Execulink Telecom

The Burgessville Telephone Company was founded in 1904 by Dr. Service, a local medical practitioner. The first line connected the doctor's office to Wm. Kirkpatrick's general store in Holbrook, two miles down the road. Prior to this, there was only one phone in Burgessville – a Bell long-distance outlet. The doctor believed that a local system would be of great benefit to the community, so he began circulating the idea among his neighbours. "The farmers quite often would dig the holes and even furnish the poles if they had them, so it did not cost much to build a line." The first central switchboard was installed with six lines in 1905 in Burgessville. In a short time 200 phones were in operation. Instead of a reluctance to connect with the independents, Bell began encouraging and completing toll traffic agreements with them. As the Burgessville business grew, so did the need for larger premises. So in 1907 the company bought the Temperance Hall, located 300 yards east of Burgessville's main concern. The building was moved just south of the Burgess residence and was used for an office, switchboard room and also included living quarters for the lineman while the back room was used as a storage and supply room. In 1923 residents of the area signed a petition, requesting the Township Council establish a municipal telephone system as a public utility. That signaled the transformation of the Burgessville Telephone Company (with its 660 subscribers) into the North Norwich Municipal Telephone System. == North Norwich Municipal Telephone System ==

The 1923 petition heralded a new era in local communications. A debenture issue was sold to finance the $25,000 price paid to the Burgessville Company and its customers. While the battered economy resulted in lost wages and a drop in customers and that icy winter's day in 1932 put subscribers through considerable hardships, the commissioners apparently could see the silver lining through the dark clouds. Reconstruction was the order of the day and before long the secretary-treasurer was reporting that the company financial situation was on the mend. == Thedford ==

Bell Telephone provided the first telephone service in the area including a small switchboard with 20 drops. Additional lines extended into Port Franks and along the sixth concession to Geo. Laird. Shareholders in the original company were allowed to buy back shares in the new company which was renamed Hurontario Telephones Limited. == Dr James A Vance ==

Dr. Vance's association with telecommunications began in 1934 when he was asked to be an administrator of an estate which had a substantial interest in the old Princeton & Drumbo Telephone Company Limited; a company that provided telephone service to the Princeton, Drumbo and Township of East Oxford areas. His first taste of that industry came right at the bottom of the Great Depression when most rural telephone companies were in a poor state of repair and finances. In 1946 these five companies were amalgamated to form the Oxford Telephone Company Limited. This company, through the dedicated efforts and guidance of its directors, developed good quality of service to all its subscribers. In 1946, Case asked Vance to take an interest in his company - Thedford, Arkona and East Lambton Telephone Company. At the time there were about four hundred subscribers and the company served the Thedford, Port Franks and the Ipperwash Beach area. Dr. Vance purchased controlling interest in the company and, with the help of telephone associate Mr. E.T. Downs of Toronto, proceeded to re-organize the company and reconstruct the plant and equipment. == Modernization ==

Throughout the 1950s, North Norwich continued to grow and change. The storm of February 1950 spelled trouble for the company, as the expenditures for that year had far exceeded revenues, and the reserve fund had also been used up. In auditor Donald McKee's financial report to the annual meeting it was revealed that five tons of wire had to be restored. By 1951 the Burgessville exchange had outgrown the old building so a new brick structure was built to house a new office, storage space and a workshop. A new switchboard was also installed when the building was complete. At this time the company also decided to upgrade the telephone system. It was to be changed gradually from a magneto to combination magneto and battery to totally common battery and dial system. Also included in the new building was an office, storage space and garage area for one truck. To accomplish the changes, the rates of subscribers connected with the Burgessville central were to be increased by $4.50 a year. Those served by the Bell central in Norwich, who had had a previous raise in rates, were to be increased another $3.50 a year. During the early 1960s Bell had converted the Woodstock and Norwich exchanges to dial operation. As a result, North Norwich Municipal Telephones converted its phones to dial that switched into those two centres. In 1967 the Burgessville Exchange was cut over to dial and necessary improvements had been made to the service station lines at Woodstock and Norwich at a cost of $250,000. The Ontario Telephone Service Commission assisted the systems staff to plan the modernization program and loaned out one of its field engineers, Martin Prickaerts, during the time plant reconstruction was being carried out. He supervised the program and coordinated the work of the systems staff with that of outside contractors hired to complete certain phases of the program. == The 1970s ==

