2024 Cornerstone Awards winners announced in Houston

News

The 20th annual Cornerstone Awards recognized a number of companies and individuals for their 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 honors awarded to several providers and individuals for their outstanding achievements in the telecommunications and multifamily industries.

Among the winners at the awards ceremony, sponsored by Verizon, was Pavlov Media, who took home the award for Broadband Provider of the Yearwhich is typically awarded to a vendor who demonstrates exceptional customer service, innovative product offerings and imaginative partnerships.

Win the prize for Local Supplier of the Year, Woodlands-based Tachus Fiber Internet and DZS, a provider of cloud software technology leveraged by Tachus Fiber to expand the company’s presence in the Houston area, both won the award. Both companies were described as having an unwavering commitment to their local communities and improving the lives of their customers.

The Community Improvement Award was awarded to Cleveland-based Digital C, which is leading an ambitious project to expand broadband to Cleveland residents. The project, estimated to cost $53 million, will be funded in part by a $10 million grant from BroadbandOhio, part of the Ohio Department of Development, a department release said in January.

According to BroadbandOhio, Digital C’s efforts will provide all 170,000 Cleveland households with access to low-cost broadband by mid-2025.

As previously reported, according to the Digital C website, there are nearly 30,000 homes in Cleveland without any type of broadband, which represents approximately 17% of the city’s population.

This year Digital Skills Awards was awarded to Comcast, for its $1 billion commitment to Project UP, a national program administered by Comcast that provides digital skills training to innovators, entrepreneurs, storytellers and creators.

The Rural Connectivity Awardwhich was open to ISPs, communities and municipalities that led initiatives to improve connectivity in rural areas, was awarded to Cox Communications, which continued its 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 its Connect2Compete Internet plan, ConnectAssist Internet plan, and affordable mobile plans “starting at $15 per gigabit per line.”

Additionally, two individual honors were presented through the Cornerstone Awards: the Outstanding Multifamily Partner Award and Lifetime Achievement Recognition.

Comcast’s Dave Spencewho has dedicated his career to pushing Comcast to make changes and updates to its managed Wi-Fi services to become both more competitive and transparent, received the award Outstanding Multifamily Partner Award.

Recognition of lifetime achievementmeanwhile, was awarded posthumously to Dan Terheggen, who previously served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Smartaira. Terheggen, who was described as an industry icon, died in February and was honored at the Cornerstone Awards for his legacy of excellence in the multifamily industry and a career that spanned 50 years, first with coin-operated washing machines, then with digital television. and possibly broadband.

Known as a leader, motivator and mentor, Terheggen was known for meeting industry newcomers and advancing the multifamily industry as a whole.

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