History of Ronan Telephone Company
1910 First telephone service in Ronan, company started by Mr. Stephens.
Mr. Stephens died in the 1920s. Mrs. Stephens continued to manage the company. She remarried Pat Kreider, and the couple continued to operate the company until 1946.
From 1910 to 1946 the phones worked on local battery power and each phone had a hand crank generator for ringing. The caller would pick up the phone and crank the handle on the phone. Then the operator would come on the line to connect the caller to the desired party.
1946 Company was purchased by Harry and Lura Holland. They renamed it Ronan Telephone Systems. The Hollands's owned and operated the company until 1960.
In 1946, the power generation for the phones was updated from magneto to a common battery system located in the central office of the company. The system was still all manual, meaning that the caller would pick up the phone and the operator would come on the line to connect the call.
1960 Company purchased by Beth and Jay Preston Sr. Beth and Jay renamed it Ronan Telephone Company. The Preston family still owns 100% of RTC.
Upgraded Ronan city service to local dial calling.
1962 Upgraded all Ronan rural and Pablo service to local dial calling - the caller still dialed "0" to have the Ronan operator dial any long distance numbers, (such as Polson or Charlo).
1969 Converted the Pablo exchange to direct distance dialing.
1975 Installed electronic switch ESC-3 in Ronan.
1976 Upgraded all RTC subscribers to direct dial on long distance calls. Moved into existing building on Main Street. Upgraded the rural multiparty service from eight (8) to ten (10) parties per line to two (2). No more operators in Ronan.
1985 Installed electronic switch ESC-3 in Pablo.
1986 Installed a microwave radio from Hot Springs to Ronan.
1991 Installed a new digital central office to provide custom calling features and provided all private one (1) party per line service.
1995 Installed fiber optic cable to Round Butte and Hot Springs. Installed the Internet system in Ronan & Pablo.
1995-1998 Installed six (6) rural remote digital switches to eliminate noise and improve transmission.
1999 Went Equal Access in Ronan and Pablo.
1999-2002 Installed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service in Ronan and Pablo for hight speed ADSL Internet service.
2005 EAS (Expanded Area Service) to the South. Ronan customers were given local, 7 digit dialing to communities south of Ronan to include: Charlo, St. Ignatius, Arlee, Missoula, Plains, Thompson Falls, Alberton, Corvallis, Darby, Drummond, Hamilton, Lolo, Philipsburg, Stevenville, Superior, and Victor, to name a few. For the complete list of prefixes, click here. 2006 EAS (Expanded Area Service) to the North. Ronan customers were given local, 7 digit dialing to communities to the north to include: Polson, Elmo and Finley Point. Essentially giving Ronan Telephone Customers Mission Valley wide calling access. For the complete list of prefixes, click here.
If you have any questions or comments on the history of RTC, please call Jay Preston Sr. at 676-2751.
Ronan Telephone Company
312 Main St SW Ronan MT, 59864
Phone (406)676-2751 Fax (406)676-8889
