November 3, 2010 Bend, Ore. - Amy Tykeson, Chief Executive Officer and President of BendBroadband, was recently honored at the 2010 Oregon Connections Conference held in Hood River.  Ms. Tykeson received the Edwin B. Parker Enduring Achievement Award for her efforts and contributions to the telecommunications industry in Oregon.

The award is named in honor of Edwin B. Parker, a resident of Gleneden Beach, Oregon and former Stanford University professor with an extensive background in telecommunications and information technology.  Mr. Parker was named Oregon's local economic development leader of the year in 1995 and played a central role in the creation of the Oregon Health Network.  Parker has been a major contributor to telecommunications policy and public interest initiatives in Oregon for more than 20 years.

The Oregon Connections conference draws attendees from all regions of the state to share ideas, experience and knowledge related to telecommunications.  At this year's conference, presenters and attendees examined the importance and value of broadband telecommunications for business, government, education, healthcare, public safety, communities and individuals.  The conference also focused on broadband funding, technologies and applications and the impact of each from an economic development perspective.

• BendBroadband has upgraded its network infrastructure to a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification 3.0 (DOCSIS) that is capable of state-of-the-art data communications.
• BendBroadband was the first American company to deploy the new HSPA+ 3.5G (upgradeable to LTE) wireless broadband data network.  This network is one of the fastest in the nation and provides robust broadband access to rural areas outside of the company's coaxial footprint.
• BendBroadband developed a successful proposal for a $4.4 million federal Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) grant to bring a high-capacity middle mile optical ring network to connect underserved communities and provide affordable network capacity to community anchor institutions and businesses in Central Oregon.
• The company also recently announced plans to open the BendBroadband Vault, a green data center to provide services including network, server and storage design, business continuity/disaster recovery, product selection, virtualization, and cloud computing infrastructure.

As noted by Christopher Tamarin from the Oregon Business Development Department, "It's the combination of these BendBroadband projects, along with Amy's vision and the substantial investment needed to make them happen, that contribute to the competitive telecommunications infrastructure needed to support economic growth and development, as well as an improved quality of life in Central Oregon.  We sincerely thank Amy Tykeson and her team at BendBroadband for everything they've done to deserve this award."

2010 was the fifteenth year for the conference and it was hosted by the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District.  The sixteenth annual Oregon Connections conference will be held on October 27 and 28, 2011 in Hood River.  For more information, please visit www.oregonconnections.info<http://www.oregonconnections.info/>.

For further information please contact Lance Judd at 541-312-6541 or ljudd@bendbroadband.net<mailto:ljudd@bendbroadband.net>

About BendBroadband:

BendBroadband is a family-owned, Oregon-based company serving Central Oregon since 1955. A leader in the cable and broadband sectors, the company offers an extensive range of broadband, cable and telephone services for commercial and residential customers. Central Oregon facilities include over a thousand miles of fiber and coax infrastructure along with metropolitan optical Ethernet, T-1/PRI and hosted PBX services serving the business community. BendBroadband offers multiple phone and high-speed Internet options with speeds up to 60 Mps. BendBroadband operates one of the fastest wireless broadband network in the nation, which covers an expanded Central Oregon footprint along with outdoor Wi-Fi. The company was among the first to be 100% digital and offers Video on Demand, digital video recorders, HDTV (with more than 100 HD channels) and a choice of interactive program guides. The company focuses its corporate contributions and sponsorship efforts on youth, and by supporting an array of arts and entertainment in Central Oregon.  In the community, BendBroadband provides extensive local sports, civic programming and local features created and produced by COTV, channel 11.

BendBroadband Vault is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BendBroadband. The company will provide data center services to clients, including hosted storage for primary site needs and disaster recovery, equipment collocation and managed services. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed by mid-2011.