Highland Telephone Cooperative (HTC) is a member-owned corporation dedicated to delivering advanced telecommunications technology to the people of Morgan and Scott counties in Tennessee and McCreary County in Kentucky. Highland Communications (HCC) provides high-speed fiber internet with speeds up to a gigabit per second. Highland Media (HMC) provides television service. HTC operates a network cap
able of connecting every home, business, school and industry in the service area to optical fiber technology. The system surpasses those found in large cities. The cooperative’s phone, television and broadband internet services, however, are not the first time HTC has taken the lead in bringing vital communications tools to the area. During the 1950s, while much of America saw a boom of post-war prosperity and growth, rural regions struggled to have even basic phone service. Often, private phone companies bypassed rural areas in favor of more profitable towns and cities. But Highland Telephone Cooperative was formed to address the critical need for phone service in our region. To offer service to everyone, and to qualify for loans from the Rural Electrification Administration, HTC was formed as a member-owned cooperative in 1955. HTC began with 1,000 members, and it continues as a member-owned cooperative. The system, which first served Scott and Morgan counties of Tennessee, now also serves McCreary County in Kentucky. From the original group of members and the small office above the hardware store in Sunbright where it all began,
Highland Telephone Cooperative has grown to serve more than 19,000 members. Started in 1996 and 2005 respectively, Highland Communications and Highland Media are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Highland Telephone Cooperative.
