Contel

ConTel Corporation (Continental Telephone) was the third largest independent phone company in the United States prior to the 1996 telecom deregulation. It was acquired by GTE in 1991.

ConTel Corporation
TypePublic
IndustryCommunications Services
Founded1958
Defunct1991
FateAcquired
SuccessorGTE
HeadquartersAtlanta, GA
ProductsInternet access, Local wireline and wireless telecommunication services

History

Contel was founded in 1958 by Vern Chesbro in Ottawa, Kansas. Chesbro used profits from the company to finance the Contel PAC used to fuel Republican candidates in local elections in Kansas.[1] Chesbro would work at the company as executive vice-president until his retirement in 1983.[2]

In 1980, Contel purchased Network Analysis Corp, then the largest information technology consulting company in the world.[3] As a result of this purchase, future Internet Hall of Fame Pioneer Howard Frank served as president and CEO of Contel Information Systems, a subsidiary of Contel Corporation from 1969 until 1985.[4]

In 1986 ConTel of Indiana broke precedent and rescinded a 25ยข increase in their rates after a large protest. Rarely if ever do utility companies withdraw a rate increase proposal. Contel had almost 130,000 customers in 78 service areas in southern Indiana which would've been affected by the hike. Contel had a large userbase in the cities of Madison and Hanover, and had recently bought another telephone company in Princeton, making them the single most popular telephone company in the state. The company stated that it wanted to implement the hike in order to offset an additional $7,300,000 in climbing operating costs. However, after thousands of signatures where collected, a Contel executive rescinded the submitted hike indicating that additional revenue streams weren't necessary. The company's vice president Merle Buck stated that the protests had nothing to do with the decision, but rather a decrease in interest rates and an abnormally good year in revenue for the company offset the costs that the increase would've offset otherwise.[5]

Legacy

In 1996, a separate and unrelated entity known as Contel Inc. using a modified Contel logo of with the inclusion of an "Inc." at the end in small print, opened in St. Charles, Illinois. They are also a telecommunications company, but they specialize in in-house engineering and full service furnishing and instillation of server rooms for corporations.[6]

Subsidiaries

Subsidiaries of Contel included:

References
  1. "Vernon "Vern" Chesbro". Legacy.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  2. Biles, Jan. "Vern Chesbro: A lifetime of politics". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  3. "UM's new business dean has vision of technology College: Howard Frank, who helped build an early version of the Internet, wants to build the first technology-oriented business school in the nation". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  4. "Howard Frank Obituary". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  5. Thornbro, Bill. "Contel says tax hike is wrong number". Google Books. Madison Courier. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  6. "About us". contelinc.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
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