COVID-19 Archives - Central Texas TeleCommunications

In a year that has been especially difficult, our team at Central Texas TeleCommunications (CTTC) wanted to share what we have been most thankful for throughout the year. Even though 2020 has brought new challenges that have tested our strength and faith, it was easy for us to find the things that we’re able to bring us joy and show us just how lucky we have been.

Who Is CTTC?

CTTC is dedicated to providing high-speed internet and landline telephone service to rural Central Texas to stay connected to the ones we love no matter where we may be. Our customers have trusted that we will bring them exceptional service for almost 70 years, and we are committed to continuing that amazing service by evolving with technology.

What Are We Thankful for This Year?

When we asked our team at CTTC what they were most thankful for, they had so much to say and we wanted to share them with you. The following are 10 things we are thankful for:

Our Families
- I’m so very thankful to have a home, a wonderful job with CTTC, and a husband who I adore. I am thankful for every minute that I’m able to spend with family and friends. I’m so thankful for our children who are now adults and bring so much joy to my life. Grandkids are awesome!! Blessed to still have my mother. Thankful for small-town life in Goldthwaite, Texas. Last but not least, thankful for our doggies. All of these blessings – God has given me, and I’m so very grateful. – Kim S., Accounting
- I am very thankful for my family and new daughter-in-law and grandson. – Wyatt K., Mapping
- I am very thankful for God’s blessings, my beautiful family, and the healthy births of both of my grandchildren in May in the midst of COVID-19. – Tracy S., CSR
- I am thankful that my mother’s upcoming heart valve replacement surgery isn’t going to be complicated by blockages. I am also thankful that my father is still doing as well as he is in Hospice with his COPD. I am thankful that I have a sister who can be with my mother through her many doctor’s appointments and her upcoming surgery. I also have a brother-in-law, Israel, who is willing to step up and help out whenever needed, especially when it comes to my father. I am most grateful for a company like this that is supportive of me when I need to be there and help out with my Dad while my Mom completes her hospital stay. And all of this just a week before Thanksgiving, and 9 days before her 77th birthday. – Kelly R., CSR
- I have so many things to be thankful for in my life: my family, my home, my health and my job. We have all been through a year of change, but we have grown stronger in our faith and commitment. I am blessed with everything I need. I am working hard towards everything I want. And most of all I appreciate and thank God for everything I have. – Macine G., Admin Assist
Remaining in Good Health
- I am thankful I work for a company that always looks out and supports its employees and customers. I am also thankful for the health and happiness of my family and especially my 84-year-old mother that is still in fairly good health. – Nita D., Accounting
- I am thankful for my good health. Millions of people have terminal illnesses, diseases, or have passed away. – Jennifer T., Customer Service
- I’m thankful for good health. I’m thankful to still have a good job to come to every day. – Eddie B., Mapping
Overcoming Life’s Challenges
- I am extremely thankful for my mom overcoming breast cancer this year. – Kasey B., Accounting
- The simple fact that I am alive and breathing this instant is reason enough to be thankful. I can honestly say that my blessings are countless as my employer (CTTC), family, and friends were the most considerate, caring, and always provided support throughout such uncertain times. – Magally M., Accounting
- I am thankful for this year. It has shown that no matter what we’re faced with, we will overcome every obstacle. – Lauren L., Admin Assist
Working and Schooling from Home
- I am thankful for CTTC giving me the opportunity to work from home during COVID-19. – Kasey B., Accounting
First Responders (Police, Firemen, Paramedics, Healthcare Workers)
