With purchase of Gunnison Telephone, CentraCom extends reach to whole county

FAIRVIEW—CentraCom is now the sole telecommunication, internet and cable TV provider for Sanpete County.

In a press release issued Monday, the company announced it had acquired Gunnison Telephone Co., which serves Gunnison, Centerfield, Mayfield, Axtell and Fayette, plus residents in unincorporated areas between the towns. The sale was effective July1.

Meanwhile, the press release listed Brad Welch, who has been chief operating officer, as the “president and CEO” of CentraCom. Welch is also mayor of Fairview.

According to Nate Palmer, vice president for marketing at CentraCom, Welch stepped into the top job about July 1. Palmer confirmed that Branch Cox and Eddie Cox, the two almost legendary figures who have guided the company for the past 45-plus years, have stepped away to what Palmer described as “advisory positions, board positions.”  

One of the main ways the Coxes built the company was by acquiring other telephone and telecommunication companies in northern and central Utah and eastern Nevada. A company history describes at least seven such acquisitions between 1989 and 2001.

In 2001, CentraCom acquired what the history describes as the company’s “crown jewel,” the Mt. Pleasant and Spring City exchange. That, the history says, “completed our ownership of all exchanges in northern Sanpete County.”

In 2005, CentraCom also purchased Precis Communication, which provided cable TV in Sanpete and Sevier counties. That got the company into the cable TV business.

About two years ago, CentraCom acquired Manti Telecommunications, which served Sterling, Manti and Ephraim and the incorporated areas between and around the towns. The recent Gunnison acquisition completed the company’s “takeover” of Sanpete County.

Based on U.S. Census estimates, Sanpete County had a population of 31,400 and about 9,000 households in mid-2025. Palmer said the count of CentraCom customer households in Sanpete County was not readily available, but the number would be pretty close to total households.

According to the press release announcing purchase of Gunnison Telephone, the Gunnison acquisition accounts for about 6,700 people and 1,575 households out of that total.

“With each acquisition,” the company history says, “CentraCom has invested heavily in rebuilding the systems and enhancing the service in each area.”

That’s what appears to be on the horizon for the Gunnison Valley.

Manti Telephone had already installed fiber to homes in Sterling, Manti and Ephraim at the time it joined with CentraCom.

CentraCom recently completed connecting customers in incorporated municipalities in North Sanpete to fiber-optic cable.

While a few households in newer subdivisions in Gunnison Valley have fiber-optic lines, most customers have “DSL” internet. The acronym stands for Digital Subscriber Line. The households receive internet over longstanding copper telephone lines.

Recently, Gunnison Telephone has marketed a service called Lightburst, which is a technology that cuts the initial connection time for someone logging on to DSL internet. But it’s still inferior to “broadband” internet conveyed over fiber optic lines.

“Broadband is exponentially better,” Palmer said, with speeds up to 10 gigabytes. He said one of Gunnison Telephone’s motivations for selling to the CentraCom was to “help their communities get that better service.”

Availability of broadband makes an area much more attractive to companies, Palmer added. “It’s economically better for the area.”

Palmer said installing fiber-optic cable through the whole Gunnison Valley will be a “massive project.” But, he said, “We want to start planning for it and budgeting for it as soon as we can.”

Meanwhile, not much will change for Gunnison customers. Their bills will come from CentraCom. But the telephone office on Main Street in Gunnison will continue in operation. And CentraCom has hired all of the Gunnison Telephone employees, so customers will deal with the same familiar faces.  

Branch Cox and Eddie Cox were scheduled to be honored at CentraCom’s annual company picnic Tuesday. Palmer said he expected a community event would be staged in the next few weeks.

Welch has been with CentraCom for more than 20 years. Palmer said Welch has been a key player in CentraCom’s Internet business “right from the beginning,” going back to dial-up internet. He has held the title of chief operating officer for about two years.