Ben Lomand employees treated to visit from Congressman Davis
‘While other companies are only talking about broadband services, we are able to provide DSL service, to over 99 percent of our customer base,’ said Knowles. ‘In addition, we can offer IP TV, to over 65 percent of our customers with this percentage increasing to 85 percent by the end of this year. Over the past five years our co-op has invested over $67 million in our network upgrades in order bring these broadband services to our customers.’
The highlight of the visit was a ‘town hall’ meeting with employees. Topics such as immigration, the current presidential election, and gas prices were just a few of the questions on Ben Lomand employee’s minds. Employees felt very fortunate to be given the opportunity to express their concerns firsthand with their district’s policy maker.
‘First, I would like to thank Mr. Knowles and all of the Ben Lomand employees for the extensive tour and informative briefing,’ said Davis. ‘These briefings and town hall meetings are essential for me to be an effective advocate for the district in Congress.’
Davis, who represents the fourth most rural district in Congress, went on to say that telecommunications infrastructure is ‘vital to the growth of rural communities’ and complimented Ben Lomand for investing so heavily in bringing new technology to the area.
Ben Lomand Telephone Cooperative was incorporated Oct. 2, 1952 to provide local telephone service to rural Middle Tennessee. The company is based in McMinnville and now has more than 35,000 access lines and covers 3,200 square miles of territory.
The company began its diversification in 1993 by forming BLC, its wholly owned long distance subsidiary. It was also the first competitive local exchange carrier in the state of Tennessee. The cooperative has over 17,000 Internet customers and 9,200 video customers.