- I am thankful for all the first responders, including paramedics, firemen and police, who have continued to provide excellent service throughout this trying year. They have never given less than 100%. I am also thankful for all volunteers who chose to still volunteer with the youth in the community so they could play sports and go to youth programs. – Michelle S., Dispatch
Supportive Community
- I am thankful to have the opportunity to live and work in several great communities with friendly nice people who work together to improve the lives of friends, family, and their neighbors!! – Ryan R., Easements
Caring Neighbors in Our Small Town
- I am thankful that my family and I live and work in a community that sincerely cares and shows that they care through their actions and not just words when tragedy strikes a family. We are truly blessed with an extraordinary community and work-family. – Bowdy T., Engineering
Co-Workers Who Are Like Family
- I’m thankful that I live in a beautiful part of Texas and get to work with an awesome group of people. – Danielle S., CSR
- I’m thankful for the great group of CSRs with who I have the privilege to work! Y’all are the best! – Charlotte H., Customer Service
- I am thankful for the teamwork of my CTTC co-workers and how we were able to adapt to so many changes. And how quickly we were able to provide new broadband services to so many new customers who moved into our service area, so they could continue their work and schooling from home during the pandemic. – Tracy S., CSR
- I’m thankful for being surrounded by employees who are selfless and are willing and able to keep the internet working during a time when the world relied on it so much. Without their dedication, things wouldn’t have been able to operate seamlessly. – Trint T., Dispatch
- I am thankful for all the opportunities I have had this year. I am also thankful to the CTTC family for making me feel like I am right at home. – Sonia R., Accounting
- I am thankful for the memories I made with my family this year! I am also thankful for how well our CTTC team adapted to all the changes this year to continue to provide our customers with the best customer experience possible! – Amanda W., Marketing
Fantastic Customers
- I am thankful for my co-workers who are cool and fun as well as great trainers. I am thankful for our amazing and super friendly customers. I am also thankful for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a person, with such awesome people. – Aric R., I&R Tech
Great Job with an Awesome Company
- I’m thankful for being in a position to help others during this year’s difficult times. When so many of our customers were faced with big changes such as working from home or virtual learning, I was able to get them set up and have access to the speeds they needed to do so. And sometimes, I was just there to listen, as things were hard and people were isolated. I’m also thankful that my family and friends are in good health and good spirits, despite everything we’ve been through this year. – Dani R., Technical Support
- I’m thankful for my family, co-workers, and the community and that we have CTTC which did not shut down so we have been able to work during this pandemic. Glad that we are safe and well. May God be with all. – Oleta B., CSR
- I am grateful to work for a company that has continued to weather the many changes of the past year without breaking stride. – Wyatt K., Mapping
- I’m thankful that God placed me in a position with CTTC through this challenging year. Not only because it enabled me to continue working through the shutdown to provide for my own family, but also because it allowed me to be a part of providing integral high-speed internet communications to Coop members, families, students, businesses who were forced to leave their workplaces and classrooms to begin operating out of their homes. – Jimmy J., Easements
- I’m thankful that CTTC acted so quickly to help keep us and our customers safe when things were so uncertain and people were scared. I’m so proud and thankful CTTC was able to provide service to students during the quarantine. It’s wonderful to work with such great people. – Robin P., CSR
- I am thankful for my job and my family – Cody T., Easements

