Fall 2019 Newsletter

FALL 2019

CEO’S MESSAGE Strength in Numbers Rings True Again

CONGRATULATIONS, JODY! 20 YEARS OF SERVICE AWARD In July, we celebrated Network Operations Center (NOC) Ethernet/ IP Technician Jody Sommer’s 20year work anniversary.

Seth Arndorfer, CEO

“How do you guys make it work?”

It’s a question I often get from carriers across the nation at industry conferences regarding DCN’s ownership structure.

I always start with, “Well, we’re incredibly lucky,” but I know only a small part of it is luck.

DCN and our Owners are successful because we prioritize delivering industry-leading broadband services for North Dakota businesses, government and residents.

The numbers that support our emphasis on delivering this level of service includes our more than $1 billion investment over the past 10 years in statewide fiber optic infrastructure, and our over 40,000 miles of existing fiber in the state, a number that continually grows.

These numbers don’t represent the work of one company, whether DCN or one of our Owners. These achievements are the result of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

www.DakotaCarrier.com

“Jody is someone you can count on to get the job done. Period.”

DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer said.

“The contributions he makes to ensure DCN maintains the DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer (left) with Jody Sommer highest level of reliability and (right). responsiveness for our customers is apparent every day, and we count ourselves lucky he’s on our team.”

Congratulations Jody, and thank you for your 20 years of service!

BEST WISHES, DAVE & ROBERT! DCN BOARD MEMBERS RETIRE North Dakota Telephone Company (NDTC) GM/CEO Dave Dircks retired in March, celebrating over 25 years of service at the Devils Lake-based broadband service provider.

As one of DCN’s founding board members, Dave was instrumental in shaping the vision and strategic business direction of DCN that has enabled our continued growth.

DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer (left) with Dave Dirks (right).

DRN GM/CEO Robert Johnson also retired in March. Robert served as the Ellendale-based broadband service provider’s GM/CEO for six years. Under his leadership, DRN greatly expanded its service offerings, most notably managed IT services.

“I’m so thankful to Dave and Robert DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer (left) with Robert for their years of service on DCN’s Johnson (right). board,” DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer said. “Their contributions to DCN, leveraging their knowledge and experience, have helped position us as the state’s leading connectivity provider.”

“I wish them the best in their well-deserved retirement.”

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DCN & CENCOM CELEBRATE GROUNDBREAKING us working together, following the age-old adage, “There is strength in numbers.”

This model has proven successful time and time again. Its most recent accomplishment is delivering onegigabit internet access to North Dakota state government, including state agencies, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions. DCN is able to deliver connections of this speed and bandwidth to agencies, schools, and higher education institutions across the state because we leverage our Owners’ networks which reach nearly every community in the state.

No other network in North Dakota operates this way.

When DCN was formed in August 1996, our Owners established this collective ownership structure to, among other reasons, allow DCN to provide mesh network services by leveraging their networks for businesses and government with two or more locations across the state.

ADDITION TO DCN BISMARCK OFFICE WILL BE FUTURE CENCOM HOME Alongside representatives from the Central Dakota Communications Center (CenCom), DCN broke ground Tuesday, July 16, on a new public safety communications center. The nearly 20,000 square-foot center is an addition to our north Bismarck building located at 4202 Coleman Street.

“The public-private partnership between DCN and North Dakota’s public safety sector has been in place since 2000, and we’re honored to continue to support critical infrastructure, ensuring the safety of people in our state,” DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer said.

The addition will be constructed with the same specifications as our existing hardened Bismarck Coleman and Fargo Great Plains data centers. These facilities were built to withstand up to 200 mph F4 tornado-force winds.

Construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2020.

“It is a wise use of tax dollars to leverage what DCN has already built rather than recreate a facility for our own existence,” CenCom Director Mike Dannenfelzer said.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP HISTORY

DCN first provided network services to CenCom in 2000, supporting 911 public safety communication services for Bismarck, Mandan and Burleigh County.

“DCN has provided mission critical services to the State of North Dakota for almost 20 years, and the CenCom project is another example of how our state and local leaders are leveraging investments made by private industry in North Dakota to achieve greater things,” Arndorfer said.

DCN and our Owners network is a collective achievement.

It is ours to continually improve.

It is ours to continually grow.

It is ours to humbly tout as the envy of other states across the nation.

Rendering of the future CenCom addition to DCN’s Bismarck building.

DCN DELIVERS ONE-GIGABIT TO K-12 SCHOOLS ND LEADS NATION IN K-12 CONNECTIVITY We completed all one-gigabit internet circuits to K-12 schools on July 23, 2019, positioning North Dakota as the first state in the nation to achieve this milestone according to Gov. Doug Burgum’s office. We completed the upgrade in collaboration with the North Dakota Information Technology Department (ITD) and our 14 Owner companies.

