Atc broadband login7/8/2023 "Think of the hospital as the anchor store in a mall,'' Solomon said. Then ATC Broadband began installing more fiber-optic lines, first to hospitals starting in Alma and ultimately to Douglas, Hazlehurst, Baxley, Waycross, Vidalia, Brunswick, Jesup and St. "We reasoned those people would pay more for internet,'' and appreciated the better quality, he said. The company's first work with fiber optic was extending lines from Blackshear to residences at the Okefenokee Golf Club across the Satilla River from Waycross where there were 150 houses on cable. They ask for more every year, and that's why rates go up, Solomon said. They started with a nickel a customer, then it's a dime, now they want a dollar,'' he said. "The used to be happy to let us have their signals free. As websites began offering more, however, including pictures and video, the phone lines didn't have the capacity to carry the digital signals.ĪTC bought cable TV companies in Blackshear and Baxley and, over time, Solomon learned there's no money in cable TV because the networks, ESPN, CNN and other providers want all they can get. He moved Alma Telephone into internet service with dial-up then DSL under ATC. "My age group dies off,'' the 68-year-old Solomon said, "the phone gets cut off and the young ones don't even think about getting one installed." Then the cellphone business started growing, and, as the quality improved, people began dropping their wire line services to the point Alma Telephone now has half the customers it once had. Indeed, in those years companies called offering the same services for less over lines and switching equipment they leased from Bell South, Alma Telephone and other former phone company monopolies. Other people could come in and cut your throat using your stuff.'' "We didn't know if it was going to put us out of business or not. "The Telecommunications Act said imbedded phone companies have to rent their infrastructure to other companies at a fair rate,'' Solomon said. He walked away from his thriving practice, however, because there were changes coming that could doom the business unless someone changed the services Alma Telephone provided. Solomon said then he had intended to continue practicing law and just walk from his office to Alma Telephone a few times a day, if needed, to sign something. Lawyer Teddy Solomon has been running the company since 1997 when owner Jack Bennett passed away, leaving his family as the owners and his friend Solomon as the trustee. A company offshoot, ATC Broadband, has underground fiber-optic lines running all the way to St. doesn't tell the whole truth: Neighbors serving neighbors for 75 years.Īnd indeed the phone company has been in business that long, but its service area now extends well past it neighbors in Bacon County where it ran phone lines to banks, restaurants and blueberry farmers, among others. | A sign in the window at Alma Telephone Co. ATC provides an alternative to the big local phone company in Baxley and Blackshear and now has over 2,000 phone customers in those areas.We are dedicated to providing you with more options and better customer service than ever before.ALMA, GA. We upgraded the systems and began to offer voice services in July of 2006. We now serve both voice and data needs at each of those systems.In September of 2004, ATC purchased the Baxley and Blackshear Cable systems. Building on our experiences, we went on to build Pierce, Wayne, Coffee, and Ware school systems. Starting with Bacon County School System, ATC built fiber to each school and interconnected those using Gigabit Ethernet transmitters. When other providers were still using conventional circuits for connecting data networks, ATC was first in the area to build fiber networks to each school system. In the early 1980s, ATC (Alma Telephone Company) was one of the first telephone companies in the state of Georgia to install a digital switch. We offer a wide variety of products and services to residential and business customers including high-speed Internet, cable television, voice, fiber optics and IP phone systems.We have a long history of firsts in our area. ATC BROADBAND SERVES TEN COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIAATC Broadband is the leading provider of communication services to Bacon, Appling, Pierce, Ware, Wayne, Glynn, Camden, Coffee, Toombs and Emanuel counties.
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