The Virginia Telecommunications
Industry Association (VTIA) can trace its roots as far back as April 6, 1900.
On that date, a group of Virginia telephone company representatives met in
Richmond to organize an association of mutual telephone companies. The meeting
was recorded in the Rockingham Register (now the Daily News Record). This was
the first known attempt by telephone companies in Virginia to organize and
work together. Their primary interest was in forming a long distance service
to connect Virginia's localities with Washington, Baltimore and other East
Coast cities. Six years later, in 1906,
representatives from 30 Virginia telephone companies gathered in Richmond and
formed the Virginia Independent Telephone Association. Telephony in Virginia developed
during the early years of the technology, and several of the state's first
telephone companies were involved in organizing VTIA. The founding members
still in existence today are listed below by area, along with the date they established
service and the current service provider. Burke's Garden Telephone, founded
in 1896, is still operated by the same company today, and the New Hope
Telephone Switchboard Association which started as the only mutual telephone
company in Virginia still exists as a cooperative. Date Locality Service
Established Current Service
Provider Smithfield...........1886.....................Verizon Warsaw...............1887.....................Verizon Harrisonburg.........1888.....................Verizon Bluefield............1893.....................Verizon Bristol..............1894.....................Embarq Burkes Garden........1896.....................Burkes Garden Telephone Co. Charlottesville......1897.....................Embarq Clifton Forge........1897.....................NTELOS Covington............1897.....................NTELOS Lexington............1898.....................Embarq Buchanan.............1900.....................NTELOS Fincastle............1900.....................NTELOS Edinburg.............1903.....................Shentel
New Hope.............1903.....................New Hope Telephone Cooperative
Pembroke.............1904.....................Pembroke Telephone Cooperative Gretna...............1907.....................Fairpoint Communications
VTIA's First Officers & Stated
Purpose On Nov. 1, 1934, the Virginia
Independent Telephone Association (a forerunner of VTIA) met at the John
Marshall Hotel in Richmond to discuss incorporating. The members then elected
the following as the association's first officers: President B. L. Fisher President of Lee Telephone Co. Vice President C. C. Ward Eastern Division Auditor Virginia Telephone & Telegraph Co. Secretary/Treasurer G. Fred Switzer General Manager Harrisonburg Telephone Co.
The purpose as set forth by the
association in 1934 was: "to bring together in a firmer union interests in Virginia, for the
purpose of promoting and aiding telephone interests in the state, and to
advise upon all subjects relating to the operation of telephone
systems." This varies little from VTIA's
purpose today as stated in the current bylaws:
"Our purpose is to promote the common interests of the members in all
matters affecting the telecommunications industry in the Commonwealth of
Virginia. In 1976, the association
established an office in Richmond with a part-time staff. Aldrich Dudley Jr.
was appointed the first executive director and served the association until
his retirement in December 1983. In January 1984, Ralph L. Frye became VTIA's
second executive director and the association began operating full time. Mr.
Frye retired as executive vice president of the association in June 1999 and
was succeeded by Earl D. Bishop who served until August 2007. In August 2007,
Mr. Bishop retired and Mr. Duront A. Walton, Jr. succeeded him with a title change
to Executive Director. In 1984, the association also
changed its name from the Virginia Independent Telephone Association to the
Virginia Exchange Carrier Association, and in May 1985, the association
became the Virginia Telephone Association. The association changed its
name again in May 1995 to become the Virginia Telecommunications Industry
Association and to better reflect the industry. VTIA became a national leader
in 1985 when the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. (now Bell-Atlantic
Virginia), AT&T, MCI and Sprint were given membership the association.
This marked the first time a Bell company and interexchange companies were
admitted into the association and reflected the changes taking place in the
industry as a result of deregulation and the divestiture of AT&T. In 1989, J. Sydnor Phillips,
who was vice president of the C&P Telephone Co., was elected president of
VTIA and became the first Bell system representative to lead the association.