“DCN has been keeping North Dakota’s public schools connected since 2000, and we know that reliable, fast broadband connectivity is key to keeping our children competitive in our increasingly digital world,” DCN CEO Seth Arndorfer said. “DCN and our owners continuously invest in our collective fiber network and broadband services, ensuring schools, hospitals, homes and businesses across the state have access to the best internet service possible, whether they live in a metro area or one of our many rural communities. We’re proud to take this next step in increasing the speed of connectivity for students across the state.”

Each pin represents a community in which DCN will deliver one-gigabit internet access to a North Dakota K-12 school, college, university or government agency.

MULTI-LAYERED CYBERSECURITY PROGRAMS A LESSON IN CALLING TIME-OUTS IN BASKETBALL AND CYBERSECURITY His son Landen’s basketball team was trailing by 10 a few minutes after tip-off. Director of sales Todd Domres – in this scenario, Coach Domres – called a time-out to get the players reorganized, reenergized, and refocused.

“We came back to win the game, but after the game we had a post-game huddle,” said Domres. “I told the players, ‘We can’t start games like this anymore. We have to come to the gym ready to play. We have to warm-up differently. We have to do a lot of things to better prepare ourselves. Does anybody have any questions?’”

One of his players piped up, “Coach, why don’t you call a time-out sooner?!”

Domres has carried this nugget of genius off the court and into cybersecurity conversations with DCN’s employees and customers as well as conference attendees at which he gives cybersecurity presentations.

“As companies, we don’t want to be a month, a quarter, a year from now saying, ‘I wish I would have called a time-out sooner on cybersecurity,’” advises Domres. “Especially when a time-out is the difference between falling behind or securing a win.”

Many businesses today rely on uninterrupted access to their networks and data. With the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity threats, it’s become critical they routinely reevaluate their cybersecurity programs, ensuring their defense can block known and unknown (zero-day) attacks that may try to compromise their access.

Through his experience on the InfraGard North Dakota Chapter board, an organization comprised of public and private sector businesses working together to ensure the security and resiliency of local and national critical infrastructure, Domres shares businesses most successful in neutralizing cyberattacks are those that have built multi-layer cybersecurity programs.

These programs look different at every business, but often include these key steps:

GET EVERYONE ON BOARD.

Security is everyone’s job. Ongoing training reminds employees to “take a time-out” before they do something that would make your business vulnerable to a cyber-attack.

CHECK. THEN CHECK AGAIN.

Schedule frequent reviews of your business’s applications, software, and hardware, and apply outstanding updates and patches.

ADD A SECURITY GATE TO YOUR NETWORK.

Add firewall and/or DDoS services to your network to monitor network traffic and help mitigate attacks.

CAN’T STOP. WON’T STOP.

Your business’s commitment to cybersecurity is ongoing. Following industry leaders and seeking out cybersecurity training and resources will help you stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the industry and give you the tools to continually enhance your program.

Domres and the DCN sales team have helped businesses of all sizes and industries build their multi-layer cybersecurity programs by incorporating DCN’s managed firewall and DDoS solutions into their network design. These managed solutions give businesses access to industry-leading protection supported by DCN’s highly-trained technicians who are available 24/7/365 and manage routine and real-time maintenance.

“The cybersecurity world is changing all the time, and our solutions adapt to these changes,” shared Domres, noting DCN’s firewall identifies known unknown global attacks and automatically blocks them.

For more information about DCN’s cybersecurity solutions, contact director of sales Todd Domres at 701-323-3039.

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WELCOME CRAIG & GREG!

CONGRATULATIONS, MARK & JENNIFER!

DCN EMPLOYEE COUNT GROWS BY TWO

PROMOTIONS ANNOUNCED

Our employee count grew by two in June with the hiring of Craig Walz as commercial account executive and Greg Strong as application administrator at our Bismarck office.

Earlier this year, Mark Aslakson was promoted from wholesale carrier relations to wholesale sales manager and Jennifer Guthmiller was promoted from commercial account executive to commercial sales manager.

Walz brings over 20 years of business-to-business sales experience, including 10 years as an ISP/ telecommunications consultant. He has bachelor’s degree in finance from Minot State University.

Strong has bachelor’s degrees in Computer Information Systems and Information Technology Management from the University of Mary. He also holds several networking certifications in configuration, administration, and security.

Craig Walz

Greg Strong

Congratulations, Mark and Jennifer!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Mark Aslakson maslakson@dakotacarrier.com or 701-364-1306 Jennifer Guthmiller jguthmiller@dakotacarrier.com or 701-323-3035

Mark Aslakson

Jennifer Guthmiller