Citizens In The News...

Citizens unveils renovated Dugspur Community Center

"Thursday was a “leap forward in opportunity and growth for Dugspur” as the Citizens Telephone Cooperative from Floyd unveiled the newly-renovated Dugspur Community Center as part of a grant that is also bringing high-speed internet to 1,700 homes in Dugspur and Laurel Fork.

Hot dogs and BBQ were provided to the sizable crowd at the open house while speakers talked about the grant, high-speed internet, and improvements to the community center. Sheila Newman, Chairman of Dugspur Community Center, thanked the Carroll County Board of Supervisors and staff for their help and for never giving up on the project."

Citizens In The News...

Broadband aid - The $2 billion-plus effort to close Virginia’s digital divide

"A couple of Holstein cows poke their heads through the metal gates of the barn as Mark Sowers fiddles with one of his most important pieces of farm equipment — a smartphone.

Sowers opens an app on his phone that gives him real-time information from the nearly 300 milking cows that roam Huckleberry Dairy, the 700-acre family farm in Floyd County he co-owns with his brother Curtis. The monitoring system, made by Israeli dairy tech company Afimilk, connects wirelessly to sensors strapped to each cow’s leg and relays information such as the number of steps a cow has taken, the animal’s body temperature and other health facts that help Sowers know when a cow might be ready to breed or give birth.

“It’s a Fitbit for cows,” Sowers says."

Joe Italiano

President of the Board

Over 100 members were in attendance for the meeting highlighting the Cooperative’s progressive year and milestones achieved for the company. “The finish line of the Fiber project is in close sight as we currently are working on Ballard, the one remaining area left to complete. I could not be more pleased with our employees and their accomplishments,” stated Smith, referring to the six-year, county-wide fiber optic Internet to the home project.

Other achievements mentioned include the Cooperative has constructed over 150 miles of fiber (over 650 total miles within the county) and installed 1,500 Gigabit Fiber customers since last year’s meeting. To date, 40% of homes (over 4,000 fiber customers) in Floyd County enjoy the increased Internet speeds available with fiber service.

In addition, over 1,600 customers have migrated to the SFN TV Now platform, with only a few remaining homes left to switch once fiber is available to them. “I’m happy to say that customers of all ages tell us that they are enjoying the experience. Just a short time ago, streaming and apps were unknown terms to many of our customers who now have mastered this technology.” continued Smith.

She also noted that the company has added value with Citizens Advanced WiFi which includes the HomePass® app powered by Plume. The adaptive technology allows for seamless connectivity throughout the home and the HomePass® app also allows personal management of your WiFi network at your fingertips to set parental controls, guest networks, and monitoring usage of devices in the home.

Citizens’ Fiber to the Home project recognized Floyd as a Smart Rural Community by the NTCA Broadband Association and Citizens as a Smart Rural Community Provider. Public WiFi access is now available in more places including the Citizens parking lot, at the Floyd Parks & Recreation fields, in and around the vicinity of the Lineberry Park, and the Floyd County High School community use areas including football, track, gymnasiums, and more. “We are happy to provide Free Public WiFi to these locations within our community and to serve Floyd County with 1 Gig Internet,” Smith stated.

Traditions of the annual meeting continued with door prize drawings for members. Prizes awarded were: a 50” Roku TV, Blackstone Tabletop Griddle, 10” Fire Tablet, and two Roku 4K+ Express with voice remote controls. A catered meal by Blue Ridge Diner of Floyd followed the meeting.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be on the third Saturday of October 2024. In an executive session following the meeting, Joe Italiano was elected as Board President. He will be conducting the 2024 Annual Meeting.

Sun Outages on Citizens TV Service October 4 – 12 2023

What are Sun Outages?
Twice a year, you may experience some degree of television interference due to “sun outages.” A phenomenon called “solar satellite interference” causes sun outages. These brief outages occur when the sun passes directly behind satellites transmitting cable signals. When the sun aligns with a satellite, solar radiation, energy the sun is emitting, interferes with the satellite’s signal and thus causes a brief signal outage.
This is a very similar effect to the blinding sun you might experience at certain times when driving home in the late afternoons or early mornings.

