If I have been asked once, I have been asked 100 times while showcasing…. “Why do you have WIN Technology’s Network map on your booth”? So, I figured there is no time like the present to explain how we are connected.
First off, let me explain who WIN Technology is for those of you that may not know today.
Based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, WIN Technology is a carrier-neutral multi-state telecommunications and managed services provider formed in 1997. WIN Technology is primarily focused on providing wholesale bandwidth services across its growing 15,000+ mile fiber optic network and providing managed IT services to enterprise clients throughout the Midwest. Their services include dark fiber leases, carrier Ethernet services up to 400 Gbps, Internet connectivity, data center colocation, and network monitoring and management, managed information technology support, and infrastructure as a service.
WIN Technology is owned by thirty-one Wisconsin-based independent telephone companies, many of which have provided progressive telecommunication services in rural areas of the state for over 100 years. WIN is governed by a five-member board of directors, all of whom live in Wisconsin and manage Wisconsin based telephone companies.
And now, let us review the establishment of Whitepaw. Prior to the formation of Whitepaw in 2008, Midwest TelNet (MWT) and Tri-County Communications Cooperative (TCC), two of the three original owner companies of Whitepaw, each built headends to provide a cost-effective solution for local telcos to enter the video business. These headends were built to be shared, the same way in which Whitepaw uses its shared headend to provide signal to over 30 Affiliate Members today. When MWT and TCC representatives started collaborating on the formation of Whitepaw, these two headends provided signal to nine Affiliate Members in Wisconsin.
This then leads to the third original owner, WIN Technology. With WIN Technology’s core business being fiber transport at the time of Whitepaw’s formation, it made sense that they become an owner that provides fiber transport of the Whitepaw headend signal, to be dropped off at an Affiliate Member’s location. This is one reason why Whitepaw showcases alongside WIN Technology at some events, and proudly represents the network map on the booth, all the time.
It is also worth noting, that over the years, WIN Technology’s network has grown exponentially along with the service offerings that they provide. Whitepaw is the indirect benefactor of these service offerings as well, since WIN Technology’s team helps support Whitepaw by taking trouble calls, pro-actively monitoring our signals, and supporting us in so many other intangible ways.
Whitepaw is grateful for the leadership, partnership and the resources that not only WIN Technology provides, but all the Whitepaw owners provide.
To learn even more about how Whitepaw has grown since the original inception, do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter to catch the upcoming blog on an in-depth look showcasing the newest Whitepaw owner, AcenTek Communications.
