Great Plains Communications

Great Plains Communications is Nebraska's largest independent telecommunications company. It is headquartered in Blair, NE and serves 89 rural communities across the State of Nebraska. It provides High-Speed Internet, Cable Television and Local and Long Distance phone services. The company, founded in 1910. It has been owned by one family, the Hunt Family, for four generations beginning with founder Emory Clyde Hunt.

Great Plains Communications went through several name changes due mostly to significant expansion throughout the 1900s. The company was originally called the Camp Dewey Telephone Company and was acquired by Great Plains Communications’ founder, E.C. Hunt, in 1910. In 1916, the name was changed to Northern Telephone.

After acquiring five telecommunication companies throughout Nebraska, the company was renamed UniTel of Nebraska in 1974. The name was officially changed to Great Plains Communications in 1984 following the merger of the five companies, which were created through consolidation of telephone companies in several smaller rural towns, operating under the UniTel umbrella.

1916 – The Camp Dewey Telephone System changes its name to Northern Telephone Company.

1926 – The company acquires Blair Telephone Company. The company's headquarters is relocated to Blair, NE.

1938 – The company acquires Union Telephone Company.

1940 – The company acquires Central Nebraska Telephone Company.

1966 – The company acquires the Skeedee Independent Telephone Company and changes the name to the Nebraska Telephone Company.

1974 – The five companies are united under the name Unitel of Nebraska.

1984 – The companies are officially merged and the company is renamed Great Plains Communications.

1984 – Continental Telephone Company of Nebraska is acquired—doubling the size of the company.

During the Great Depression, E.C. Hunt allowed customers to pay using a barter system including crops and livestock. The company had a strict no over-charging policy. If bartered items were sold for more than the actual amount of the customer's bill, the amount was returned to the customer.

In 1979, Great Plains Communications founded Scope Cable Television and began obtaining franchise rights to construct cable television systems in several Nebraska communities. The company's original channel line-up included 10 channels, thought to be expansive at the time. Digital cable was introduced to customers in 1999.

As of 2011, the company provides cable services to 40 rural communities in Nebraska. Thirty-six towns receive hi-definition digital services including digital video recording capabilities.

Great Plains Communications began offering Internet services with a 56K dial-up speed. The company now provides 1 to 10 Meg residential download speeds depending on location. Business services include access to 2500 miles of fiber providing Ethernet speeds up to 1 GB. The company has begun providing fiber-to-the-home across the state.

Since 1986, the company has provided grants and scholarships to rural schools and students in the communities the company serves. The program is part of Great Plains Communications “Commitment to the Schools” initiative. Currently, the company gives $25,000 in grants and $20,000 in scholarships to students each year. Scholarship recipients are encouraged to return to rural Nebraska after college in an effort to fight against rural “brain drain.”

In 2003, the Robert and Jeanette Hunt Foundation was created to fund long-term projects and assist in community development in Great Plains Communications’ communities. The foundation has provided $250,000 in matching donations to many communities around the State of Nebraska.