Even if you don't receive your television services over satellite, SFN TV Now and Citizens IPTV receive much of their channel source signals via satellite. Even the local off-air broadcast stations receive some of their content over satellite.

When do sun outages happen, and how long do they last?
Sun outages occur every year, in Fall and Spring, and last approximately a week each time. The approximate times for signal loss will be between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm and last only a brief time – from seconds up to 15 minutes.

What kind of outage/interference can I expect?
During the sun outage, you may experience a pixelated picture, picture freezes, or audio distortions for a brief period.

How can I tell if it’s caused by a sun outage or something’s wrong with my service?
The sun outage happens only during the day between 11 am and 6 pm (no sun, no interference) and is brief, lasting for a few minutes—from 5 minutes up to 30 minutes.

What should I do during a sun outage?
Citizens Cablevision apologizes for any inconvenience a sun outage may cause. However, solar satellite interference is out of our control. Please be patient, and everything will get back to normal.

If you have questions about sun outages, please call us at 540.745.2111 or 276.637.6485 and press 1 for 24/7 support

Floyd County Celebrates Citizens Telephone Cooperative for Being Named a Smart Rural Community℠ Provider in Virginia

The community of Floyd announced today that Citizens Telephone Cooperative (Citizens) was recently named a
Smart Rural Community℠ (SRC) provider by NTCA--The Rural Broadband Association. SRC is a national
network of communities powered by innovative rural broadband providers that are building a brighter future for
small-town America. The program promotes rural broadband and its role in supporting innovative economic
development, effective education, efficient energy distribution and use, state-of-the-art health care, and other
important issues for rural America.

In order to receive recognition as an SRC provider, Citizens was required to affirm that it offers 25/3 Mbps
broadband to at least 50% of its service area; that it has broadband subscription rates of at least 50%; and that
it is committed to program principles of collaboration and innovation. As a result of Citizens’ national recognition,
Floyd will now be celebrated as a Smart Rural Community in program materials and online at
www.smartruralcommunity.com, joining a national network of similarly innovative communities.

“The county of Floyd salutes Citizens for its hard work to meet and exceed these standards by offering up to 1
Gbps with their current fiber-to-the-home deployment, which enables our residents to fully participate in today’s
connected society,” said Floyd County Administrator, Dr. Linda Millsaps. “Because of access to high-speed
internet, Floyd provides its residents with educational and economic opportunities on par with those in the most
connected regions of America.”

NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield also recognized Citizens Telephone Cooperative for this
achievement, noting, “We are so excited to welcome another Smart Rural Community provider into this growing
network of innovative broadband providers delivering the Internet’s fastest speeds in some of the most remote
and rural communities of our country. I applaud Citizens and the Floyd community for their commitment to
enabling cutting-edge technologies that drive innovation and promote economic development in their region and
nationwide.”

About NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association is the premier
association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are
leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA members are leading the technological evolution for
rural consumers, delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks that make rural
communities vibrant places in which to live and do business.

For more information about Citizens, visit www.citizens.coop or call 540.745.2111. Citizens is a member-owned Cooperative providing telephone, Internet, and TV to Floyd County and surrounding communities for over 100 years. Citizens’ Business Solutions provide symmetrical Ethernet, hosted phone services and more.

Citizens is located at 220 Webbs Mill Road in Floyd.
Lobby hours are 8 am - 5 pm Monday - Friday; 9 am - 1 pm on Saturday.

