Ardmore2023

HISTORY OF ARDMORE TELEPHONE COMPANY

means an even wider array of services and products, with faster, more reliable internet service.

Dating back to 1908 when the first telephone was installed in Ardmore, ATC has invested in local communities, helping connect those we serve, first with telephone service and now with fast, reliable, high-speed internet. In the 1950s, the system was owned by the Fount Merrill family, and he officially incorporated Ardmore Telephone Company. ATC became one of the first Tennessee companies to apply for a loan from the Rural Electrification Administration to install 90 miles of copper cable and a new dial office in a commercial building. This began two decades of fu her modernization by the Merrill family, including buried cable and one-pa y service systemwide. In 2009, Synergy Technology Pa ners purchased ATC, positioning ATC as a cu ing-edge telecommunications provider. Synergy, owned by West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, includes over 70 years of rural telecommunications experience. For customers, this

Understanding the growing needs for more bandwidth, in 2015 ATC began investing in fiber overbuilds. In 2020, ATC received a USDA Reconnect combination $2.7 million grant and $2.7 million loan to install 125 miles of fiber optic infrastructure in the McBurg exchange. Toward the end of 2020, ATC received an $816,000 Tennessee Emergency Broadband grant to plow 20 miles of fiber in our Minor Hill exchange. In addition, ATC was awarded a $20.3 million loan to expand fiber in the New Market, Elkmont, Ardmore, McBurg and Minor Hill exchanges. Today, ATC serves more than 6,500 customers in Giles, Limestone, Lincoln and Madison counties, with internet, security and voice. Of the more than 14,000 locations that ATC passes, we serve nearly 7,000 addresses with fiber-fast internet to date.

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