National Telephone Cooperative Association NTCA is an organization dedicated to assisting small independent telephone companies across the United States. I have worked with NTCA first as a manager in a small telephone company in Kentucky then as a consultant based in Florida. My career was interwoven with NTCA and its fine staff as we both searched, many times together, to find ways to help these small telephone companies survive.
These small businesses first brought telephone service to many rural areas in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, to communities larger Bell companies refused to serve for economic reasons. With government loans and community support telephone systems were built, and rural communities thrived because these small companies brought technology to the door step farms and rural communities across the nation.
Even today, in the face of significant competition from wireless, cable television and electric companies, these small companies continue their mission to bring communications technology to their rural customers. Internet and broadband services would not be available in many rural communities were it not for the steadfast commitment of these small companies to the communities they serve.
NTCA has walked along side these unsung heroes providing training, support, and legislative support in Washington to ensure these valuable enterprises continue to fulfill their mission to serve rural communities.
NTCA and rural Independent telephone companies are a piece of Americana, a slice of the heartland of America, that is threatened by extinction and obsolescence. It was this challenge of survival that motivated me to write a novel about a small rural telephone company. “Dial Tone,” provides a fictional look at the challenges faced by many small telephone companies, along with the drama of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances. Learn more about this rare look at life in a small town at billcroninwrite.com.
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