NTC

Network Telephone Corporation (NTC), a division of Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) is a Blacksburg-area Internet Service Provider that contracts with apartment complexes to provide Internet services for the entire building. Ethernet connections provided by NTC may be a remnant of the Blacksburg Electronic Village. In 2012, the Blacksburg division of NTC was sold to another company, and is now known as "Access Media 3" (AM3), but most users have not reported significant improvements in the speeds.

Criticisms

Of all ISPs in Blacksburg, NTC has recieved by far the most complaints based on online reviews, word-of-mouth, and rankings at the Better Business Bureau. NTC's packet shaping has led to many residents experiencing sub-100Kbps download and upload speeds when they are paying for speeds of at least 5 Mbps. Some students have described the value, customer service, and speeds experienced as "literally worse than Hitler". NTC formerly required tenants to pay per-device, and was rumored to bill extra if it detected users had a router or if multiple people were sharing a single connection. In fall 2012, Terrace View discontinued its contract with NTC due to vocal resident opposition so that the tenants could switch to Comcast. NTC has also been criticized for anti-competitive practices in which they force landlords to enter into exclusive contracts which prevent other ISPs from offering service to residents. During installation of NTC's Ethernet wiring, the technicians cut the existing coaxial cables in several locations, thus rendering it completely unusable.