Diversicom's History

Diversicom 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 firsthand 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 and vision 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.

After 75 years, a new building was constructed to make room for employees and expanding technology. More than a physical structure, our new facility represents our commitment to the continued growth and development of Central Minnesota.

Diversicom began construction of Mainstreet Communications in early 1999 to create a local provider in the city of Sauk Centre. Our facility is located in Sauk Centre and began providing services to businesses and residential customers in December of 1999. The goal of Mainstreet Communications is to provide an alternate choice of communications to the community with competitive pricing and exceptional customer service. The services provided include Cable TV, Local Phone service, Long Distance, Internet Services both Dial-up and High Speed, plus many other features to help customers enhance their communications needs.

About this same time, SCTV was created. An acronym for "School and Community TV", the local station was designed to capture and broadcast what is relevant and important to our communities but is often overlooked by the large news media. The station is now moving into the future with a new name, Diversicom TV-or DTV-to better blend with our family of offerings and brand. We will continue to broadcast original programming, local events and school events along with church services and council meetings.

At Diversicom, you know who we are, you see us every day on the street and when you call for assistance you talk to a real person that you know and trust. All of our employees in all of our companies are committed to serving the customer and the community. We thank you for allowing us to provide you with local communications and we look forward to serving you long into the future.