In 2000, Dana G. Coltin, VP and General Manager, Cox Virginia Telcom, Inc,
became the first association president from a new market entrant. Today, diversity is a trademark
of both the industry and VTIA. A variety of local exchange companies,
interexchange carriers, cellular companies, personal communications companies,
access providers, cable television companies, paging companies, and other
telecommunications businesses operating in Virginia are members of VTIA. These businesses range
from publicly held corporations to family-owned businesses and include
cooperatives, investor-owned companies, one mutual switchboard association
and many businesses held by major holding companies. While deregulation, the
divestiture of AT&T and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 have increased
competition, VTIA's members remain dedicated to two overriding objectives: * serving the customers'
telecommunications needs, and * maintaining universal
service. Amid the ongoing introduction
of new technologies and regulatory change, Virginia has become a world leader
in the telecommunications industry. Virginia's telecommunications businesses
have made this possible, and VTIA is where these businesses come together to
forge this leadership role for today and tomorrow. 1936 . . . . . *B.L. Fisher1937 . . . . . . *C.C. Ward1938 . . .*Rodney M. Coggin1939 . . . . . *F.T. Prufer1940 . . . . . .*F.A. Gould1941 . . . . . *W.W. Darrow1942 . . . . *Dr.G.B. Gocke1943 . . . . .*F.G. LaPrade1944 . . . . .*Kelly McNish1945 . . . . . *J.P. Borden1946 . . .*Stanley A. Owens1947 . . . *Lloyd C. Pulley1948 . . . . *A.E. Reynolds1949 . . . . *W.J. Holloway1950 . . . . .*F.C. Switzer1951 . . . . *W.W. Gibbs,IV1952 . . . .*Kermit S. Land1953 . . . Duane T. Swanson1954 . . . *J.K. Funkhouser1955 . .*Garland T. LaPrade1956 . . .*Dennis B. Draper1957 . . .*Walter Robertson1958 . .*Harry P. Cavendish1959 . . . .Conrad J. Logan1960 . . . C. Lacey Compton1961 . . . .*Virl L. Choate1962 . . . . . . C. P. Lamm1963 . . . . *A.G. Stogdale1964 . . . . . *W.N. Scholl1965 . . . W.B. French, Jr.1966 . . .Wilson B. Garnett1967 . . L.E. Beydler, Jr.1968 . . . . Homer L. Akers1969 . . .Meredith E. Yeago1970 . . . B.Stuart Vincent1971 . . *†J.G. Conley, Jr.1971 . . . E.B. Fitzgerald1972 . . . . Dallas H. Reid1973 . . . Thomas W. Hudson1974 . . . R.S. Yeago, Jr.1975 . . . . Ira D. Layman1976 . . . William R. Dunn1977 . . ‡Harold W. Collier1977 .*§Richard B. Cashwell1977 . . . .*William Dales1978 . . . John C. McKinney1979 . . . Henry L. Burton1980-81 . . .D.C. Brackman1982 . .Charles G. Browning1983 . . James W. McConnell1984 . . . . John Perkinson1985 . . . . . James D. Ogg1986 . . . James R. Newell1987 . . . Leslie E. Ramsey1988 . . . Thomas W. Sokol1989 . . J. Sydnor Phillips1990 . . . J. Allen Layman1991 M. Dale Tetterton,Jr.1992 . E. Henry Harper, Jr.1993 . . . L. Ronald Smith1994 Warner F. Brundage,Jr.1995 . . James S. Quarforth1996 . . . David J. Keller1997 Christopher E. French1998 . .Gerald W. Gallimore1999 . Robert W. Woltz, Jr.2000 . David R. Maccarelli2001 . . . Dana G. Coltrin2002 . . Stephen C. Spencer2003 . .William J. Franklin2004 . . . . .R Craig Smith2005 . . . .Lydia R. Pulley2006 . . .David E. Ferguson2007 . . . . Mary McDermott EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTS 1976 - 1983 . . . .*Aldrich Dudley, Jr.1984 - 1999 . . .Ralph Lawrence Frye1999 - 2007 . . . . . . Earl D.Bishop2007 – Present . Duront A. Walton, Jr.*Deceased† 11/7/70 - 12/23/70‡ 10/19/76 - 2/1/77§ 2/1/77 - 3/16/77 3/16/77 - 10/28/77BYLAWS
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