ABOUT

/ABOUT
ABOUT 2024-03-04T12:49:21-06:00

About Us

TCC is a telecommunications company in West Central Wisconsin offering Internet, Video, and Phone services in a rural area.  We operate a “fiber-rich” network, including Fiber-to-the-Home in several of our communities.  We are continuing to expand our fiber plant in our serving area.  We are certified “Gig Capable” by the NTCA — the Rural Broadband Association.  This means our network has been tested and verified capable of offering Internet bandwidth of at least 1 Gigabit per second.  This is important for our customers so they know they have a network that can offer the speeds they need for their devices.  Our area has also been designated a “Smart Rural Community” by the NTCA for the network infrastructure, reliability, and community support in areas of technology provided by TCC.

Purpose, Vision, and Mission:

We exist to bring the world to our local communities.  We achieve our purpose by implementing our mission to deliver state-of-the-art broadband, voice, and video services to our friends and neighbors in rural Wisconsin.  When we are successful with our mission, we will ensure our place as the premier broadband, voice, and video provider in our region.

Serving Area:

TCC serves an area of approximately 1600 square miles, spanning about 25 communities in five counties.  Click the map below for a full-size view.

Company Timeline:

1962 – Tri-County Telephone Cooperative is formed.

Tri-County Telephone Cooperative was formed to provide telephone service to Eleva, Independence, Pigeon Falls, Pleasantville, and Northfield.  On March 1, 1966, 180 subscribers in our Northfield Exchange started to use their new one-party dial service. This is the first all one-party system in the State of Wisconsin and one of very few in the nation!

     

1980 – WWCC is formed.

Western Wisconsin Communications Cooperative began as the nation’s first (and still only) Cable Television cooperative. Towns served by WWCC included Eleva, Strum, Osseo, Fairchild, Alma Center, Humbird, Merrillan, Whitehall, Independence, Arcadia, Trempealeau, Galesville, Ettrick, and Blair.

1988 – Cellular properties purchased.

Invested in the cellular interests in our serving area, which at the time was Cellulink. Over the years, this investment has paid off many times over in fees and royalties from cellular companies whose customers utilize our towers and network.

1996 – Tri-West Communications, LLC (Internet provider) is formed.

Tri-County Telephone Cooperative and Western Wisconsin Communications Cooperative formed a new company together: Tri-West Communications, LLC, to provide Internet service over telephone and cable tv lines. Tri-West Communications joined with 19 other companies around Western Wisconsin also providing Internet to collectively offer together what we might not be able to each provide individually. From this partnership, the company Airstream Communications, was formed.

2002 – DSL available in all six telephone exchanges.

100% DSL access in all six telephone exchanges. We were one of very few telephone companies with Internet service in Wisconsin offering DSL access to 100% of our access lines. Without additional equipment and electronics, DSL is distance-limited in its reach from the phone office. In true cooperative spirit, we wanted to offer access to the same service to all of our customers, regardless of distance from our phone offices.

2006 – TCTC and WWCC merge to form TCC.

Tri-County Telephone and WWCC, after years of working together, officially merged to become Tri-County Communications Cooperative (“TCC”). A single, merged company could be more efficient and function as a team than two companies just “working together”.

2007 – TCC begins offering technology classes.

TCC began offering free technology classes in the community. Since then, TCC has offered over 100 classes with total attendance over 1,000! We adopted the name “TCC-U” for “TCC University.” Topics have included Windows Basics, Computer Basics, Facebook, eBay, Wi-Fi, Digital Pictures, Digital Music, Using a DVR, iPad Basics, Internet Security, Streaming, and more!

   

2010 – TCC starts Fiber-to-the-Home project.

Started “Fiber-To-The-Home”project of installing and connecting “fiber optic” lines to all homes in our phone exchanges. Fiber optic lines send data as light pulsing through tiny glass tubes. Fiber carries more data at faster speeds (by far) than existing technologies, allowing us to have better capacity for services and Internet speeds both now and for the future. Fiber also eliminates our need to provide and maintain separate lines for phone and cable tv services to the same location.

2014 – TCC earns designation as a Smart Rural Community.

Our company and our serving area was designated a Smart Rural Community by NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, for our recent and ongoing efforts to improve the data network and overall technology culture in our area. This designation is an affirmation by a national organization and by our peers in the telecommunications industry of our efforts to improve the network and technology in the areas we serve. For our communities, it is a “badge of distinction” among other communities of having a solid network for fast internet, cable tv and telephone services.

2016 – TCC is certified as Gig-Capable by NTCA.

TCC was “GIG Certified” by NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association. This means our network was certified being capable of speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). One Gigabit per second is 1,000 times faster than 1 Megabit per second. Being “GIG Certified” sets us apart from other providers who cannot offer speeds like this. It also sets our communities apart from other communities that do not have a provider capable of speeds up to 1 Gbps, which may help attract people and businesses to our area.

2017 – TCC launches “Tech Home” services.

TCC launched “TECH HOME” services for Internet customers in an effort to help protect customer devices and data.  TECH HOME includes three services: SecureIT Anti-Virus, File Hopper Cloud Backup, and Password Genie Password Manager.  TECH HOME has three packages: Protect — all 3 services for 1 PC + 1 mobile (included with TCC Internet); Protect Plus — all three services for 4 total devices ($9.95/month); and Support — all three services for 4 total devices plus Premium Technical Support ($14.95/month).

2019 – Broadband Technical Apprentice Program.

TCC became the first in the State of Wisconsin to officially offer and train a Broadband Technical Apprentice. TCC partnered with the Department of Workforce Development, Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association, and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) to create this exciting new apprenticeship. Our very own Cody Moen was the first apprentice in this program.

     

2020 – TCC offers online class.

TCC offered our first online class via Zoom.  Being unable to meet in person, TCC opted to work with Western Technical College in Independence and La Crosse to offer a free class over video chat service, Zoom.  The class topic was “Technology and Your Health” and had 36 participants.  We felt the class was a success and will look to offer more online classes in the future.

2021 – Expansion projects begin.

Began extending our services to the town of Drammen and Newcomb Valley outside Arcadia.  We applied for and were approved for a grant to plow fiber to the homes in those townships.  This is exciting news for TCC and the residents of those townships who will be able to access services and bandwidth they’ve never had before!

2022 – Continued expansion projects; sold old TCC building in Independence, moved back to original location.

We continued our expansion into the town of Alma south of Merrillan and the town of Pleasant Valley between Eleva and Mondovi.  That makes four expansion areas that now have access to TCC Internet, TV, and Phone services!

We also SOLD our current office space in Independence we we’ll be moving BACK to our ORIGINAL office space in Independence (which, by the way, is in the same building).  So, as of the start of 2023, we will be back to the smaller office space in our building (which Barneson Insurance has been leasing).

2023 – TCC begins offering video service via Streaming; TCC gets new branding!

TCC will be offering our TV service as a streaming product!  No more set-top boxes connected to ethernet or coax.  In 2023, you will be able to get your TCC Television service through your own streaming device (Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku).  Just download our app to your device and enjoy your TCC Television service via streaming!