Business View Magazine | May 2020

24 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2020 South Slope Cooperative Telephone Company was formed on April 1, 1958 in Norway, Iowa to provide voice communications for its members in five communities. Each community had a telephone company that owned the switchboard and the town lines. All of the rural lines were farmer-owned and they paid the town telephone company switching fees. 1958 Aerial cable, open wire, “crank” phones, with 8-party line telephone services in the rural area, and 1, 2 or 4-party line services in town. 1960 South Slope served approximately 1500 Cooperative members. 1966 The town of North Liberty joined the Cooperative bringing total membership to 2500. 1970 100% buried, single party telephone service. 1999 South Slope began doing business as South Slope Cooperative Communications Company, and expanded to surrounding areas of Oxford, Solon, and Tiffin. These exchanges were overbuilt with copper & fiber optic cable, switching equipment, and customer drops. Services offered: • DSL High Speed internet with speeds up to 5mb. • Direct Connect Internet: Fractional T-1, full T-1, and DS3, OC3, or Ethernet Internet connections up to 45 Mb. • South Slope Wireless phones in partnership with Iowa Wireless to provide PCS Digital Wireless Phone Service. 2001 The Amana Colonies Telephone Company was purchased by South Slope and joined the Cooperative bringing in another 1500 lines. 2003 – South Slope moved its headquarters from Norway to North Liberty. 2005 – South Slope launched Digital Video (Cable) TV to the majority of its service area and began installing Fiber to the Home (FTTH) to any new subdivision built within South Slopes exchange areas. 2008 - South Slope purchased the Swisher Telephone Company. The Swisher community was overbuilt with Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), making it possible to receive Landline Phone, High Speed Internet, and Digital Video services. 2009 –A two-story bunker-type structure was built in North Liberty to withstand an F5 tornado with 300+ miles an hour winds to house the majority of our electronic equipment. 2010 – South Slopes launches a multi-year fiber optic overbuild in their incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) areas to deliver the fastest internet speeds available. 2015 – The Rural Broadband Association recognized South Slope as one of 12 communities in rural areas of the United States that has earned Smart Rural Community designation. The Smart Rural Community initiative showcases efforts made by companies like South Slope that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. The award highlights the company’s fiber-optic deployment efforts for high speed internet, TV, and phone in the communities of North Liberty, Newhall, Norway, Swisher, Walford, Fairfax, Ely, and Amana. 2018 – South Slope embarked on a multi-year upgrade that will increase their data network to a 200 Gigabit transport ring. This innovation is the first of its kind in Iowa and will allow South Slope to offer the most advanced communication solutions available combined with unmatched reliability. 2020 – Through continual expansion, South Slope has grown to cover the following communities: Amana, Ely, Fairfax, Newhall, North Liberty, Norway, Oxford, Solon, Shueyville, Swisher, Tiffin, Watkins, Walford, West and South Cedar Rapids, and parts of Coralville. South Slope Cooperative Communications: Historical Timeline Q & A : ADAPT ING DUR ING COV ID-19