It’s not a teleconference, but a telephone conference. The people who run the many dozens of telephone companies across Iowa are in Des Moines this week for the 103rd annual conference of the Iowa Telecommunications Association. I-T-A spokeswoman Jane Galloway says there are now 158 independent telephone companies operating in Iowa and the numbers continue to grow.The main focus of the conference is the future — and Galloway says it looks like there’ll be still more phone companies popping up in Iowa. She says the growing numbers of companies mean more competition, better service and lower rates for customers.Galloway expects about 600 people at the conference, which runs today through Wednesday. Speakers include Governor Vilsack, wrestling legend Dan Gable, and Roger Ferguson, who resigned last week as C-E-O of AccessAir.
