About Ardmore Telephone Company

Dating back to 1908 when the first telephone was installed in Ardmore, ATC has invested in local communities, helping connect those we serve, first with telephone service and now with fast, reliable high-speed internet.

In the 1950s, the system was owned by the Fount Merrill family, and he officially incorporated Ardmore Telephone Company. ATC became one of the first Tennessee companies to apply for a loan from the Rural Electrification Administration to install 90 miles of copper cable and a new dial office in a commercial building. This began two decades of further modernization by the Merrill family, including buried cable and one-party service systemwide.

In 2009, Synergy Technology Partners purchased ATC, positioning ATC as a cutting-edge telecommunications provider. Synergy, owned by West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, includes over 70 years of rural telecommunications experience. For customers, this means an even wider array of services and products, with faster, more reliable internet service.

Understanding the growing needs for more bandwidth, in 2015, ATC began investing in fiber overbuilds.

In 2020, ATC received a USDA Reconnect combination $2.7 million grant and $2.7 million loan to install 125 miles of fiber optic infrastructure in the McBurg exchange. Toward the end of 2020, ATC received an $816,000 Tennessee Emergency Broadband grant to plow 20 miles of fiber in our Minor Hill exchange. In addition, ATC was awarded a $20.3 million loan to expand fiber in the New Market, Elkmont, Ardmore, McBurg and Minor Hill exchanges.

Today, ATC serves more than 6,500 customers in Giles, Limestone, Lincoln and Madison counties, with internet, security and voice. Of the more than 14,000 locations that ATC passes, we serve over 4,600 addresses with fiber-fast internet to date.

While the way we communicate has changed over the decades, one thing remains the same, and thatʼs the commitment ATC has to offering the very best service to the communities we serve.

With friendly, local customer service and access to superfast internet, giving our customers access to online learning, telehealth, remote work and endless entertainment opportunities, ATC makes your telecommunications provider choice an easy one.