Businesses And Organizations Join Floyd Parks & Rec To Host A Community Easter Egg Hunt At Floyd Rec Park On April 1, 2023

Floyd, VA -- Floyd County Parks and Recreation has partnered with Citizens Telephone Cooperative, the Floyd Moose Lodge, and other vendors to provide the first Buffalo Eggstravaganza! The Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 1 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Floyd Recreation Park. The Park is located at 114 Park Dr. NE, Floyd

Floyd is a giving community where many businesses and organizations often hold individual events for various celebrations. This year, the Floyd Parks and Recreation Department will join forces with Citizens and the Floyd Moose Lodge which have a history of holding Easter Egg Hunts to host the first Buffalo Eggstravaganza. There will be lots of filled eggs, crafts, snacks, photo opportunities with the Easter Bunny, and more. Everyone is invited! Jacob Agee, Director of the Floyd County Parks & Rec Department commented “The Floyd Parks & Rec is excited to hold the first Buffalo Eggstravaganza in partnership with Citizens and the Floyd Moose lodge who have hosted such events before. Our combined experience and resources will make this the best egg hunt for our community,” continued Agee.

Tina Osborne, Citizens’ Community Events Coordinator commented, “We are happy to move our Easter event to the Parks & Rec field where there is plenty of room for children of all ages and plenty of parking for adults.” On behalf of the Floyd Moose Lodge, Staci Thompson stated “Working together with other businesses and organizations, we can provide an event to accommodate more children and families. That’s what it is all about.”

In case of rain or inclement weather, the event will be moved just up the road to Citizens’ multi-purpose shelter located at 220 Webbs Mill Road. All plans as of now are to hold the event in the Park. Any updates will be posted on the Park & Rec website https://www.floydcova.org/recreation and social media https://www.facebook.com/FloydVaRec for any immediate changes.

FLOYD — When it comes to Floyd County, Greg Sapp said he doesn’t think families attracted by the charm and culture of the rural community should move here at the cost of some technological benefits.

“People choose to live in a rural area for the quality of life,” he said, “but we want them to have access to various services, services they need to live their life, to learn.”

Read the full article at The Roanoke Times >>

Citizens Launches Advanced WiFi for Internet Service, powered by Plume HomePass®

Citizens Telephone Cooperative (Citizens) recently announced a new WiFi offering designed to give customers control over their home Internet network.

Marketed as Citizens Advanced WiFi, this new suite of services -- powered by Plume® HomePass™-- leverages adaptive WiFi and provides customers with an easy-to-use app for managing their home network, which includes monitoring of data usage, setting parental controls, and access permissions for devices, creating guest logins, and more.

The system guards against cyber threats, can block unwanted content, and through sophisticated Artificial Intelligence, can immediately identify and lock down any infected devices to prevent them from infecting the wider home network. The system also provides peace-of-mind by leveraging WiFi-enabled devices to detect motion within the home through the Sense™ service.

“This product has features that many of our customers have been asking for. We are so excited to offer Advanced WiFi powered by Plume HomePass.” stated Lori Saltus, EVP of Citizens Customer Relations and Marketing.

The iconic Plume-designed pods eliminate hard-wired devices throughout the home and the system continually optimizes to adjust to the unique needs of every home and every device to serve the best Internet signal possible. From the HomePass app, the owner can view the ‘health’ of their network, monitor usage, set priorities for devices, and much more. Citizens’ Advanced WiFi is designed to adjust to the activity to deliver in-home
performance beyond the capabilities of standard WiFi systems.

For more information about Citizens' Advanced WiFi, visit citizens.coop/citizens-advanced-wifi, call Citizens at 540.745.2111 or 276.637.6485.

Citizens is a member-owned Cooperative providing telephone, Internet, and TV to Floyd County and surrounding communities for over 100 years. Citizens also offers symmetrical business Ethernet, IT Solutions, as well as Citizens Medical Alert. Citizens is located at 220 Webbs Mill Road in Floyd. Lobby hours are 8am-6pm Monday - Friday; 9am - 1pm on Saturday.

About Plume

Plume® is the creator of the world’s first SaaS experience platform for Communications Service Providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, enabling the rapid delivery of new services for smart homes, small businesses, and beyond at massive scale. Visit plume.com.

Plume, HomePass, and Signal are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Plume Design, Inc.

