North State Communications
| File:North State logo.svg | |
| Company type | Telecommunications company |
|---|---|
| Founded | High Point, North Carolina 1895 |
Key people | Royster Tucker III, President & CEO |
| Services | Residential and businesses phone, Fiber TV, Fiber Internet, Cloud services |
NorthState is a telecommunications company headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, offering landline and cellular telephone, residential and business optical fiber services, web hosting, yellow pages, and digital television to a 600-square-mile (1,600 km2) area that includes High Point, Thomasville, Archdale, Randleman, Jamestown, Trinity and parts of Greensboro and Kernersville. NorthState ranks as one of the top 20 telecommunications companies in the United States.[1]
History
In 1895, local businessmen started the High Point Telephone Exchange in High Point, N.C. In 1899, J.F. Hayden, who started a telephone system in Thomasville, bought the High Point company; both companies grew quickly. In 1905, the High Point company was incorporated as North State Telephone Company. In 1919, Hayden bought the Southern Bell system in High Point, which had operated since 1907. In 1920 North State became the first telephone company in the state to install the automatic-dial system.
In 1929 the company bought the Randleman system, and in 1935 the Thomasville company became part of North State.[2]
In 2004, NorthState began offering DirecTV digital satellite TV.[3]
In 2005, NorthState spent $30 million to begin offering the area's first fiber optic residential service.[4]
In 2007, NorthState's cell phone service changed from Cingular to AT&T.[5] Also in 2007, the company began offering 3G service.[6]
On May 28, 2009, North State announced the brand name Plex, which included both landline and wireless telephone; high-speed Internet capable of 80 Mbits Down and 30Mbits Up; and Plex Advanced TV, a cable TV alternative using Internet Protocol with existing and expanded fiber optic lines capable of delivering HDTV and standard digital TV, as well as video on demand and digital music. The company added fiber optic service in new areas as it began offering the new TV service during summer 2009.[7][8]
Charlotte-based fiber optic service company Segra, part of MTN Infrastructure TopCo Inc., acquired North State in a $240 million deal completed May 19, 2020.[9]
References
- ^ "Facts about NSC". Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ "About North State Communications". Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ "North State Communications to provide digital TV services". The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area. 2004-10-11. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ Normington, Mick (2005-06-17). "North State bets on home delivery of fiber-optic cable". The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ "Cingular Wireless from North State Is Now AT&T wireless from North State". 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ "Area Wireless Connections Pick Up Speed". 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ "North State launches digital TV product". The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area. 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ "North State Launches Plex Brand Including Debut of New Digital TV Product". dBusinessNews. 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
- ^ Craver, Richard (2020-05-20). "The Briefcase: N.C. gains $27.7M from Santander lawsuit settlement". Winston-Salem Journal. p. 8A.