About Us

About Us

Mission Statement

The Marquette-Adams Telephone Cooperative is committed to continuing the cooperative spirit upon which this company was founded, to provide high quality telephone service to its customers, and to continue to investigate new technology and endeavors for the benefit of the company and its members.

What is a cooperative?

Telecommunications providers cooperatively enhance Wisconsin’s quality of life and economic opportunities through improved infrastructure and services. Over 100 years ago, rural telephone cooperatives were established to provide service in sparsely populated areas where telephone companies thought they could not make a profit. Cooperatives such as the Marquette-Adams Telephone Cooperative are operated by boards of directors elected by local members who are the cooperative’s customers. Unlike for-profit telecom companies, cooperatives distribute capital credits to their members. Any surplus beyond the cooperative’s limited return on investment and the costs of operating the business are returned to its members in proportion to their spending or patronage of the products and services offered by the cooperative such as long distance calling, local telephone service, digital TV and High-Speed Internet. The more business a member does with the cooperative, the greater that member’s refund at the end of the year.

Cooperatives are partners in our community, investing in economic development and human involvement that will keep our hometowns and rural areas alive and well in the years ahead.  Marquette-Adams Telephone Cooperative is committed to continuing the cooperative spirit upon which it was founded, to provide high quality telephone service to its customers, and to continue to investigate new technology and endeavors for the benefit of the company and its members.

Want to make a difference in your cooperative? Consider purchasing stock. Contact us at 608-586-4111 to inquire.

 

  • 1951

    1951

    The company known as the Marquette-Adams Telephone Company became Marquette-Adams Telephone Cooperative, Inc.

  • 1954

    1954

    With a loan from the Rural Electrification Administration, new equipment was purchased, which made it possible for us to provide dial tone service to our subscribers in the Oxford, Brooks and Endeavor exchanges. At the time the Cooperative had 503 access lines and four employees.

  • 1974

    1974

    A new business office was built on the corner of Oxford and Ormsby Street in Oxford. At that time, records show that we had 1426 access lines and 6 employees.

  • 1978

    1978

    The Co-op bought a small Apple computer, the first computer ever purchased by Marquette-Adams. This investment allowed us to produce our own monthly bills for the first time.

  • 1983

    1983

    The first capital credit checks were sent out to our members.

  • Late 1980's

    Late 1980's

    The first fiber optic cables were buried, connecting the Brooks, Endeavor and Packwaukee exchanges to Oxford, Waushara, Portage, Shawano, Waupaca and part of Marathon.

  • 1996

    1996

    We continued to expand our services by introducing dial-up Internet to Oxford. Shortly after that, we were able to provide Internet to the nearby areas of Adams, Westfield, Montello and Arkdale. The following year we began offering our own long distance services.

  • 1998

    1998

    Due to significant growth, our business office in Oxford was remodeled and expanded.

  • 2001

    2001

    We first offered DSL to all of our members.

  • 2005

    2005

    Due to the constant increase in fiber optic cable, it became possible for us to offer high-speed Internet as well as our newest service, television that was delivered to the home underground by way of the phone line.

  • 2009

    2009

    High-Definition television was made available to all of our members.

  • 2010

    2010

    We began offering Video on Demand or “VOD” to our customers.

    Marquette-Adams Telephone Cooperative was awarded a grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With this grant, we immediately began the process expanding our service area.

  • 2010-2014

    2010-2014

    We have undergone a major expansion and fiber overhaul that has increased our service area by 54% from 192 square miles to roughly 420 square miles and we have buried over 500 miles of fiber optic cable. As of February, 2014 we have 4,708 access lines, 22 full-time employees, and 1 part-time employee.