Citizens Telephone Cooperative (Citizens) recently announced their plan to migrate away from traditional cable TV service. Since 2005, Citizens has offered ‘digital’ TV service; a service ran across telephone lines. Today, the Cooperative announced their plan to dissolve the traditional service and offer the newest in television technology -- IPTV.

The company has partnered with Southern Fiber Network to provide SFN TV Now powered by Citizens. The IPTV service is simply watching TV over the Internet. With the continued fiber optic Internet expansion that Citizens plans to complete in 2022, more residents will be able to connect and watch local channels and many of the top networks offered by satellite without paying the exorbitant fees associated with traditional TV packages.

“Many customers will be excited to explore the monetary savings that SFN TV Now powered by Citizens offers.” stated Lori Saltus, EVP of Customer Relations for Citizens. “There are three simple packages to choose from and No Contract is required.”

Citizens will offer a 7-day risk-free trial allowing the customer to simply cancel TV Now within 7 days to avoid being charged for the service. Consumers can cancel their subscription at any time. The packages are:

Essentials $29.95 -- 40 channels including locals, weather

Premium $79.95 -- 139 channels including locals, weather, and sports

Ultimate $99.95 -- 159 channels including locals, weather, sports, and Starz/Encore, The Movie Channel, and Showtime.

For more information visit: citizens.coop/tvnow/

TV Now gives consumers OPTIONS. SFN TV Now can be viewed on up to five devices -- Smartphones, tablets, and SmartTVs. The best thing for Citizens’ customers is that when watching on devices in their home, the data used will NOT count against their Citizens Usage Plan for their fiber service. Consumers with Firesticks and Rokus can expect a superior experience of TV Now powered by Citizens.

For more information, visit www.citizens.coop, call 540.745.2111 or 276.637.6485. Citizens is a member-owned Cooperative providing telephone, Internet, and TV to Floyd County and surrounding communities for over 100 years. Citizens also offers symmetrical business Ethernet, IT Solutions, as well as Citizens Medical Alert. Citizens is located at 220 Webbs Mill Road in Floyd. Lobby hours are 8am-6pm Monday - Friday; 9am - 1pm on Saturday.

Liz Quesenberry

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going to my grandma’s on Christmas Eve and then driving back home to my Mom’s in Carroll County, where I spend the night and wake up on Christmas morning with her and my little brother, Eli.

This year, I will spend most of my holiday time with my grandma, who turned 90 this year. She wants to keep everything as normal as possible--which calls for seeing her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and now great-great-grandkids!

Lori Saltus

As a child, I loved going Christmas Caroling with my church.

Less family will gather this year, but we still plan to have our traditional game night on Christmas Eve with our children and grandchildren.

Marsha Phillips

I usually make a big Christmas Eve dinner with my dad's side of the family. We cook lots of food and just enjoy our time together.

I will celebrate Christmas Eve at home with my immediate family this year, making holiday goodies.

Fox Slife

My holiday tradition has always been to celebrate Christmas with my family in Wisconsin, but this year I will stay home and celebrate with my mom and brother in Virginia

Tina Osborne

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is gathering with my extended family to pick out the tree. When the whole family is home for Thanksgiving weekend, my dad hooks up his tractor to a hay wagon, and we drive through his land to pick out a Christmas tree. He created this tradition for the grandkids, and what they didn't know then was he would go out earlier the same morning, cut his tree down, and stick the tree in a hole. Then when we were having our hayride, we would magically come across the perfect tree!

All of my family could not come home for Thanksgiving this year, but I still have the memories from all of those fun times!

For me, Christmas is the time for family. Losing family members makes getting through the holiday season difficult, but being with family members who are still with us is an important tradition that helps me ease the pain of loss. Our extended family has always gotten together on Christmas Day at my home--40 to 50 family members gather, and each family brings their favorite dish. What fun we’ve had over the years, enjoying delicious food together.

Because we have elderly family members and family members with compromised immune systems, we decided not to get together this year. It will be quiet, but I will spend it remembering the wonderful Christmases Past and looking forward to future Christmases.

