Where no phones have gone before.
Midvale Telephone Exchange, Inc. (MTE), based in Idaho, is a family-owned and operated company that has been in operation since 1909. MTE originally offered service in Midvale, Idaho, a farming community of just a few hundred people. Today, MTE offers rural telephone service in two states and serves over 3,000 customers.
The company is overseen by Board of Directors including Lane Williams, Conley Ward, Emma Gross, Linda Klind, and Steve Child. The organization is managed by a leadership team made up of the supervisors and managers of each department, some with more than 20 years of experience in the industry.
MTE has earned a reputation of taking telephone services where no services previously existed. In the 1990's, we literally built over mountain-tops to reach customers in Lakeview, Warren, Warm Lake and Yellow Pine Idaho. Folks like the Bryants at Wapiti Meadows had a tough time running their business using expensive satellite phones, but now have reliable phone service and we recently introduced DSL service there. In Arizona, the population boom has sent development out into the desert and folks have once again found themselves without phone services. MTE has built four exchanges from the ground up in Cascabel, Silverbell, Millsite, and Granite Mountain, Arizona.
Midvale Telephone Exchange performs an essential role in bringing basic communication services to rural communities. Telephone service enhances quality of life, and is essential for emergency services. We provide state-of-the-art telecommunications service using modern technology, including fiber optic cable and digital switching equipment. We continue to look for new service areas and welcome every opportunity to build our customer base.
Our History
Midvale Telephone Exchange was formed in 1909. It was owned by Mrs. Hague of Midvale, Idaho and included the Crane Creek and Keithley Creek farmer's line. The company has been family-owned since 1943 when Verdie and Charlotte Williams purchased MTE from Mrs. Hague due to her advancing age. At that time Midvale Telephone Exchange consisted of 20 lines and 60 party line phones. A single business line was $1.75; party lines were $1.50 a month. Phones of this era had magnetos, and used an internal battery for the carrier.
In 1958 MTE introduced the dial phone to our customers. At this time, Crane Creek had 35 customers and ran a common carrier, and the Farmers Lines became part of MTE, for a total of 180 phones in service. After the Williams retired in 1977, their son Lane Williams took the helm and brought phone services to places previously unserved. By this time, MTE consisted of 100 miles of plant and 210 phones. Customer bills were hand-typed, using carbon paper for record keeping.
In 1979 the company obtained a $1 million RUS A Loan to bury MTE's overhead lines and expand the switch, in order to go to single party service.
In 1983 the Conner Creek exchange become part of MTE. Two years later MTE purchased the Harper-Juntura Exchange from United Telephone for $367,000. An additional $1,200,000 was spent to repair and upgrade the exchange to single party lines and upgrade the switch to a DMS10.
In 1986 the company moved into new headquarters on Keithley Creek Road. In 1989 MTE submitted an application to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) for the Cascabel Exchange, and applied to the Idaho PUC for the Lakeview Exchange. The Lakeview Exchange was constructed in 1990 for a cost of $350,000 and consisted of 50 to 70 customers. The Idaho PUC approved the CC&N in 1 year, after a public hearing held in the local bar in Bayview.
After a four-year process, ACC approved MTE's request to serve Cascabel, Arizona in 1993. MTE spent $350,000 to install 100 phone lines. The Cascabel Exchange is now serving 258 lines.
In 1995 MTE built backcountry exchanges for Warren, Warm Lake, and Yellow Pine, Idaho. In 1996 MTE purchased the Young, Arizona exchange for $600,000. At the time, the Young exchange consisted of 300 lines, and has since grown to 450 lines. In 1997 MTE purchased the Stanley, Idaho exchange for $2.3 million.
Recent projects built by MTE include fiber to Crane Creek (completed in 2001), Syringa (formed in 2001), Granite Mountain and Silverbell Mountain (completed in 2003), and Millsite, Arizona (completed in 2004).
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