[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 3, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E93]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION'S 50TH 
                              ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART GORDON

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 3, 2004

  Mr. GORDON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the National 
Telecommunications Cooperative Association as the organization 
celebrates its 50th anniversary. I take great pride in the fact that 
two companies from my home district, Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative 
in Gainesboro, Tennessee, and North Central Telephone Cooperative in 
Lafayette, Tennessee, are among the founding members of NTCA.
  Forming soon after the Rural Electrification Administration (REA)--
now known as the Rural Utilities Service--was granted authority to make 
loans to telephone companies, the National Telecommunications 
Cooperative Association (NTCA), along with Twin Lakes and North 
Central, has evolved from providing basic multi-party telephone service 
to offering a full array of advanced telecommunications services.
  The idea of expanding the scope and authority of the REA began in the 
late 1930s when REA Administrator John Carmody wrote: ``Personally, I 
have long felt there was a real opportunity for constructive assistance 
to rural people in the idea of Federal financing of farm telephone 
lines. It seems to me that the rural people have just as much right to 
up-to-date communication as they have to modern power. There's no 
question in my mind but that Government assistance will be required if 
the job is ever to be completed.''
  This idea remained just an idea until 1944 when Senator Lister Hill 
(D-AL) introduced legislation calling for the formation of the Rural 
Telephone Administration, modeled after the REA. Senator Hill was soon 
joined in his effort to bring telephone service to rural America by 
Representative W.R. ``Bob'' Poage (D-TX), who introduced similar 
legislation granting the REA the authority to make loans for the 
extension and improvement of rural telephone service. President Harry 
Truman signed the telephone amendments to the Rural Electrification Act 
into law on October 28, 1949.
  Soon after, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 
(NRECA) created a telephone committee, composed of representatives of 
newly-formed joint electric-telephone cooperative organizations. By 
1954, representatives from these co-ops, with the encouragement of 
NRECA, decided that the time had come to form a separate national 
organization to represent telephone cooperatives. On June 1, 1954, 
eight companies--BEK Mutual Aid Corporation (Steele, North Dakota); 
Buggs Island Telephone Cooperative (Chase City, Virginia); Mark Twain 
Rural Telephone Company (Bethel, Missouri); Mid-Rivers Telephone 
Cooperative Inc. (Circle, Montana); Pineland Telephone Cooperative Inc. 
(Metter, GA); Winnebago Cooperative Telephone Association (Lake Mills, 
Iowa); and my constituents at Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative and 
North Central Telephone Cooperative--formed the National Telephone 
Cooperative Association, which was later renamed the National 
Telecommunications Cooperative Association.
  One of the first recipients of telephone loans from the REA was Twin 
Lakes Telephone Cooperative, which was founded on March 13, 1951. With 
its $25 membership fee and a REA loan approved in November of that same 
year, Twin Lakes was able to purchase an existing telephone company and 
expanded telephone service to Clay, Overton, Pickett and Fentress 
counties in northern Middle Tennessee. Soon, Twin Lakes was serving 
twelve exchanges and had customers stretched over 1,150 miles of line. 
By 1959, Twin Lakes was able to lower its membership fee to $10, which 
finally put the luxury of a telephone within reach of many who 
considered the initial membership fee of $25 out of reach. Inundated 
with new customers, Twin Lakes soon had a backlog of close to 700 
requests for service. People in rural Tennessee soon found that 
telephone service was not a luxury, but rather a necessity. Today, Twin 
Lakes has more than 40,000 access lines serving fifteen exchanges 
spread over Jackson, Clay, Overton, Pickett, Fentress, Smith, and 
Putnam counties in Tennessee.
  Like Twin Lakes, North Central Telephone Cooperative formed in the 
shadow of the expansion of the REA. Like REA Administrator Carmody, 
then Lafayette Mayor Hugh Butler understood the importance of 
telecommunications in rural America. As he stated in the Macon County 
Times on Nov. 29, 1951: ``The installation of modern dial telephone 
service with adequate long-distance facilities will put Layfette on par 
with any rural county seat in Tennessee and will do much to insure 
continued progress and prosperity.''
  Prior to 1951, telephone service, if available, could only be 
described as sporadic. On March 8, 1951, Will Hall Sullivan, who served 
as North Central Telephone Cooperative's first general manager, was 
successful in joining 17 home-owned mutuals to form North Central 
Telephone Cooperative. By 1954, North Central had connected its first 
exchanges in Green Grove in Hillsdale. In just two years, North Central 
had expanded to serving 2,600 customers spread over ten exchanges: 
Lafayette, Hillsdale, Oak Grove, Green Grove, Bethpage, Scotsville, 
Pleasant Shade, Red Boiling Springs, Defeated and Westmoreland. Like 
Twin Lakes, North Central also faced rapid expansion as folks in rural 
America understood the necessity of a telephone and the importance of 
telecommunications. Today North Central serves in excess of 21,000 
customers. As part of its commitment to providing advanced 
telecommunications services to its customers, North Central, in 1989, 
went beyond the then-standard copper cable and analog switches that 
were still heavily used. The innovative cooperative instead opted to 
install digital switches and fiber-optic cable, and soon the rest of 
the industry was following. Some 15 years later, these technologies are 
still widely considered the top of the line. This record of providing 
state-of-the-art technology continues today with its provision of high-
speed Internet access, long distance and digital satellite services. As 
North Central's general manager, F. Thomas Rowland, said: ``Providing 
state-of-the-art technology has always been one of our main priorities. 
It's our way of giving the community what it needs to be a great place 
to live, work and raise a family.''

  Twin Lakes and North Central are indicative of the membership of the 
National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. NCTA's membership 
has expanded from eight members in seven states to 558 members across 
45 states. These small rural telecommunications systems provide voice 
services to approximately 3,270,000 subscribers over a combined 
territory comprising about 40 percent of the geographic United States. 
On average, NTCA member-companies serve rural areas with a population 
density averaging between one to five customers per square mile, a 
sharp contrast from the average of 130 customers per square mile for 
larger companies. Today, NTCA member-companies on average serve 5,100 
subscribers. In addition to their traditional voice offerings, they 
provide rural customers with Internet, wireless, long distance, paging, 
and cable or satellite television services. Through it all, NTCA 
members have maintained that local touch which can only be found by 
folks serving their friends and neighbors. With the financial 
assistance of the Rural Utilities Service, the Rural Telephone Finance 
Cooperative and CoBank, NTCA members remain on the cutting edge of 
technology by expanding broadband opportunities through fiber-to-the-
home projects in communities across this country. As committees examine 
the issue of broadband availability across the nation, NTCA rural 
telephone companies continue to connect the heartland of America to the 
world. NTCA and its 558 member-companies should be commended for their 
ever-present commitment to rural America. Happy 50th Anniversary, NTCA.

                          ____________________