More than 70 people gathered at the Pomeroy Inn and Suites on Sept. 9 to hear members of the O-NET board of directors clear the air about the company at its town hall meeting.
"One of the things that we've been working to overcome over the past two months, really strongly was a lot of misinformation out there. Just throughout the rumour mill and people not knowing,” said Nathan Kusiek, O-NET's director of accounts.
“So we wanted to give people the opportunity to come out and find out some of the answers. We had a lot of good questions from some people about equipment and technology and things like that. Now they're armed with the right answers and hopefully that word can spread."
The following sat on the panel to answer questions: Bill Dunbar, general manager; Joe Gustafson, chair of the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development (OI) technology committee; Stirling McLeod, chair of the OI; Robin Harder, director of operations; and Nathan Kusiek, director of accounts.
Kusiek opened the night with a presentation on O-NET's history, starting in 2002 when the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development wanted to increase Internet bandwidth in Olds to attract business and development.
He continued, highlighting milestones such as O-NET's grant from the provincial government, the installation of the network in 2011, the construction of the company's central offices in 2012 and national publicity in July 2013.
“This is a community-driven, community-owned company that's doing it,” Kusiek said during his presentation.
Kusiek then brought the audience up to speed on achievements this year, including the new IPTV system, the community group donation program and the scheduled completion of all 12 service areas by the end of this year.
During the question-and-answer portion of the evening, those in attendance asked technical questions — such as equipment required for service and the geographic reach of the network — as well as those about the product, like the future of pick-and-pay TV channel subscription and bandwidth limits.
Others touted the responsiveness of O-NET's customer service.
“One that didn't actually come up tonight, we were surprised was, funding for O-NET and the relationship with the Olds Institute and the town, how that happened,” Kusiek said. “We expected that question to come out and it didn't. We have that information on our website.”
Kusiek said he was pleased with the turnout and the dialogue during the event.
“We got out there with every form of marketing that we have, so the turnout I am enthusiastic about; having our existing customers come out, and then people with some really good questions.”
