Cannon Valley Telecom, with its main offices in Bricelyn, is a family-owned business with its roots in the beginnings of the phone industry.

Thursday, February 14, 2002

Cannon Valley Telecom, with its main offices in Bricelyn, is a family-owned business with its roots in the beginnings of the phone industry. Today it is building on that history and making the future possible for the communities it serves. It began offering DSL service to all of its customers in Bricelyn, Freeborn, Frost, Morristown and Warsaw at the beginning of January.

Although the numbers are small so far, in the first month and a half DSL service has been available, one percent of their customers have made the switch to DSL. Their goal, according to company owner Scott Johnson, is to convert up to five percent of their customers to the new technology by the end of this year.

Customers who have signed up so far are using the new service for a variety of activities, including business-to-business electronic commerce and communication, telecommuting work, and just plain old entertainment. DSL makes it much easier to play many of the online games that are heavy on the use of graphics and sound effects, said Loretta Johnson, Scott’s wife, who operates the business with him and their son Aaron.

Both husband and wife see DSL technology as a way to create economic opportunities for the small towns and rural areas where Cannon Valley’s customers live and work.

&uot;It’s always important to be on the lookout for ways to address economic development,&uot; said Scott.

Creating a level playing field between technology workers in the city and country is also important.

&uot;As I see it, the advantage is it makes no difference where you are located. Now you’ll still have the same access,&uot; he said.

&uot;Services always depend on the provider. Urban or rural makes no difference,&uot; added Loretta.

Cannon Valley knew that they wanted to be able to provide their communities with this option. But they had to wait until the technology matured and the price became more reasonable, they said.

The installation of the equipment that allowed them to offer DSL to all their customers cost well over $100,000. Currently Cannon Valley is charging just under $50 a month for DSL service, but that doesn’t completely cover their costs. Up to now the company has paid for everything itself, without government grants or tax incentives, but they are hoping that the expense of the system will diminish as more customers take advantage of DSL.

Cannon Valley was not the first company to take DSL service into rural communities, but it doesn’t see being first as always being best. They learned by observing others.

&uot;We learned from the mistakes that other companies were making as they made the investment,&uot; said Loretta Johnson.

Cannon Valley Telecom started as an outgrowth of the telegraph industry, back in 1903, when the current owners’ great-grandfather, E. A. Wilcox, began operating a telephone exchange out of his house. Kenneth Johnson, Wilcox’s grandson and Scott Johnson’s father, started working in the company when he returned home after World War II. The current owner also worked in the business and took over from his father in the 1970s. One of Scott and Loretta Johnson’s sons, Aaron, is the next generation to become involved in the business, currently running its cable TV subsidiary.