News : iVinton wheels put into motion 1 year ago

VMEU voted to begin the iVinton project February 12, 2019

Kurt Karr was chosen to be the one that official turned the iVinton fiber network on

For many of us, the idea of having locally owned internet service in Vinton is something we hadn't thought about too much before 2015. This is the year that it was passed among the Vinton voters. 

Last February 12th, of 2019, the Vinton's Municipal Electric Utilities Board finally voted to give the final approval to begin the project and one year later, to the day, in 2020 testing began on the new fiber network. 

Kurt Karr was invited to the iVinton office to "flip the switch" to begin testing of the new fiber network in Vinton. The "Father of iVinton" as those that have been along on this journey call him, Karr has been the man who had the vision for this project at a time when internet was just beginning to be a necessary service for most of us.

There are a handful of locations that the fiber is being tested in town to check for any problems before continuing to turn it on "live" in other sections of town. As other areas are completed, the network will begin to go "live."

While testing is being done, the "hut" which is the brain center of the project is being connected with the fiber that has been pushed into the conduit that was laid before the winter freeze. 

A majority of residents have the conduit run to your home, there are still some that have forgotten to have that done. This is simply the "pipe" that runs to your house, this is still FREE at this point. You simply need to contact the iVinton office to have this done. 

The fiber is one more piece in the final puzzle, the most important one. This can be pushed through at any time after the conduit has been connected. You are encouraged to sign up for your first month of service so that the fiber can also be connected to your home while the trucks are still in town to connect you. (It can be done later, but will require a connection fee, and right now, signing up for that first month, well, it makes this part FREE as well!)

There were around 500 residents who have signed up for the new service. I'd bet that once you try it you will be so in love with it you'll wonder how you lived with dial-up, er, your "high-speed internet" before!

If you are stuck in a contract,  simply contact the office. iVinton has no contracts and is willing to get you ready to run as soon as your contract is over, give them a call! The lovely ladies at the office will be thrilled to lend you a hand to arrange to have that fiber run to your house. 

As a gal that uses the internet every day, and as someone who had the chance to briefly use the speed that is arriving, I would guess that once you experience the new fiber, you'll probably say what I did, "What? THAT is fast!"

To contact the iVinton office you can call 472-3255, visit their Facebook page here or visit the website at www.ivinton.com of course, you can also stop downtown at 412 1st Ave. Vinton.

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Just for fun here's one of the first stories, from 5 years ago that I can find about the iVinton project and some of the other people that were helping to organize and spread word about the project.