Alexandria, TN-2020

COMMUNITY INFORMATION

In 2012 DTC began offering DTC Security to our customers. Currently, the Carthage Area has almost 500 customers with Telephone, Internet, and Video Services. The Cooperative offers a wide range of services including basic, residential and business access, custom calling and CLASS features, complex business systems and services, key and PBX systems, voice mail, Internet access, long distance service, secu- rity, and DTC TV service.

The Cooperative was awarded a cellular license in 1989 and work be- gan in 1990 to construct a cellular system for Rural Service Area (RSA) 2, consisting of eight middle Tennessee counties. A fiber optic cable link was constructed in 1990 and continues to ex- pand each year. A subsidiary company called Advantage Cellular Systems, Inc. was formed in 1991 for providing cellular service to an eight county rural area in RSA 2. As Advantage celebrated its tenth anniversary, its subscriber base had grown to 10,079. In addition, 30 cell sites had been placed in service throughout its service area. Today, approximately 46 cell sites are in service. In 2006, Advantage began doing business as DTC Wireless. All Cooperative subscribers began enjoying the benefit of both coun- ty-wide and company-wide toll free calling in 1994. In addition, Met- ro Area Calling became available for those in Rutherford and Wilson Counties. The co-op’s paging service was expanded in 1994 to provide regional, statewide and nationwide coverage through paging resale.

To compete in an ever-chang- ing industry, DeKalb Tele- phone began doing business as DTC Communications in September 1996. DTC Area Plus, which provid- ed toll free calling to points within the 615 and 931 area codes, became available in 1999. More improved DTC long distance plans have re- placed DTC Area Plus. With existing numbers ex- hausted in the Cooperative’s Smithville exchange, a new exchange with a 215 prefix was opened in 2001.

DeKalb Telephone had 508 excited subscribers in 1953 when service was finally restored as the area recovered from one of Tennessee’s worst ice storms. Today, DTC Communications provides a wide range of services to almost 14,000 subscribers, while linking them to each other and to the outside world, just as it linked those in earlier days. As of late 2012, DTC began offering Tech Support locally.

In 2001, the Cooperative also began offering long distance service, including optional calling plans and calling cards. Within a few months after the service became available, DTC Long Distance was providing service for over 4,000 customers, second only to AT&T within the ser- vice area. By the end of 2002, DTC Long Distance became the leading provider in the service area with 11,677 customers. Presently, DTC Long Distance has over 15,000 customers, and continues to be the leading long distance provider for the service area. DTC began provid- ing TV service under the DTC TV logo in September 2007. DTC TV was providing service to over 2,500 members by the end of 2010. The subsidiary company, under the name DTC Advantage, built out a Competitive Local Exchange Company (CLEC) in 2010 in the Carthage and South Carthage cities to begin providing Internet, Video, local and long distance phone services. This new network was built on the Fiber To The Home (FTTH) technology that provides increased capacity, improved reliability, and faster Internet speeds.

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www.DTCcom.net