Atlantic Telephone Membership Cooperative (ATMC).[1] is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative organized in 1955 by the citizens of Brunswick County, North Carolina who did not have telephone service and had not been able to secure this service from existing telephone companies. ATMC is the largest member-owned cooperative in North Carolina and one of the largest in the country.
Through a subsidiary company, Atlantic Telecommunications Multimedia Consolidated, LLC., the company began providing customers in the southeast portions of Columbus County with high speed Internet, digital cable TV and digital telephone service in September 2011.
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The cooperative has been providing telephone service to residents of Brunswick County, North Carolina since 1957. In 1965, an extensive underground construction project was launched to replace aerial telephone lines. Party line service was initially offered and private line service became available in 1969. The cooperative currently offers a wide scope of calling features to complement its telephone service.
ATMC began providing its own long distance service in 2000 and upgraded to offer numerous long distance plans and bundled services to make long distance more affordable for its members. Plans are tailored to meet individual customers’ calling needs and unlimited calling throughout the 910 area code, unlimited calling throughout North and South Carolina and unlimited calling throughout the United States.
ATMC Cable is the brand name of cable TV service provided by ATMC. No other company wanted to invest the expense to provide cable TV to rural Brunswick County, so in 1981, ATMC received FCC approval to construct a cable television system. The cooperative’s first cable TV customer was connected in 1982. Eight channels were available at that time. ATMC Cable currently offers over 200 channels, including digital cable service, premium movie channels, pay-per-view channels, music channels, high-definition channels and Digital Video Recorders (DVR). ATMC made video on demand service available to all digital customers in July 2009.
In January 2011 ATMC completed a project to convert its cable TV system from analog to all-digital technology. This project will enable ATMC to deliver additional video services including HD-VOD, more channels and more HD networks. In addition, it will enable ATMC to offer next-generation cable modem service as early as 2012.
In September 2008 ATMC launched a new community channel, ATMC-TV. Available exclusively on ATMC Cable, ATMC-TV features people, places and events from the local Brunswick County community. Programming covers a variety of topics including Chamber of Commerce activities, fitness and exercise, gardening and a variety of relevant topics to the local audience. ATMC-TV also covers West Brunswick High School football games and other special events throughout Brunswick County. ATMC-TV is on ATMC Cable channel 3.
Dial-up Internet service was introduced in 1995, followed by Broadband/DSL in 2000. Broadband is currently available in almost 100% of the cooperative’s service area. Complementary services are available, including Internet Security, Technical Support Services, PC Support Services, Webmail and a community web portal ATMConline.com.[2]
ATMC Wireless is an authorized retailer of AT&T Wireless Services and is part of the nationwide AT&T Wireless Network. In 1996, ATMC, through its subsidiary, Atlantic Seawinds LLC, began offering BellSouth Mobility Services. In 2002, they acquired the rights to provide Cingular (now AT&T) wireless service in Brunswick County. It was re-branded as ATMC Wireless in August 2007. In 2005, ATMC Wireless launched a $10 million wireless project, that would double its number of transmission sites in Brunswick County to provide coverage in areas where coverage had been unavailable. ATMC Wireless began deploying an extensive 3G wireless data network throughout Brunswick County in 2009. 3G service is now operational on 48 of the network's 50 wireless transmission towers giving ATMC Wireless the largest and fastest wireless network in Brunswick County. In June 2011, the company will begin offering 4G service via HSPA+ technology throughout Brunswick County. ATMC Wireless was named the Best Wireless Provider in the 2008,2009,2010 and 2011 Best of Brunswick Awards sponsored by the Brunswick Beacon newspaper. ATMC Wireless was named "best place to buy wireless" in WWAY-TV 3's online survey in November 2011.
ATMC began providing residential and business security services in Brunswick County in September 2007. ATMC currently offers state-of-art security systems and monitoring to homes and small businesses with localized customer service for Brunswick County and Wilmington, North Carolina.
ATMC began deploying fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology in early 2005 to new residential neighborhoods. ATMC currently provides FTTH technology to over 40 neighborhoods across Brunswick County. ATMC was also the first company in North Carolina to be certified by the National Fiber-To-The-Home Council.[3] and serves more residential developments in North Carolina with FTTH technology than any other company in the state.
ATMC was voted Best Customer Service and Best Wireless Provider in the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Best of Brunswick Awards sponsored by the Brunswick Beacon newspaper. In addition, ATMC was voted Best Internet Service in both the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Best of Brunswick Awards.
In 2011, despite offering wireless service to the people of Brunswick County only, ATMC Wireless was voted as the best place to buy wireless service in an online survey conducted by Wilmington, NC ABC affiliate WWAY. ATMC Wireless finished ahead of national wireless providers who offer service to a much larger population throughout the southeastern NC region.