Decatur Telephone Company traces its roots to the Cumberland Telephone Company, which operated in the Decatur area in the 1800’s. Cumberland then adopted the name of South Central Bell.
In 1913 Bunyan Perking Telephone Company was established in Decatur. Prior to this Decatur long distance telephone service consisted of one telephone located in Spivey and Scarborough Store.
The Perkins Telephone Company had a total of 46 subscribers. This was the total when Bill and Louise Bailey bought the company in 1945.
In 1978 we did a big expansion. We built a new building, the one we occupy now. We did away with party line service. The new switch gave us the distinction of having the first all digital companies in the United States. We were given a new rate by the Public Service Commission in 1978 and those basic rates are still in effect today. Another expansion project was replacing some of our copper cable with fiber optic cable. On the copper cable we can have 24 private conversations at one time on the fiber we can have over 200 private conversations at one time. Another advantage to fiber is that lightening does not attract it nor affect it as it does copper.
We are now in the process of another upgrade to your telephone service. One you might have noticed- name and number on caller ID. About half of our subscribers have Internet.