Citizens Telephone Co-Operative

What Citizens Telephone Co-Operative does

Citizens Telephone Cooperative is a member-owned rural communications provider founded in 1914 and headquartered in Floyd, Virginia. The cooperative delivers landline telephone, VoIP, IPTV television (SFN TV Now), high-speed fiber internet (CitiZip Fiber up to 1 Gbps symmetrical), web and email hosting, and business services across 12 counties and 3 cities in Southwest Virginia. Its core technology foundation is a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network comprising 707+ miles of fiber in Floyd County (completed in August 2024) layered on a 440-mile regional open access fiber network spanning 10 counties, 10 towns, and 3 cities, including 15 industrial parks. The cooperative's technology stack includes managed Wi-Fi platforms (Citizens Advanced WiFi with CommandIQ app, SmartBiz for SMBs), a community Wi-Fi hotspot service (SmartTown), an IPTV platform with local programming (CCTV Channel 20, Your Citizens Weather), and EV charging (CitiZap). Citizens Cablevision, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates cable TV services.

The company generates revenue through monthly subscription fees for residential fiber, cable modem, VoIP, and TV services; usage-based fees for SmartTown Wi-Fi and EV charging; business-grade services including symmetrical broadband, hosted phone, Ethernet, and managed Wi-Fi; and wholesale transport and bandwidth to carriers, first responders, and medical facilities. Connection and installation fees ($199 promotional / $399 standard) and equipment sales (battery backups at $49.95) provide one-time revenue. Customers include rural households across Floyd, Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, and surrounding counties; SMBs and industrial parks; community anchors such as Floyd County Schools and Emergency Services; and wholesale carrier customers. Go-to-market is direct: in-person at the Floyd headquarters and Ft. Chiswell technician center, phone-based sales (540-745-2111), field outreach as fiber construction is completed, and self-service through citizens.coop. Marketing emphasizes community engagement via annual meetings, local events, CCTV programming, and partnerships with county organizations.

Citizens operates as a customer-owned cooperative governed by an elected board and led by CEO & General Manager Donna Smith (since 2022) and CFO Chris Bond (22+ years). The cooperative has pursued growth through a combination of operational cash flow and federal/state grant funding — including USDA Community Connect Grants ($5M in 2024, $6.3M in 2025), FCC ACAM, VATI, LECAP, ARC funding ($540K in 2025), Virginia Tobacco Commission, and NTIA BTOP — rather than equity capital. Strategic priorities include completing fiber buildouts in Carroll and Wythe counties, expanding the middle-mile network to industrial parks and the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, and launching managed services products (SmartBiz, SmartTown, SFN TV Now Gen 2).

Name

Citizens Telephone Co-Operative

Legal name

Citizens Telephone Cooperative

Website

https://citizens.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

1914

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Citizens Telephone Cooperative is a member-owned rural telecom cooperative founded in 1914, headquartered in Floyd, Virginia, delivering fiber internet, VoIP, IPTV, and managed business services across 12 counties and 3 cities in Southwest Virginia via a 707+ mile FTTP network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rural Telecommunications Services

NAICS

Wired and Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) (51711)

SIC

Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) (4813), Cable & Other Pay Television Services (4841)

akta.pro primary industry

Rural Broadband & Cooperative Fiber Operators (HDAIACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Municipal & Community Broadband ISPs (HDAIADAH), Municipal & Community Broadband Networks (HDAIACAE)

Keywords

• Rural fiber broadband
• Telecommunications cooperative
• VoIP phone services
• IPTV streaming television
• Business ethernet services

Headquarters

HQ city

Floyd

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Residential Internet Services: Monthly subscription fees for CitiZip Fiber plans (up to 1 Gbps) and cable modem internet (50 Mbps to 1 Gbps). Plans offered with measured data usage or unlimited options. Additional fees for exceeding data thresholds on measured plans ($5 per 50GB increment).
2. Voicemail and Communication Services: Voicemail service included with phone plans at no additional cost. Notify Plus service at $9.99/month for enhanced communication management across calls, texts, and emails.
3. Television Services: SFN TV Now IPTV platform offering television programming. Includes local CCTV Channel 20 with community sports and events. Subscription-based TV packages.
4. Business Services: Symmetrical broadband, hosted phone solutions, and business Ethernet services for commercial customers, schools, government agencies, and industrial parks. SmartBiz managed Wi-Fi for small businesses.
5. Wholesale Transport Services: Wholesale transport and Internet bandwidth provided to service providers, first responders, educational institutions, and medical facilities over the 440-mile regional open access fiber network.
6. Public Wi-Fi Services: SmartTown Community Wi-Fi service utilizing subscriber home connections as secure hotspots. EV charging stations at CitiZap locations ($0.20/kWh).
7. Connection/Installation Fees: One-time connection fees for new service installation. Promotional rate of $199 for fiber connection (standard $399). Additional charges for equipment and construction costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Citizens Telephone Cooperative is a regional full-service communications provider offering fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) broadband internet (CitiZip Fiber, up to 1 Gbps), VoIP landline telephone service, IPTV streaming television (SFN TV Now), business Ethernet, web and email hosting, managed Wi-Fi, community Wi-Fi (SmartTown), EV charging (CitiZap), and surveillance solutions. The cooperative serves 12 counties and 3 cities across Southwest Virginia from its headquarters in Floyd, Virginia.

