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 entire buildings. Ethernet connections provided by NTC may be a remnant of the Blacksburg Electronic Village. NTC was originally an independent company, but later got acquired by Shentel. In 2012, the Blacksburg division of NTC (and possibly the entire company) 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. Shentel continues to provide Internet services along the east coast.
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. 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.