Hawarden Integrated Technology,
Energy and Communications.
Telephone System

State-of-the-art phone service for rural Iowa

• Before HiTec, Hawarden residents and businesses have had no choice in their telephone service provider. Because residents had no where else to go, there has been no incentive for the provider to maintain an up-to-date, cost-effective system.
• Before HiTec, when it rained, the phone service went from sporadic to gone.
• Before HiTec, during the fall, many residents had outages caused by condensation and animals damaging aging, corroded phone lines.
• Before HiTec, the phone equipment and lines were right out of  post war technology, antiquated, aging and unreliable.
• Before HiTec, switching capabilities were 40 years out of date and very little was done to upgrade them with modern telephone capabilities.
• Before HiTec, the phone lines would not carry even 56K modem connections. The line noise and dropped signals made internet connection in Hawarden a very frustrating proposition.

Because Hawarden residents and businesses will now have two phone service providers to choose from, each provider will be compelled to offer quality products and services at a fair price. The City of Hawarden is committed to providing an up-to-date communications product and superior service through HiTec.

Hawarden residents and businesses will receive:

A) Up-to-date phone services at competitive costs. (A Complete Price Listing here.)

In addition to the basic phone service, HiTec customers will be able to choose from a variety of special features:

•	call forwarding	•	call waiting
•	caller ID	•	automatic callback
•	selective call acceptance	•	automatic recall
•	selective call rejection	•	three-way calling (conference calling)
•	per-call blocking	•	30-number speed dial
•	Internet access	•	additional features added as available

B) Superior Customer Service from LOCAL resources

The people who administer and maintain the HiTec system are also residents of Hawarden. They understand the needs of Hawarden residents and will work hard to ensure those needs are met.

If a resident has problems with HiTec phone service, that resident will discuss the problem with a customer service representative located in Hawarden and the problem will be serviced as soon as possible by a technician who also lives in this community. Because the people servicing the HiTec system live in Hawarden, residents will get faster, more personal service.

C) Larger local calling area in the near future with potential for greater expansion.

The communities of Akron, Ireton, and Chatsworth IA, & Hudson, and Alcester, SD are in HiTec's local calling area. HiTec customers will continue to enjoy calls free-of-charge to these communities.

That local calling area could grow as additional communities join the Pioneer Holdings network. As phone systems become a part of the network, they may be included in the local calling area. This is already the case for Sergeant Bluff, IA. The western third of Iowa is currently a potential marketplace for this network. Imagine, calling the west half of the state as a local call. It is in HiTec's future.