Allied Telephone

Allied Telephone was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, by Charles Miller and Hugh Willbourn Jr. in 1943. The company, which began by filling a niche for telephone pole and cable installation, eventually grew into the fifth largest wireless services provider (ALLTEL Corporation) in the United States.

Wilbourne's son-in-law Joe T. Ford who began working for Allied in 1959, eventually became chief executive officer of ALLTEL. His grandson Scott T. Ford also eventually became president and CEO of the company.

Joe T. Ford. The two agreed that Scott would never work at Alltel. Joe wanted to spare his son what he himself had endured since coming to work for his father-inlaw, Hugh Wilbourne Jr., in 1959.