{"id":49702,"date":"2025-12-04T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T12:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=49702"},"modified":"2025-12-02T10:05:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:05:43","slug":"paulding-putnam-lights-up-first-fiber-internet-homes-celebrates-milestone-with-ribbon-cutting-and-early-subscribers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/paulding-putnam-lights-up-first-fiber-internet-homes-celebrates-milestone-with-ribbon-cutting-and-early-subscribers\/","title":{"rendered":"Paulding Putnam Lights Up First Fiber Internet Homes \u2013 Celebrates Milestone with Ribbon-Cutting and Early Subscribers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Paulding Putnam celebrates the first home being lit with fiber internet service during a ribbon-cutting on Nov. 10 with subscribers Dennis and Tammy Clark in Paulding. The Clark family selected the co-op\u2019s robust WorkWire internet plan for remote workers featuring 1 gig x 1 gig speeds. (L-R) Paulding Putnam Chief Financial Officer Renee Hull, internet subscribers Tammy and Dennis Clark (with grandson Oliver), CEO & President Randy Price, and Chief Operating Officer Nick Eltzroth.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On November 10, Paulding Putnam held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the rural Paulding home of Dennis and Tammy Clark, the co-op\u2019s first fiber-to-the-home subscribers, officially launching service and opening sign-ups across areas of Paulding, Payne, Haviland, and Scott (Ohio).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis, a 34-year co-op retiree, and Tammy, Senior Director of Clinical Education for Fresenius Kidney Care (Waltham, Mass.), chose the WorkWire 1 Gig x 1 Gig symmetrical package with battery backup and managed Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a new era for us,\u201d Dennis said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always struggled on the outskirts of town. Now the speed is incredible, and the glitches are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Tammy, a full-time remote worker for an international company, the difference in service has been life changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m on video calls nearly all day,\u201d she said. \u201cBefore, I\u2019d get kicked out of meetings or files wouldn\u2019t load because the bandwidth just couldn\u2019t keep up. Since switching to Paulding Putnam fiber, I don\u2019t have those struggles anymore. I can finally be fully present with my team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other early subscribers are equally enthusiastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe and Ellen Sukup of Paulding, longtime co-op members since the 1960s, are thrilled to get their internet from the same trusted local provider as their electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s neat that it\u2019s already someone we pay money to,\u201d Joe said. \u201cWe\u2019ve always been happy with Paulding Putnam, so when they offered something new, we knew we could trust it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe now streams MySports Live games without frustrating slowdowns, while Ellen appreciates the built-in protection that blocks pop-ups and spam on her email and Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Aric Mericle of Paulding sees the co-op difference every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great knowing my internet comes from a place that\u2019s member-focused and easy to reach if I ever have an issue,\u201d Aric said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With kids at home, he values the reliability for e-learning days, and he\u2019s looking forward to using the PauldingPutnamIQ app\u2019s parental controls to set time limits and keep his family safe online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Paulding Putnam Board of Trustees approved broadband service in July 2024; mainline construction began in April 2025. Despite material delays, more than 300 miles of fiber have been completed with contractor ITG Communications. Current work is underway in the Roselm and Ottoville areas, as well as in the villages of Payne and Grover Hill, where free community Wi-Fi will be provided to community buildings and parks. Construction in Fort Jennings, Van Wert, and Convoy will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to provide service to unserved or underserved member communities, including non-member territories, when feasible, based on need and cost throughout Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, and Allen counties in Ohio and Allen and Adams counties in Indiana. This is why completing the co-op\u2019s online interest form is crucial to gauge need and guide engineering and network design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t corporate internet,\u201d said Paulding Putnam CEO Randy Price. \u201cThis is your member-owned, not-for-profit co-op delivering fast, dependable connectivity with the same local control, fair pricing, and people-first values we\u2019ve upheld since 1935.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key features that set Paulding Putnam\u2019s fiber internet apart include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Direct hardwired fiber connection for rock-solid reliability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Symmetrical residential speeds up to 1 gig, perfect for remote work, streaming, and video calls (business plans offer more bandwidth).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Transparent pricing with no contracts, hidden fees, or data caps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Local, friendly customer service from neighbors who live here<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Managed Wi-Fi with parental controls, device profiles, guest networks, and real-time threat blocking in the PauldingPutnamIQ app<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check your address at www.PPEC.coop or call 800-686-2357. If fiber isn\u2019t available yet, more zones will be coming soon. Tailored plans based on lifestyle needs can be found online at www.ppec.coop\/fiber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving reliable high-speed internet available in places that never had it before is going to make a real difference for our entire community,\u201d Aric said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe agreed: \u201cWe knew we could trust Paulding Putnam to do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A video of the ribbon cutting and interview with the Clark family can be found on Paulding Putnam\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, contact member_services@ppec.coop, visit www.PPEC.coop, or call 800-686-2357.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 10, Paulding Putnam held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the rural Paulding home of Dennis and Tammy Clark, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PPEC-First-Fiber-Internet-Subscribers-Paulding-Putnam-staff-Board-NRTC-and-Members-Dennis-and-Tammy-Clark-Nov.-10-2025.jpg?fit=1016%2C428&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YQd9-cVE","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 22:14:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49704,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49702\/revisions\/49704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}