COMPANY HISTORY

Southern Montana Telephone Company came into existence in 1904 under the ownership of J.P. Lossel with two telephones in the system in the town of Wisdom.  Ownership was later transferred to the Capehart family until 1940 when the business was purchased by George Johnson.  George Helming purchased the company in April 1944 and SMTC has remained in the Helming family to the present time.

COMPANY INFORMATION

Southern Montana Telephone Company is an independent family-owned telephone company serving the exchanges of Divide, Wise River, Wisdom, Jackson and Grant.  We serve approximately 1000 access lines covering 1,964 square miles with 632 miles of buried cable.  This includes 61 miles of fiber-optic cable.  SMTC is owned and operated by Robert G. Helming of Wisdom.  SMTC employees are:  Conrad Eklund, General Manager;  Dave Hollenback, Plant/COE Manager; Richard Nickisch, Combination Tech; Jane Melby, Commercial Supervisor; Lori Wilke, Commercial; and Rex Caraker, Combination Tech.

Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., Monday through Friday.  We also have a night drop on the right side of the front office doors for payments when the office is closed. For anyone needing repair outside of regular office hours, we have VoiceMail taking messages.  These messages are checked regularly.  Our business office numbers for all your needs are toll free, 888-263-2270 or 689-3333.