In my quiet home, there is still one tradition that will remain unchanged this year; I will celebrate the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas to all, and remember the Reason for the Season. God Bless.

Citizens Telephone Cooperative began hosting an annual Halloween event in 2010. The event has grown from an inside trick-or-treat for customers to an outside Community Event.

“We’ve watched children grow up and have enjoyed seeing their costumes each year. Sadly, due to Covid, the 2020 event will require everyone to remain in their vehicles, but it will still be a fun time for all. Our employees put a lot into this event and have used their creativity to put this drive-thru event together.” said Greg Sapp, GM & CEO of Citizens.

Each year the Cooperative holds a themed event that is frightfully friendly for all ages. Citizens employees were not about to let the COVID-19 pandemic dampen their community spirit. This year’s event will be a Drive-thru Halloween event on Saturday night, October 31st from 7 - 9 pm. Guests will start at the Floyd Rec Park to help avoid congestion along Rt.8. Attendees will be given a FREE ticket to attend the ‘Haunted Circus’ at Citizens, located at 220 Webbs Mill Road, Floyd, VA.

The event’s coordinator, Tina Osborne, explained that once cars are lined up at the Floyd Rec Park, they will be divided into groups and released onto the event route. “Safety is our priority,” stated Osborne. “We want everyone to have a good time and keep safety in mind along the route. We ask that guests remain in their cars at all times as they watch the circus come to life.”

This is not a normal circus as guests will see from the scenes and circus performers. There will be two routes, one for thrill-seekers looking for a fright, and a friendlier one for young children. The children’s area is sponsored by Skyline National Bank, Outer Space, Manifesting Wellness Chiropractic, Safe Surfin’, and ACE (Associated Citizens’ Employees). This area will include a stilt walker, live music by Kari and Michael Kovick, juggling by Geoff Marsh (bookyournextevent.com), hula hooping by Luna (lunaversal.hoopz), and more!

“We appreciate the attendance from our community and are grateful to the volunteers who are joining us to make this the best possible event for a pandemic year. Special thanks go to the Floyd County Fire Department, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, The June Bug Center, and Citizens’ employees and families who have put in countless hours changing this event from a walking public gathering to a drive-thru event.” stated Greg Sapp.

For more information, please contact Citizens at 745.2111.

Citizens would like to extend an offer to all local churches in our service areas of Floyd, Ft. Chiswell, and New Castel to air weekly sermons on CCTV Channel 20.

Simply record the sermon using any digital camera, smartphone, or tablet and send via WeTransfer.com to hariberzins@citizens.coop. We can only accept digital files. Sermons need to be under 60 minutes in length.

Please include the church name, contact phone number, pastor name, and date of the sermon.

Just one way to help keep our community connected.

Citizens Telephone Cooperative held its 2017 Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 21st, in the Floyd County High School Auditorium. Members of the Cooperative filled the auditorium for an afternoon of enjoyable entertainment brought by their very own Broadband Technician, Gary Young. The Cooperative highlighted the company’s accomplishments for 2017 and shared visions of what products and service enhancements are to come in 2018.

General Manager, Greg Sapp, opened the meeting by recognizing a couple of employees celebrating years of service milestones, Keith Bowman for 30 years and Katie Vest for 40 years. Next he reviewed the financial condition of the Cooperative. He spent the majority of his time discussing the Cooperative’s fiber to the home project and announced the fiber expansion map so customers can stay up-to-date on the construction progress. The map is available on Citizens’ website at www.citizens.coop/fiberexpansion. The color coded map shows the localities and the projected year that fiber will be constructed. Visitors to the site can enter their street address and scroll to street level to see an estimate of when fiber service will be deployed to their area.

Sapp complimented the Board of Directors for their leadership in this project. Furthermore, he thanked the employees for their tireless work and dedication to help bring the next generation fiber network to our members. Sapp continued, “this is a long-term project is to build the infrastructure that will supply fiber optic technology to the residents of Floyd County for generations to come.” Our Fiber to the Home service will provide speeds not offered in any areas around us, whether urban or rural, with 1 Gigabit speeds being offered next year.

