PANORA TELCO • ( 641 ) 755-2424 | GUTHRIE CENTER COMMUNICATIONS • ( 641 ) 332-2000 Rhonda Stark Won the TV in Our Christmas Drawing Thanks to everyone who stopped by our Christmas Open House at the Panora Telco office in December. We enjoyed seeing our customers and giving you each a free gift. Rhonda Stark was the lucky winner in the drawing for a 55-inch Samsung SmartTV. Congratulations, Rhonda! We hope you enjoy watching many great TV shows, games, and movies on its screen in the years ahead. Applications Due in April for Three $500 Scholarships If there are high school seniors in your family, let them know about the 2022 scholarships available from Panora Telco and Guthrie Center Communications. Panora Telco will award two $500 scholarships and Guthrie Center Communications will award one $500 scholarship. To be eligible, applicants must: • Be a graduating senior from Panora High School or AC/GC High School. • Be accepted by an accredited two- or four-year college or university, or a vocational/technical school. • Have at least a C grade point average. Please note this is not a scholarship requiring a 4.0 average. Rather, it’s awarded to deserving students whose academic credentials fall within an average to above-average range. Entries must be received no later than noon on Friday, April 8, 2022. For complete details, applicants should visit their high school counselor’s office. Deloitte, the multinational professional services company, released a 2021 survey that indicates the average U.S. household has 25 connected devices. This is more than double the 11 devices that the average household had in 2019. Included in the survey were laptops, tablets, smartphones, video streaming devices and smart TVs, wireless headphones and earbuds, gaming consoles, smart home devices, fitness trackers, and connected exercise machines. According to Paul Silverglate, vice chairman at Deloitte, the pandemic bolstered the use of connected devices. He was quoted as saying, “The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was like a time machine that suddenly propelled us tens of years into the future. It has changed how we interact with our connected devices, ultimately helping consumers, health care providers, education professionals, technology innovators, and others adapt and thrive in daily life.” An increasing number of activities are happening at home that used to primarily take place out in the world. Your household is probably experiencing this firsthand with online learning and gaming, telecommuting, video conferences, digital shopping for groceries and other everyday items, virtual exercise classes and medical appointments, and online social events. Among the more interesting findings of the Deloitte report: • More than half of U.S. adults had virtual doctor visits, and 82 percent were satisfied with the experience. • More than half of U.S. households have a smartwatch or fitness tracker, and 39 percent of consumers own one personally. People use their gadgets to measure walking steps and athletic performance, track heart health, and monitor sleep and calories. • During the pandemic, 70 percent of consumers started mobile ordering or other smartphone-based retail and expect to continue doing so. • Two-thirds of U.S. households have some type of smart home devices. If your current internet connection isn’t fast enough to accommodate the increased number of devices in your home, we can help. Call Panora Telco at (641) 755-2424 or Guthrie Center Communications at (641) 332-2000 to request an internet speed upgrade. Average U.S. Household Has 25 Connected Devices
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