News
The 20th annual running of The Cornerstone Awards recognized a slate of companies and individuals for excellence at the Broadband Communities Summit, held this week in Houston.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
The 2024 winners of The Cornerstone Awards, sponsored by Verizon, were celebrated at the Broadband Communities Summit in Houston, with accolades going to several providers and individuals for outstanding achievements in the telecommunications and multifamily industries.
Among the winners at the awards ceremony, sponsored by Verizon, were Pavlov Media, taking home the award for Broadband Provider of the Year, which is typically awarded to a provider that demonstrates outstanding customer service, innovative product packages, and imaginative partnerships.
Winning the award for Local Provider of the Year, The Woodlands-based Tachus Fiber Internet and DZS, a provider of cloud software technology that has been leveraged by Tachus Fiber to expand the company’s presence in the Houston area, both took home the award. Both companies were described as holding an unwavering commitment to their local communities and bettering the lives of their customers.
The Community Improvement Award was awarded to Cleveland-based Digital C, which is in the process of leading an ambitious project to expand broadband to residents across Cleveland. The project, which has an estimated cost of $53 million, will be partly funded by a $10 million grant from BroadbandOhio, which is part of the Ohio Department of Development, a Jan. announcement from the department stated.
According to BroadbandOhio, Digital C’s efforts will result in all of Cleveland’s 170,000 households having access to low-cost broadband by the middle of 2025.
As previously reported, there are almost 30,000 households in Cleveland without any type of broadband, according to Digital C’s website, which represents around 17 percent of the city’s population.
This year’s Digital Skills Award was awarded to Comcast, for their $1 billion commitment to Project UP, a nationwide program administered by Comcast that offers digital skills training to innovators, entrepreneurs, storytellers, and creators.
The Rural Connectivity Award, which was open for ISPs, communities, and municipalities that led initiatives to improve connectivity for rural areas, was awarded to Cox Communications, which has continued their commitment to low-cost internet, even after the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), according to a recent announcement from the company.
The company’s April announcement said Cox will continue their Connect2Compete Internet Plan, the ConnectAssist Internet Plan, and affordable mobile plans “starting at $15 per gigabit per line.”
Additionally, two individual recognitions were awarded in The Cornerstone Awards: The Outstanding Multifamily Parner Award and the Recognition of Lifetime Achievement.
Dave Spence, of Comcast, who dedicated his career to pushing Comcast to make changes and updates to their managed Wi-Fi services to become both more competitive and transparent, was awarded the Outstanding Multifamily Partner Award.
The Recognition of Lifetime Achievement, meanwhile, was awarded posthumously to Dan Terheggen, who previously served as CEO and Board Chairman at Smartaira. Terheggen, who was described as an industry icon, passed away in Feb. and was honored at the Cornerstone Awards for a legacy of excellence in the multifamily industry and a career that spanned 50 years, first with coin operated laundry machines, then digital TV, and eventually broadband.
Remembered as a leader, a motivator, and a mentor, Terheggen was renowned for meeting with industry newcomers and advancing the multifamily industry as a whole.
