Kaplan Telephone Company

I still have the old black rotary telephone my family used when I was a kid. Its almost fifty years old, but still works and is a fine example of quality and craftsmanship. I admire its sturdiness, and would in fact still be using it today if it didn’t give me a blister on my index finger or take twenty-five minutes to dial.

Building something sturdy, while continuing to improve its quality is a principal the late Lytle Turnley practiced in life and in business. In 1952, he began ownership and management of the organization known today as Kaplan Telephone Company Inc. He initially provided phone service to a little over five hundred customers, but through hard work and support from his family, grew the business into a telecommunications powerhouse that connects residents throughout Vermilion Parish.

Turnley’s sons, Tony and Carl are now president and vice president respectively of Kaplan Telephone Company. The business offers cable television, broadband Internet, cellular and home phone services. Their products include cellular communication equipment, security systems, as well as business telephone systems. In 2001, KTC Telecom completed a fiber optic build out to serve the Abbeville business district.

“Lytle Turnley always stressed that if you worked hard, success would follow,” says Turnley’s stepson, Richard Constantin. “He believed in learning as much as you can about your work so you can be the best at it.”

Constantin is the Financial and Regulatory Manager at KTC. His credentials include twenty-five years of experience in the telecommunications industry, a Bachelors degree in Finance and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.

“I started climbing and working on telephone poles when I was fifteen,” says Constantin. “In the past twenty-five years, I’ve seen the company grow larger, but because of technology, the equipment has gotten smaller.”

Constantin worked as an outside plant technician while learning the ins and outs of the business. One of his favorite memories during this time was when after repairing an elderly customer’s telephone, she cooked lunch for the two of them.

Constantin recalls, ““The food was great, and the woman told me stories of the past. Then on the way out she handed me a paper bag of cucumbers from her garden. I remember thinking, ‘Where but in South Louisiana do you find such wonderful people?’”

I first learned of Kaplan Telephone Company’s history a few years ago when I visited Le Musee de la Ville on Cushing Avenue. Lytle Turnley donated the building for the museum as well as an exhibit of a lady mannequin named Gladys, who sits in front of an antique telephone switchboard.

When I visited KTC last week, Constantin furthered my knowledge and gave me a tour of the building. Because the structure grew with the organization through the second half of the twentieth century, each hallway and office provided architectural features from decades past. That is until we stepped into the future or as Constantin calls, the Central Office.

“It’s where all the telephone calls come through,” said Constantin. “It’s also where cable video and broadband internet transmits.”

I had imagined beforehand that the room would be filled with human versions of Gladys connecting calls with use of an antique switchboard. But instead, computers, routers and switches controlled and transmitted thousands of conversations that swam around me.

My tour of KTC continued outside with Turnley’s grandson, Matt Turnley. He gave me a look inside a box, known as a pedestal, at the base of a telephone pole. It was filled with hundreds of multi-colored wires that wrapped around each other to create giant snakes.



“This box is where phone, internet and cable is transmitted to the homes within certain city blocks,” said Turnley. “With fiber optic technology, we’ll be able to use one wire to replace thirty-two of the older ones.”

To give me a better idea of what it’s like to be an outside plant technician, Turnley let me re-program all of the systems so that customers would have the option to hear conversations in any language they’d like. I’m just kidding. All I did was put on a KTC hat and hold a pair of pliers while Constantin took my picture.

I was a little upset that I didn’t get to climb a telephone pole, but other than that, really enjoyed myself at KTC. I am sorry that I never had the opportunity to meet the late Lytle Turnley. His generosity to his community is evident throughout Kaplan.

What is even more obvious though, is that Turnley believed in creating something sturdy while continuing to improve its quality. Like my old black telephone, he built KTC to last. But it was his principals of education and hard work that enables his family to continuously improve communication amongst the residents of Vermilion Parish.

For more information on the services of Kaplan Telephone Company, call 337-643-7171 or visit www.ktcpace.com