Product overview

Citizens Telephone Cooperative is a regional full-service communications provider offering a diversified portfolio of telecommunications services. The company operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture with three core service pillars: Internet (CitiZip Fiber, Cable Modem), Television (SFN TV Now IPTV, CCTV local channels), and Voice (VoIP, hosted phone solutions). Supporting services include business solutions (SmartBiz, Enterprise Fiber, Voice Services, Surveillance), community connectivity (SmartTown Wi-Fi, Outdoor WiFi), managed Wi-Fi (Citizens Advanced WiFi with CommandIQ App), EV charging (CitiZap), and emergency services (Medical Alert, Battery Backup). The cooperative serves residential, business, and community anchor institution customers across 12 counties and 3 cities in Southwest Virginia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CitiZip Fiber: Blazing-fast fiber internet service offering download speeds of up to 1 Gbps, with flexible data plans and unlimited plan options.
• SFN TV Now
• SmartTown Community Wi-Fi
• SmartBiz
• Notify Plus
• Citizens Advanced WiFi
• Citizens Cablevision

Products and services

• CitiZip Fiber Internet

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of Floyd County residents can now connect to 1 Gbps fiber optic Internet (August 2024)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• County of FloydcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on SmartTown Community Wi-Fi initiative, countywide broadband expansion, and public safety connectivity. The county was nominated for VAGHC Innovation in Housing Award for their collaboration on broadband expansion.
• Mid Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with other open access networks in Virginia to provide high-capacity optical transport services for economic revitalization efforts of Southwest and Southside Virginia.
• Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with other open access networks in Virginia to provide high-capacity optical transport services for economic revitalization efforts of Southwest and Southside Virginia.
• Dugspur Community CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Dugspur Community Center as part of Community Connect Grant to offer educational and professional development opportunities. Center receives free internet for at least two years.
• NFHS NetworkminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with National Federation of High Schools Network to stream local high school sports online beyond Citizens' cable service area. Subscription platform for nationwide high school sports content.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel): Virginia-based incumbent telecom with fiber, cable, and wireless operations in the region. Comparable service portfolio (fiber, voice, video, business services) and provides read on regional telecom performance and competitive context.
• Brightspeed: Large ILEC operating legacy copper and rapidly expanding fiber across 20 states including Virginia. Represents the incumbent competitive threat in Citizens' service territory and benchmark for fiber-overbuild economics.

Direct peers

• BVU Authority (Bristol Virginia Utilities): Virginia municipal utility offering fiber broadband, electric, water, and wastewater services in Southwest Virginia. Already a strategic partner of Citizens in the regional open-access fiber network, providing an apples-to-apples comparison for community-owned fiber ISPs in the same region and customer base.
• New Hope Telephone Cooperative: Member-owned cooperative in rural Alabama providing fiber broadband, voice, and video. Directly comparable scale and operating model to Citizens, illustrating how small US rural telephone cooperatives run fiber FTTH programs.
• Pioneer Telephone Cooperative: Oklahoma-based member-owned cooperative offering fiber, wireless, and business services across rural territories. Comparable cooperative FTTH deployment and federal grant strategy; useful benchmark for rural cooperative operating scale.
• Scott County Telephone Cooperative: Member-owned cooperative serving rural Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee with fiber, voice, and video services. Closest analog to Citizens in size, cooperative governance, service mix, and rural Appalachian geography.
• Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) / Southside Networks: Virginia-based cooperative operating middle-mile open-access fiber infrastructure for economic development across Southern Virginia. Direct partner with Citizens on regional transport services; comparable cooperative structure, grant funding model, and middle-mile wholesale focus.
• Citizens Independent Telephone Company: Another member-owned rural telephone cooperative providing fiber and communications services. Comparable cooperative model, customer segments, and infrastructure investment profile, though operating in different geographies.

Regional players

• Lumos (formerly Northland Communications): Regional fiber-to-the-home provider expanding across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, including into Virginia. Competes in adjacent rural/edge markets with similar gigabit positioning, though as a private equity-backed company rather than a cooperative.

Emerging players

• Starlink (SpaceX): Low-earth-orbit satellite internet service rapidly expanding rural coverage across Southwest Virginia. Key disruptive competitor for Citizens in unserved/underserved pockets and a meaningful substitute for price-sensitive rural customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CitizensFloyd
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCpW_wU3JQeoAwd2Z6WZggKA
• Facebookfacebook.com/citizenstelephone

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Citizens Telephone Co-Operative