Not so long ago, the only choice customers of diversiCOM Melrose Telephone Company had was “what color black phone would you like?” Over the years this has changed to include products and services such as High Speed Internet, Caller ID, Voice Mail and some of the most advanced services available in the marketplace today.
diversiCOM Melrose Telephone Company started way back in the 1890’s when a group of local business and professional men organized to provide telephone service in downtown Melrose. By 1906 the company had telephone poles along Main Street in Melrose and they were sharing service lines with Northwest Telephone Company. In 1916 Melrose Telephone Exchange was incorporated and owned by William Balder, A.E. (Tony) Kraker and Joseph Kraker.
In June of 1928 Mildred Arvig purchased the company. Mildred Arvig and her son L.H (Tom) operated Melrose Telephone Company, which at that time had only 300 telephone customers. Pricing was a bit different then. Customers who had a “party-line” were charged $1.25 per month and $1.50 for a private line. During the depression of the 1930s rates were cut in half. These difficult times often resulted in farm produce being used as payment for a customer’s telephone bill. Party Lines (for those youngsters who may not remember) consisted of a single line that was shared by as many as 10 different families. This meant that you had to wait your turn when you needed to make a telephone call if someone else was on the line. It also meant that any one of your neighbors along the same party line could listen in to your conversations. A long way from the privacy concerns of today.
Long Distance calls during this time were very complicated and often took as long as two hours to reach the party you were trying to call. Manual connections would need to be made by switchboard operators in connecting towns patched together until you finally reached the person in the city that you were trying to reach.
L.H. Arvig bought the company from his mother in the 1940’s and was the owner/ manager for the next four decades until his death in 1983. During that time technology was changing. In 1946 the old magneto system of “hand crank” telephones was phased out and replaced by a new battery powered telephone system. Melrose Telephone Company was growing, and by the 1950s included the communities of Richmond, Grey Eagle, Greenwald, St. Martin, Kimball, Watkins and Eden Valley. This continued growth required a new location. A new business office and telephone switch was constructed on Main Street in Melrose.
This period also witnessed the evolution to a new telephone system that no longer required operator connections. The rotary dial system was available by the 1960s, which allowed callers to dial and directly connect with another party. Over the next 20 years technological advances allowed MTC to bury all lines and broaden service again. The continued growth of the company required the acquisition of the Melrose State Bank building in 1985 for our business office.
The 1990’s brought tremendous change to Melrose Telephone Company. In 1994 we installed our first Dial-Up Internet customer. The introduction of the Internet has played a large role in the dynamics of our company and continues to be a driving factor today with High Speed Internet service.
diversiCOM Long Distance was established in 2007 in an effort to provide our customers with a cost effective “local” long distance provider. Today, many of our customers are diversiCOM Long Distance customers and see first hand the quality service of a local provider.
Melrose Telephone started offering Digital Video services in 2006 and continues to expand to our exchanges and in rural areas.
Our size, image and plans for the future lead to a corporate name change. diversiCOM was adopted as our corporate name as it portrayed an image that better reflected the diversity of our company.
Major expansion was again the focal point in 1999 as we started our Competitive Exchange in Sauk Centre Minnesota with Mainstreet Communications, LLC. This new competitive company offered the residents of Sauk Centre a choice in companies that they could pick as their service provider for Telephone, Cable Television and High Speed Internet services. This competitive environment has been a benefit to both our company and the residents of Sauk Centre.
Today, celebrating over 75 years as an Arvig family company we find ourselves moving into a brand new building. This new building has been designed with the future in mind giving us plenty of space for whatever the next new technology may bring. Moving into this much larger facility is an indication of our growth, strength and commitment to be a vital part of the communication future of Central Minnesota.