In the early 1970s, the commissioners decided to rebuild the outside equipment with underground cable, a type of construction considered to be much more efficient than the old open-wire method. The program was proceeding according to plan until a tornado struck on August 7, 1979. A tornado cut a path of destruction through the area served by the telephone system. More than 80 homes were destroyed and outside equipment including lines were completely demolished. More than 10 miles of lines had to be rebuilt in the wake of the devastation. All reconstructed cables were buried underground, continuing with the original rebuilding plan. However most of the new telephones themselves had to be installed temporarily until the new homes could be built. To fund this massive project, Oxford MPP Harry Parrott, then Environment Minister, announced that an emergency grant of $100,000 had been awarded to the North Norwich Telephone System "to get back into business." The municipally owned company's predicament was described as an extraordinary situation and, with that in mind, the grant request was promptly recommended. == The 1980s ==

On Feb. 18, 1981 an audio change for long-distance calls was implemented. The new automatic number identification eliminated the familiar "Your number please" with the automatic notation of the number. It affected all one and two-party customers in Burgessville only. Company general manager Ardyth Williams said the move to the automatic number identification system was necessary to keep up with the areas around the North Norwich system. It also resulted in some pay back for the independent company because it received money from Bell Canada for each long-distance call completed in this manner. Commissioners from the North Norwich Municipal Telephone system presented a $900,000 expansion plan to Norwich Township council. Mr. Buckrell said the company was at a "financial cross roads" and "something had to be done", although he said the company was "in good financial shape" the plans for expansion would require modernizing the equipment to make the service more efficient. A survey of phone users in the Burgesville area indicated that many favoured a one party line system. In order to provide this service it would be necessary to lay more cable over a five-year period. "People want privacy and they’re willing to pay for it," said Barry Smith, a commission of the phone system. == Thedford modernization ==

When Vance and Downs purchased controlling shares in the Thedford, Arkona and East Lambton Telephone Company in 1948 they knew that the system was antiquated. A thorough review of the system's physical assets revealed that there had been no significant upgrades to the system since its original installation. The required upgrades would include: a new switchboard, replacement of all 400 telephones and their installation, and modifications to the outside plant in Thedford and the extreme end of the service area. The total estimated cost for the upgrade was over $30,000. In addition, the rates had not been increased since they were established in 1909. Many changes were in store. The upgrade program began in 1949 and was completed by 1951. The project began with heavy line reconstruction in 1949–50. Next was the move to a new, more spacious location. The Thedford Legion Hall site was purchased and a new building was erected with final completion in 1951. During this time, the telephone system in Rockwood was purchased as part of the general area upgrade. Finally, when the new office was complete workers could be found stringing countless strands of wires into a distribution frame, connecting them up with a shining, brand-new central switchboard. The newspaper headline boldly declared: "Hurontario Telephones Becoming Modernized.". Office Manager Roy Elliot said the old harmonic-type magneto system first installed in 1909 was being replaced by the common battery system. The conversion scheme would entirely eliminate the need for hand-cranking rural telephones to gain the attention of the operator or another party on the same line. On October 26, 1950, the company applied to change its name to Hurontario Telephones Limited. At this time there were also new by-laws passed and a capital increase from $10,000 to $50,000 was approved as a way to finance the huge restructuring project. The conversion to the dial system in May 1962 signaled the beginnings of the modern company it is today. Six years later, as subscribers steadily increased and new residents moved in from larger centres to rural centres, a new exchange was opened at Port Franks. Hurontario Telephones now had 614 subscribers with expectations of many to come with the planning of new subdivisions and the growth in recreational subscribers. == The year of decision ==

At the end of 1983, formal discussion about a potential sale of North Norwich Municipal Telephone System began. Hurontario Telephones Limited sent an offer to the North Norwich board. Hurontario suggested that the two companies could better face the challenges of new technology and competition by joining. On Friday February 3, 1984 the lead story on page one of Tillsonburg News was "Make bids to buy telephone company." At the time the news was released, Commissioner Les Buckrell declined public comment, saying the offer was a private matter. However, he did say that any decision to sell the assets of the 80-year-old company would require the majority approval of the 612 subscribers of the North Norwich system as well as the okay of the Ontario Telephone Commission and the Township of Norwich. On ballot A - decision to sell the company or not -300 chose the sell option, 139 opted to keep the company while five abstained from voting. With the official approval from the Ontario Telephone Service Commission, Hurontario Telephones Ltd. took over the company May 24, 1984. North Norwich Telephones Ltd. general manager and secretary Keith Stevens said the May 24 transition went smoothly, in large part because of his familiarity with the Burgessville operation through his consultations with the old company and because of the co-operation of the workers. "If there are any emergency situations either in Burgessville or Thedford, I hope to be able to use the staff members from both operations to help. In an emergency it is good to have a good pool of people to draw from. We hope to increase response time and repairs so it will be a help." Progress on upgrading the systems was also being made in the summer of 1984, with 0+ dialing and operator assisted dialing available to customers. Also, upgrading was finished in the Norwich area resulting in all multi-party customers being switched to a maximum of a four-party line. While the company was still eyeing one-party-lines, the more urgent upgrading was dealt with in prioritized fashion. Better record keeping of information on buried lines meant repairs were both faster and easier. With the necessary staff in Thedford, the company was also in a position to bury its own cable instead of hiring contractors, as had been the practice in the past. A garage was also built behind the Burgessville office to store equipment and to improve the look of the area. While it was still two years away, the general manager was also looking into the purchase of a computer to handle the billing, inventory and accounting in the Burgessville office. == Hurontario after the purchase ==

