Provider Spotlight: iTV-3 Expanding Fiber to the Home Service in Central Illinois

Nathan Woodside
Published: August 22, 2013
Related to: North Central eTeam

It’s no secret that the rising popularity in home video streaming has taken a piece of the home entertainment pie from video retail stores.

But Family Video, a central Illinois based video rental chain, isn’t fighting the tides of technology – it’s embracing it.

In 2009, Family Video purchased the Peoria-based telecom firm Bitwise. Soon remarketed as iTV-3, the company now offers ultra high-speed internet, TV and phone throughout Peoria, and to residences in Pekin and Morton. The company is growing, too, with service soon expanding to East Peoria and Bloomington.

Most importantly, says iTV-3 Vice President Levi Dinkla, the business is bringing fiber-to-the-home services in smaller Midwestern cities normally overlooked by larger telecom companies.

“We thought that if we could bring our fiber-optics to small Midwestern towns, the type of towns where we have Family Video stores, and provide great customer service, that was a real opportunity because most of these towns were being underserved,” Dinkla said. “When Family Video purchased this company, we saw this opportunity. We wanted to have this ongoing relationship with our video store customers. What we saw is that larger companies in our industry had skipped over certain types of towns when it came to fiber.”

Dinkla added that all customer service operations are local. The company’s call center is based in downtown Peoria.

“People get really excited to be talking to someone who could be across the river, their neighbor, or someone they know,” he said.

More information can be had at www.itv-3.com or at iTV-3 kiosks planted in some Family Video retail stores.