Contact CTTC for High-Speed Internet and Phone Service in Rural Texas

If you live in Central Texas and are in need of high-speed internet and/or phone service, contact CTTC. We are dedicated to providing you the best possible customer service no matter what life may throw at us.

Call today to learn more about our services.

For almost 70 years, CTTC has been in the business of keeping people connected and it’s safe to say we’ve faced our share of challenges along the way. Through it all, our innovation and commitment to our customers drive our strategy.

But COVID-19 brought us a very unique challenge. The pandemic brought our worlds – our businesses, schools and healthcare, and even birthday parties – to a computer screen or smartphone. Suddenly the luxury of fast, reliable connectivity became essential overnight.

“As you might expect when you’re stuck inside, usage surged,” says CTTC General Manager, Jamey Wigley. “Folks needed to work, to learn, to entertain all from their homes.”

“The network we built wasn’t planned for a pandemic like this, but it’s proven its worth over the past five months. A decade ago, we couldn’t have risen to this challenge.”

CTTC – Keeping the community connected through COVID from Found Texas on Vimeo.

Thanks to constant telecommunications innovation, CTTC has built a network of high-speed fiber internet that offers reliable service to rural Texas communities.

We’re proud to say that we have met our customers’ demands right here on the frontline. How? We’ve heavily invested in upgrades to revitalize and power our network with broadband fiber over the past few years. The network that we built was capable of immediate expansion. Almost immediately, we upgraded and increased bandwidth for our customers. This meant that we could provide service to whole families who needed constant online connection without crashing the system.

“Good connection has always been important to our customers. But now, fast, reliable connectivity is essential for empowering their lives, work and connections as safely as possible while COVID remains a threat.” – CTTC

“We had the customer in mind. Our goal was to allow for uninterrupted school days, works days and birthday Zoom parties, and entertainment. We were able to upgrade our school networks. We also put hot spots out in our rural areas, to ensure that students could get access even if their homes weren’t set up for it originally,” says Wigley. “CTTC also worked directly with essential businesses to offer tech solutions for quick, efficient curbside operations.”

Several businesses in our communities needed to switch to curbside pickup offerings to increase safety for their employees and customers. Businesses like McMahan Pharmacy were provided with an additional number. From the safety of their car, customers could send a text to that number upon arrival. The text would appear as an alert on the pharmacy’s computers. Then a pharmacy worker would run the pickup out to the customer’s car.

With additional safety measures in place, we were able to keep our tech support and customer service teams safe (and employed). This guaranteed continuity of service for our customers. If there was a problem, we could fix it in real-time.

We are excited about this opportunity to support a new, highly-connected chapter for our customers – one that gives them professional success while keeping families safe and healthy. During COVID and beyond, CTTC looks forward to serving our customers with excellence.

CTTC connected to the community and connecting you to endless possibilities.

At CTTC, we take pride in our ability to innovate and overcome the challenges that we encounter. And, this year, we are proud to say that our dedicated employees have risen to the biggest challenge we’ve experienced in our 69 years as a company – COVID-19.

CTTC provides telecommunications services to 5,000 Central Texas families, business owners, teachers, and individuals – not to mention, nine schools. And they’ve never needed us more than when COVID-19 brought our worlds inside.

We’re in the business of keeping people connected and this has been a truly unique time for us. Though we’ve always known that our mission of providing reliable, high-speed internet and phone services is vital to the health of the rural communities that we serve, now nearly all of society’s daily interactions, services and connections are completely dependent on broadband capacity.

Overnight, schools built digital learning classrooms. Business meetings moved to networking platforms like Skype and Zoom. Broadband usage soared along with demand across all streaming platforms. The first weeks of the pandemic brought surges for wireless and fiber technology. And we were ready to meet our customers’ demands right there on the frontline.

Services

Almost immediately we upgraded our network to increase bandwidth for our customers. This increase allowed for uninterrupted school days, works days and monumental birthday Zoom parties.

“Rural Texas is so blessed to have an internet provider like CTTC. In times like these when everyone is working from home, I am very thankful to everyone for making sure our service is up and working.” – Traci B., CTTC customer

We also added numerous hotspots throughout our 3,200 square mile service area. With this addition, everyone can stay connected, even folks without internet service in their homes.

Safety

Our dedicated employees are the heart and soul of our operation. Therefore, we made it our priority to protect their livelihoods.

Roughly half of CTTC employees started working from home. Outfitted with our technology, operations were effective and efficient, running smoothly from the safety of their homes. This ensured that customer service – an area in which we continuously strive for excellence – continues safely and without interruption. From tech support to operations and logistics to accounts payable, CTTC’s hard-working employees remain connected with our customers needing assistance.

To continually accommodate customer needs, our Goldthwaite and San Saba offices converted to drive-thru windows to further protect our community while keeping them connected to the world.

We implemented internal safety protocols to address current customer needs as we received requests for upgrades and repairs. These measures have been effective in keeping our customers and staff healthy during repairs that require in-person activity.