup of cell phone bills for families who needed online connections for Sanford Williams work, education, health concerns and more. Wing DISTRICT II I can’t speak to the technical specifics of the outages, or Google’s internal Doug Kalianoff conversations. I can only go by media reports, interviews, and Google’s public Steele words. The bottom line is that customer perception took a sharp downturn. President Brett Stroh Tappen Where it was once centered on Google’s wherewithal as a forward-thinking force of innovation, it now views the company as lacking readiness and personal, local DISTRICT III service. Vice President Kevin Bernhardt Linton Google’s Kansas City stumble came with a heavy cost – national embarrassment Vickie Martin and loss of customer trust. Linton Leo Meier Telecommunications cooperatives like BEK Communications are built on local Hague trust. Our founders chipped in to connect themselves, their families and their DISTRICT IV neighbors to the outside world. A handshake and a head nod sealed the contracts. Secretary/Treasurer William (Bill) Becker Everyone mattered, and nobody was treated as an experiment or side project. Wishek Gerald Burlack BEK Communications still runs on this philosophy. Although we adhere to Wishek modern standards of legal agreements and regulatory frameworks, we still greet our customers like any small-town neighbor. And while we build state-of-the- art fiber optic infrastructure and products, we never forget that the human connection is the most important. 2 BEK COMMUNICATIONS | BEKTEL.COM MEMBER NEWS NON-DISCRIMINATION GRANT RECIPIENTS STATEMENT BEK COMMUNICATIONS ¢OMMON ¢ENTS GRANT BEK Communications Cooperative is the recipient of Federal fi nancial assistance from the BEK is honored and delighted to give back to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). local communities. Part of that eff ort is our BEK ¢ommon ¢ents Grant Program. Below, we The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its congratulate the recipients who were awarded a programs and activities on the basis of race, grant. We award ¢ommon ¢ents grants twice a color, national origin, age, disability, and where year – application deadlines are January 15 and applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, July 15. For more information or to download an parental status, religion, sexual orientation, application, go to www.bektel.com. Or, you may genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, call our offi ce at 1-888-475-2361. or because all or a part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) $500 Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) Strasburg Fire Department Strasburg, ND should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). The person responsible for coordinating this $500 organization’s nondiscrimination compliance eff orts is Derrick Bulawa, Chief Executive Offi cer of BEK Communications Cooperative. Steele Fire Department Any individual, or specifi c class of individuals, Steele, ND who feels that this organization has subjected them to discrimination may obtain further information about the statutes and regulations $500 listed above from and/or fi le a written complaint with this organization or write to The Abused Persons Outreach Center USDA, Director, Offi ce of Civil Rights, 1400 Valley City, ND Independence Avenue S. W., Washington, D.C. 20250-0703, or call (800) 787-8821 (voice) and select Option 2, or (202) 692-0107 (TDD). USDA $500 is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. Marketplace for Kids Mantador, ND $500 Sterling Lions Club Sterling, ND BEK COMMUNICATIONS | BEKTEL.COM 3 NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORS ANNOUNCED The 2019 Nominating Committee of BEK Communications NOTICE TO ALL CUSTOMERS Cooperative met on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, to nominate members of the cooperative to run for the Board of Directors OF BEK COMMUNICATIONS for District I, II, III and IV.