About
Your connection to the world
Our Service Area
We are proud to serve the town of Moulton and surrounding rural areas with state-of-the-art fiber technology. The system carries Internet, Phone and Digital TV to our customers.
Our History
Farmers Mutual Telephone System was organized in 1905. At that time, the Bell Telephone Company was already operating in Moulton. Some families had two telephones, one on each system and they could call anyone on either system. The people who had only one phone had to call “Central” to be switched to the other company to talk to subscribers on that line.
In 1916, Farmers Mutual purchased the Bell Company interests in the Moulton area. In 1960, Farmers Mutual purchased the M&M Telephone Company from the Mark and Monterey area consisting of about 40 members.
1961 brought change to the Farmers Mutual Telephone System. The company switched to an automatic dial system, which was the first such type in Appanoose County. They laid 140 miles of underground cable, built a new telephone office and equipped it with new switching equipment. The EAS line to Udell and Unionville, Iowa was established in 1962 allowing everyone in the Moulton-Udell school system to be able to make calls with no toll charges. The company installed all single party lines in 1978.
Farmers Mutual buried fiber optic cable to all its customer’s premises in 2008. Customers began to switch over to the fiber system in early 2009. The company increased its broadband internet to 100% of its customer base with the switch to the fiber system. In July 2009, the company began to offer video services using an IPTV video system through their partnership with Iowa Network Services.
Farmers Mutual Communications is trying to meet the growing demands of their customer base. Technology is rapidly changing and their dedication to keeping up with the change is evidenced by their investment and commitment to their customers.
What is a Telephone Cooperative?
A telephone cooperative is a type of cooperative whose purpose is the delivery of communication services to a its members. Profits are either reinvested for improvements to the network or are distributed to members in the form of “capital credits”, which are essentially dividends paid on a member’s investment into the cooperative.
Each member is an owner of the business with an equal say as every other member of the cooperative, unlike investor-owned utilities where the amount of say is governed by the number of shares held.
Capital Credits
Farmers Mutual Communications is a member based cooperative. The company determines an allocation of capital credits to its members based on the annual profits of the company. These profits are then allocated to the members based on the total services received from the cooperative. Telephone, long distance, internet, and television are combined to determine total services received.
We are proud to be the company that rewards you for your patronage.
Community Support
Farmers Mutual Communications supports your local community. We have contributed to the Moulton Jamboree, Community Betterment, Garrett Memorial Library, Moulton Fire and Rescue, Moulton Ambulance, SCPC events, local car shows, various school programs, 4-H/FFA livestock auctions, DCL 5K, scholastic scholarships for graduating seniors, and more. In addition, unclaimed capital credits are placed in a fund to support educational and non-profit organizations. Your continued support of the telephone cooperative is helping us to support the community.