He continued by sharing the deployment plans for the upgrades. As reported at the 2016 meeting, the upgrades and construction will occur in phases. The Town of Floyd is complete and eligible subscribers can currently receive broadband internet speeds up to 100Mbps but 1 Gbps will be offered soon. Citizens Fiber footprint will continue to expand throughout the county.

With broadband products being the driving force for business and residential services, Citizens will provide a connection to meet your needs. “Connectivity is vital and your Cooperative is proud to provide advanced technology for your community.” continued Sapp.

Before turning the meeting over to President, Wesley Goff, Sapp again thanked the Board of Directors and Citizens’ employees for the job they do.

In closing Sapp thanked the membership for their confidence and support and for being loyal customers and conducted random drawings for door prizes.

Congratulations to Door Prize Winners:

Nancy Parr – USB Multi-port Wall Charger
Welby Cockram – Amazon Firestick TV with voice activated remote
Judy Mollick – Panasonic Cordless Phone System
Madeline Shortt – Fitbit Charge 2 Activity Watch
Dot’s Beauty Shop – Amazon Echo with WiFi Smart Plug
Karin Grosshans – $160 Voucher for Citizens Computer Services
Janice Shelor – 8-inch Galaxy tablet with screen saver and case
Janette Spangler – $200 Voucher for Citizens’ Services
Jane Shelton – 32” LED Smart High Definition TV
Henry Thompson – Citizens Basic Monitored Home Security Kit

Following the meeting, a traditional fried chicken lunch was served by the Presbyterian Women’s group.

Check out “Student Connect” sponsored by Citizens as featured on WDBJ7 News. Citizens is teaming with Floyd County High School to give discounted internet to those students who qualify for the reduced lunch program allowing Floyd County students internet connection at their homes for homework and educational purposes. View the piece here. Catch The Community Show, on CCTV Channel 20, starting on August 23rd – 31st at 7AM, 1:30 PM and 7PM! Find out what your number one community provider is going to do next!

Citizens and Floyd County Public School System launch a pilot project to offer discounted internet service for families on the free & reduced lunch program.

FLOYD, VA– Dr. Kevin Harris, Superintendent of Floyd County High School and Greg Sapp, CEO & General Manager of Citizens Telephone Cooperative (Citizens) just announced a partnership for a pilot program called “Student Connect” with the goal of ensuring that all students at Floyd County High School have access to high speed Internet at home.

“The goal is to get broadband service in the home of every high school student. Citizens Telephone Cooperative (Citizens) and Floyd County Public School System (FCPS) are working together to create a pilot program for the remaining 2014-2015 school year to ensure that every high school student in the Free and Reduced Lunch program has broadband service available to them at home” stated Greg Sapp.

The school system will be administering this program and will be sending Information regarding this program to qualifying households in the next couple of weeks. The sign up period for the “Student Connect” pilot program for the 2014-2015 school year will be Monday, March 2nd through Friday, March 13th. Students enrolled in this program will not have access to non-educational websites. The Student Connect service will follow the same access restrictions as the school. At the end of the school year, both Citizens and FCPS will review the success of the program and discuss the possibility of expanding, continuing, or modifying the program.

“This program gives students on the Free and Reduced Lunch program the opportunity to have a high speed connection and access to educational resources to aid in their academic success.” stated Superintendent, Dr. Kevin Harris, “Last year we began our 1 to 1 Chromebook program which provides Chromebooks to many of our students. Having access to a high speed connection gives them the same access to information at home as they would have while they are at school.”

For more information about Student Connect, contact Alan Williams in the Technology Department at Floyd County High School by calling 745-9450.

Citizens is a member-owned Cooperative providing telephone, Internet, and TV to Floyd County and surrounding communities for over 100 years. For full service Internet options and other services, visit www.citizens.coop.