MISSOULA, MT -- (Marketwire) -- 08/19/08 -- Bill Teague received the Montana
Telecommunications Association's (MTA) Lifetime Achievement Award for his
25 years of service on the Board of Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative
(Blackfoot), and for his contributions to the telecommunications industry
locally and statewide.
At the MTA Annual Meeting on August 5, Geoff Feiss -- the MTA General
Manager -- presented the award to Teague in front of 100 Montana telecom
executives. Feiss remarked that the award is given to a person that
exemplifies the spirit of rural telecommunications, and has demonstrated a
long history of promoting rural economic development and community
involvement.
Each year, MTA has the task of selecting one Montanan for the award, and
this year it was clear that Teague was not only qualified but deserving.
"Bill spent decades leading the evolution of telecommunications technology
in rural Montana through his service at Blackfoot and as a board member for
MTA," says Feiss, on why Teague was selected for the prestigious award.
In 1951, the community of Clinton shared one telephone that was located in
a general store, one mile from Bill Teague's ranch. As a young man, he and
other forward-thinking Montanans went door to door, soliciting the sum of
$50 to help fund the dream of bringing telephones to the Clinton,
Helmville, Rock Creek and Ovando areas. That dream came to fruition in
1954 when Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative was formally organized.
Teague worked on the family ranch in Clinton until enlisting in the Navy in
1944. He retuned to Montana in time to solicit the $50 memberships to
start the Cooperative. Teague was appointed to the Blackfoot Board of
Trustees in 1983, and still remains an active member. During Teague's
tenure on the Board he has helped usher in such milestones as Blackfoot
being the first rural Montana company to introduce an all VoIP telephone
and broadband network in Montana, implementation of equal access to all
long-distance carriers, local number access to the Internet, and complete
conversion to digital switching. In Teague's many years at Blackfoot he has
also seen the roll out of digital PCS cellular services, Blackfoot's
competitive entry into the Missoula market, and the creation of TeleSphere
which offers software services for the utility industry, as well as the
acquisition of telephone service areas from both Continental Telephone and
US West.
"I've seen Blackfoot grow tremendously during the last 50 years. But I
never imagined that it would grow into what it is today. And to think, in
1951, all we wanted was a phone. Today, we have faster broadband speed than
you see in most urban communities," stated Teague. "I am honored and proud
to receive this award."
Montana Telecommunications Association was established to foster the
provision of modern telecommunications services and products to Montana
consumers, and to provide services that add value to its members' business
operations. To learn more, visit www.telecomassn.org.
About Blackfoot Telecommunications Group
Named after the Blackfoot River running through much of the territory it
serves, the Blackfoot Telecommunications Group (Blackfoot) was originally
established in 1954 as Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative. Blackfoot offers
state-of-the-art telecommunications, Internet and data solutions to
customers in Missoula and throughout Montana and Idaho. Headquartered in
Missoula, Montana, Blackfoot employs more than 165 Montanans. Blackfoot
can be reached at 406-541-5000 or through its web site at
http://www.blackfoot.com.
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