Before an offer was made by Hurontario to buy the Burgessville operation's assets, Keith Stevens had done some consulting for North Norwich, working closely with that company's commissioners and staff. In 1984 the two entities merged into one but were kept as two separate companies for some time. Shares were offered to the previous owners. It was an offer many local residents took the company up on. Meanwhile, the coverage area - in terms of the telephone - remained the same, with Hurontario serving Thedford and the Port Franks areas on the Lake Huron shoreline and North Norwich serving from Woodstock southeast to near Otterville. Customers of North Norwich Telephones in the Woodstock and Norwich areas had always been switched by Bell Canada. After two years of negotiations with Bell Canada, the company established its own exchanges in Woodstock and Norwich, giving those customers the same free calling area they had with Bell. The Woodstock area (Sweaburg) was connected in November 1987 and named Woodstock Independent with an exchange of 456. Norwich was cut over in May of the following year as Norwich Independent with 468 as the exchange. As a result of these changes and the increasing demand for special services in 1990, the nature of the company's business has changed dramatically. To improve the reliability of the telephone service, emergency standby generators were purchased for the Burgessville and Port Franks COs as well as portable generators which could be moved between the remote switches. The rural upgrade program, which made private line service available for all customers, was completed in 1990 in the North Norwich area and in 1991 in the Hurontario area. == Merger and expansion ==

"By 1993 there didn’t seem to be any reason to keep them as two separate companies so we functionally merged the two into one and created a company called Hurontario Telephones," Keith Stevens said. The operating names of North Norwich Telephones and Hurontario Telephones were kept, with the parent company called Hurontario Telecommunications Inc. The philosophy was, and continues to be, that almost all of the profits get reinvested into the company through paying down the debt and company development. When most of the debt is paid it is time to look for a new investment. In 1993, the cable TV systems operated by Regional Cable Systems in Ilderton, Ailsa Craig, Thedford, Port Franks, Parkhill, Arkona, Forest and Watford were for sale. An agreement was reached, the system was bought and the name changed to Ausable Cablecom Inc. In 1995 a new office building was built in Burgessville and in 1997 the office in Thedford was renovated and enlarged. == The Internet ==

After investigation and analysis in 1995, it was decided to offer Internet access starting in the Burgessville area, under the domain name of oxford.net. Shortly after Internet service came to the Thedford region, it was named htl.net (Hurontario Telephones Limited). Success exceeded all expectations and by 1998 there were over 3,000 customers, many of whom were not even telephone customers. In 1998 company officials were pondering how the company would expand and in what direction. At the time Execulink Internet Services Incorporated was operating out of Woodstock and London. It presented the perfect scenario for talks, which lead to the discovery that the firm was for sale. Negotiations began and the purchase of Execulink was completed. == Execulink Telecom ==

In 1999 each division was operating under its own name - Hurontario Telephones Limited, North Norwich Telephones, Ausable Cable Com., Execulink Internet Services Corporation as well as the parent company of Hurontario Telecommunications Inc. It was confusing for the customers and impossible to do common marketing. It was decided to find a common name. Consultants were hired, research was conducted and the answer came back that Execulink, while not perfect, had many of the good characteristics of a good company name. A significant amount of money had already been invested from a marketing point of view. It was decided that the name Execulink should be adopted as the name for all the companies. Since 2000 the company has been known by the one name - Execulink, encompassing Execulink Cablecom Inc., Execulink Internet Inc., Execulink Telecom Inc., and the Execulink Group Inc. (the parent company). From 2000 to 2002, the firm bought another series of Internet Service Providers (ISP), among them MGL in Guelph and the Kitchener area and Odyssey in London, along with a few smaller ones. Ian Stevens, at the time was VP of Operations, was promoted to CEO. In March 2012, the $3-million, two-year project with Execulink Telecom and Oxford Country to bring High Speed Internet access to rural residents and businesses was complete. With a $988,333 grant from the province, high-speed Internet coverage is now available to all parts of the county through Internet communities. In January 2013, Execulink launched a new mobile-telephony service. In October 2013 Company moved to their current Woodstock location amalgamating the majority of staff from the London, Kitchener and Burgessville offices. In January 2014, Execulink began reselling Rogers Third Party Internet Access to customers across Ontario. In October 2014, Execulink began reselling Cogeco Third Party Internet Access to customers across Ontario. == References ==