GVTC has a rich history in telecommunications. It all began in 1951, when Guadalupe Valley Telephone Cooperative (now GVTC) was first organized to bring telephone service to the rough Texas Hill Country north of San Antonio. Those pioneers fought hard to bring quality service to the sparsely populated region. Our first meeting was held on April 23, 1955.
On that Saturday afternoon, GVTC's first direct telephone call was placed to Washington, D.C. to Mr. Ancer Nelsen, who was administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration, or REA.
This phone call was the culmination of GVTC's four-year project to furnish a modern telephone system to Hill Country residents of northern Comal and parts of Kendall, Blanco and Bexar counties. This achievement received recognition from a number of dignitaries, including the Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate at the time…a man named Lyndon B. Johnson.
The introduction of telephone service was only the first of several technological milestones for GVTC:
- In 1951, GVTC was the first to install phone service in the Hill Country region north of San Antonio
- In the 80s, we were the first to enter the cable TV industry in the Hill Country offering customers an alternative to satellite TV
- In the 80s we were also the first to offer security system options to Hill Country residents bundled with telephone service
- In the 1990s, we were the first to install fiber optics between offices
- During this decade, we became the first to deliver Fiber-To-The-Home technology to South Texas.
Because it was established as a cooperative, since its inception, GVTC has given back $67 million to its member-owners in the form of capital credit checks. And the management and member-owners share a common stake in the financial success of the company.
Today, GVTC bears little resemblance to its humble beginning. It is the largest telephone cooperative in the State of Texas and the ninth largest local exchange carrier in Texas. Spanning 2,000 square miles, in eleven (11) counties and serving over 41,000 customers with over 42,000 access lines GVTC continues to expand its communication products and services to bring its customers the latest in technology and entertainment.
Despite its growth, GVTC has historically maintained a high level of accountability to its customers and strong ties to the communities they serve by continually supporting local non-profit groups.
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