Herman M. Tollefson
1901-1933
HISTORY
Howard H. Tollefson
1919-1964
Jon R. Tollefson
1954-2002
Beth Tollefson – 1991 – Present
Mary Ehmke – 1987 – Present
1901
Company founded and incorporated by Herman M. Tollefson. Service began with the telephone switchboard located on a balcony to the rear of the building still located at Main and 2nd Ave NW, Kasson, MN.
1909
July 4th celebration. H.M. Tollefson & Co. had an attractive float. Howard Tollefson is riding with “Laura T” pulling. Laura T was the early means of transportation for the telephone company.
1913-1917
Kasson and Mantorville exchanges rebuilt with aerial cable.
1939
Kasson and Mantorville Telephone Company directory.
1942
New dead-end pole in NW Mantorville after transitioning from rural lines to city cable.
1954
Telephone switchboard operators, Tina Molde on the left and Bessie Walters on the right. They answered the phone, the caller would give the operator the name of the person he or she wanted to speak with, and the operator would plug a patch cord into that person’s socket on the switchboard, connecting the two.
1956
Community Dial Office built in Mantorville. One of the first rural, small town automatic-dial offices.
1960
Kasson business office.
1962
Purchased Rock Dell Telephone Company in 1961. Plowing telephone cable for the Rock Dell Exchange.
1963
New Stromberg-Carlson XY switch installed to replace the magneto system that had up to 25 phones on a line.
1976
Kasson and Mantorville Exchanges plowed underground.
1980s
Jon Tollefson removing old cable from the central office.
1986
Alcatel Digital Switch installed.
1995
One of our first DirecTV customers with their new satellite dish. KMTelecom joined NRTC to offer sales and support of DBS (DirecTV Satellite System) in 1994.
1995
Staff training on the 5ESS digital switch. Back row: (L-R) Jon Tollefson, Mary Ehmke, and Beth Tollefson. Front row: (L-R) Bruce Ludwig, Todd Laganiere, Jeff Suhr, and Ron Jones.
1996
Began offering Dial-Up Internet.
2001
Celebrated 100 years with the 3rd and 4th generations: Jon Tollefson, Beth Tollefson, Mary Ehmke, and Dee Tollefson.
2001
Changed name to KMTelecom and had a new logo created. (Note: The backward arrows on the logo were later turned around. Much of the feedback we initially received was that the backward arrows made our progress seem backward. Our current logo conveys our commitment to moving forward.
2002
Rain, sleet or snow… determined to get to Dodge Center to provide service to businesses in the area.
2002
Started offering Triple Play service and expanded it to Dodge Center.
2005
Wildblue Internet added to our service offerings.
2005
A local family and customer welcomed these triplets — Noah, Gabe and Max — into their family, so we decided to use them in our Triple Play advertising.
2006
The newest addition to our building was completed, including additional office space, lobby, and more.
2007
KMTV Digital Television Service launched.
2008
Began five-year project to bring Fiber to the Home (FTTH) to our Kasson and Mantorville subscribers.
2011
KMTelecom is proud to partner with the Kasson-Mantorville School District to renovate the competition field into KMTelecom Stadium! Click here to view our banner ad.
2014
Branded our fiber fast internet with this name: Whippet Full Boogie Internet, Fueled by KMTelecom Fiber. Internet speeds up to 1 Gig were offered in our Kasson and Mantorville exchanges.
2016
Managed Wi-Fi service was introduced to internet customers.
2017
Fiber construction in rural Mantorville was completed, bringing internet speeds up to 1 Gig and TV service to this area.
2018
Fiber construction in rural Kasson was completed, making high speed internet up to 1 Gig and TV service available in this area. This was also the year our mascot Boogie was born! Boogie is a cheerful Whippet who likes to appear at community events.
2019
Fiber construction in new residential neighborhood in NW Dodge Center to bring high speed internet up to 1 Gig plus TV and telephone services.
2020
Fiber construction was completed in rural area north of Rock Dell to bring internet speeds up to 1 Gig plus TV and telephone services.
2021
More fiber construction was completed in rural areas of Rock Dell to bring internet speeds up to 1 Gig plus TV and telephone services. We also became an official Smart Rural Community provider and welcomed the City of Kasson as our first Smart Rural Community!
2022
The City of Dodge Center, in partnership with KMTelecom, was awarded funding from the Minnesota Community Development Block Grant COVID-19 (CDBG-CV) program to help bring high-speed fiber internet to unserved residents within the city.
2023
Fiber construction was completed in the City of Dodge Center to bring high speed internet up to 1 Gig plus TV and telephone services. It was one of the warmest winters we’ve ever had in Minnesota, and construction crews were able to work well into November!
