About Us

On February 19, 1948, Equality Telephone Company was incorporated. Formerly, Equality Telephone Company had been run as a mutual telephone company, owned and operated by the people of Equality. At this time, the telephone company was in need of repairs and upgrades. Over the next several years, the family owned Equality Telephone Company would go from 14 party operator handled service to single party rotary dial service.

In 1966, Equality Telephone Company purchased Hardin County Telephone Company. Like Equality Telephone Company in the 1940's, Hardin County Telephone Company needed repairs and upgrades. During the late 1960's, Hardin County Telephone Company would see improvements such as upgrades to equipment and the conversion to single party telephone service. Also during this time, all of the aerial cable of both companies was in the process of being replaced with buried cable. The conversion to buried cable was costly and laborious as much of the telephone companies' service area lies within the rocky terrain of the Shawnee National Forest.

In January of 1985, Equality Telephone Company and Hardin County Telephone Company merged. The name was changed to Shawnee Telephone Company, as a reflection of where the company was situated, as well as a reflection of the deeply seeded roots of this company's ownership. Shawnee Telephone Company continued to be a family owned business in the heart of Southern Illinois and the Shawnee National Forest.

In 1995 Shawnee Telephone Company received notification from the FCC that local telephone companies would be allowed entry into the Long Distance market. One requirement, however, was that the long distance was to be controlled by a separate affiliated entity. Therefore, Shawnee Communications, Inc. and ShawneeLink Corporation were created. Shawnee Telephone Company and ShawneeLink Corporation became wholly owned subsidiaries of Shawnee Communications. Still, Shawnee Communications and its subsidiaries remained locally owned and operated.

During the third quarter of 1995 ShawneeLink Corporation began offering long distance services. It became apparent late in 1995 that the Internet was going to be a major communications platform. In response to this growing demand ShawneeLink integrated Internet access as a service offering in the second quarter in 1996. Initially ShawneeLink Internet access was restricted to the Shawnee Telephone Company local service area. In 1997, with the demand for Internet access on the rise, ShawneeLink began offering Internet connectivity in other service areas such as Golconda, Ridgway and Shawneetown. Before year-end 1998, ShawneeLink Corporation was offering Internet access in over 40 Southern Illinois communities.

In 2003 ShawneeLink began providing HyperNet DSL, a high-speed Internet Solution, in over 20 communities. ShawneeLink’s HyperNet DSL allows high-speed Internet access over normal copper telephone lines.

Currently ShawneeLink Corporation serves over 90 Southern Illinois communities with fast reliable Internet Access. ShawneeLink provides local access numbers, dedicated access and numerous web services to the largest contiguous service area in Southern Illinois.

Our Staff:

Our employees are the pillars of this organization. The individuals that comprise our staff are woven with strong character, deep ethics and unlimited drive. Every employee strives for continued individual improvement day to day. The level of loyalty and integrity displayed by our staff is reflected in the quality of service provided to our customers.

Each individual within the staff has a diverse technical, business and clerical background that help to create cohesiveness between departments. This cohesiveness has proven invaluable during project coordination and planning. The ability and willingness to operate as a team has facilitated every aspect of our expansion and growth and will continue to do so well into the future.