Pioneer Telephone Cooperative has been cutting edges in telecommunications for 70 years
Richard Mize, The Oklahoman
7 min read
KINGFISHER — Pioneer Telephone Cooperative has come a long way from Fay — and Oakwood, Omega and Loyal, the tiny communities wired together in Oklahoma's first telephone co-op, started in 1953.
That was then. Seventy years later, Pioneer's first four telephone exchanges have grown to 76 networks covering 11,000 square miles, 16% of the state.
This is now: those old exchanges, plus fiber-optics and broadband internet.
"The future is now for Oklahomans. Jobs can now stay at home, on the farm or ranch. Rural Work From Home can happen, and companies like Pioneer are making it happen" and have been, for the last 70 years, said Dean Carter, marketing manager.
Early Pioneer Telephone operators at their cord boards.
Pioneer Telephone, Oklahoma's first telephone co-op, was formed by Cimarron Electric, the states first electric co-op
The state's first electric co-op, Cimarron Electric, founded in 1936, formed Pioneer, which cut its own edge with Fay, Oakwood, Omega and Loyal. Pioneer is still on the edge, adding a broadband team this year, and continuing to install hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fiber-optics across its territory in western Oklahoma.
About $280 million in funding is coming from the Federal Communications Commission's Alternative Connect America cost Model (ACAM) over 12 years. Pioneer will add $100 million of general funds over 10 years to fill in the gaps, said Dean Carter, marketing manager.
That $380 million in will provide 18,953 rural locations with support and fiber-optic internet access, he said.
"A first for many Oklahomans," Carter said. "I personally live in Okarche and just received fiber from Pioneer one year ago. It is a massive under taking to replace all copper lines with fiber and a massively expensive task on top of that. Our customer base is 2.85 customers per mile average, while urban areas are on average 20.3 blocks per mile at a rate of 12 houses per block and 243 customers per mile if not more."
Pioneer Telephone Cooperative headquarters is in Kingfisher.
'The internet is the Wild West,' and Pioneer Telephone Cooperative aims to tame it
With 500 employees, 300 at headquarters in Kingfisher and the rest at its 24 retail centers, Pioneer serves 94,000 "revenue generating units" across its territory, "from Hollis to Newcastle to Woodward and Weatherford — all corners of western Oklahoma," he said.
Because "customers could have multiple products and services with us," Carter said, Pioneer counts "revenue generating units," rather than customers or patrons, who are members of the co-op, or investors, and receive dividends.
Blake Callaham, general manager of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, points out the coop's telephone exchanges on a map at the headquarters in Kingfisher.
We asked him to talk about Pioneer Telephone's experience on the telecommunications frontier the past 70 years. He did so after consulting with Blake Callaham, general manager; Mike Gore, division manager for telecommunications installation; Randy Mowdy, division manager for customer experience; and Mike Baustert, vice president of operations and engineering.
Q: 'Pioneer,' 'Telephone' and 'Cooperative' sound old-fashioned. But Pioneer is anything but that. Talk about how far the co-op has come.
A. When you see we have enough fiber in the ground to stretch across the U.S. three times, that shows our commitment to our co-op and rural America. We provide the fastest technology on the planet to the farm, a small community which keeps jobs in towns and schools alive and thriving. Not many companies get the pleasure to serve such a wide-ranging demographic.
We can help farmers run very sophisticated equipment, run live cameras for their calving operation, sell and manage crops from their home office, and participate in Teams calls with other professionals and legislators to ensure their way of life. ...
"Pioneer will enhance the quality of life for our Members and Sunscribers through continual innovation and technology."
Broadband is the future. Everything will run and sit on top of broadband.
Equipment at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative headquarters in Kingfisher.
Q: Where does Pioneer Telephone Cooperative fit in the telecommunications industry?
A. With over 94,000 agreements on landline telephone, internet, stand alone internet, ETS internet, business broadband internet, multigig internet, TV streaming, VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol-home phone), hosted VoIP-business phone, wireless internet, long distance.
Pioneer Telephone Cooperative is one of the largest telecom cooperatives in the United States and is nationally recognized as an industry leader in rural telecommunications. Pioneer is a multi-service telecommunications corporation providing service to thousands of accounts in communities encompassing 45 counties in western and southern Oklahoma, as well as eight counties in southern Kansas.
Q: Who are Pioneer Telephone Cooperative's competitors and how does it compete?
A. This is tricky! Everyone is a competitor. The internet is now the Wild West. Big players are entering the market and overbuilding each other. The little guys like Pioneer, focus on the underserved. We continue to elevate the cooperative model. We focus on customer service and bringing the latest and greatest technology to our members, as well as some other exchanges that are not Pioneer exchanges.
Pioneer is an ILEC, Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier providing service near Competitive Local Exchange Carriers, four underserved exchanges, Weatherford, Woodward, Fairview and Cashion. We compete against the bigger companies that do not see value/profit in these smaller exchanges and choose to focus on large metro areas. Some of the bigger carriers are Blue Peak, Optimum (Suddenlink), AT&T.
Q: Are formerly urban customers who move into Pioneer Telephone Cooperative's rural service areas surprised to see advanced technology?
An old wall phone is on display at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative in Kingfisher, which is observing its 70th anniversary in 2023.
A. Now metro customers, even out-of-state customers, move to rural small town Oklahoma for better cost of living and still have the same offerings a large metro offers. Remote work is now a standard in our work environments. That's an entire topic on its own, but Pioneer offers it to our employees.
What better service for an ISP (internet service provider) than to allow its employees the freedom to work from home? This option might even attract more rural employees, that can now work from their farm or ranch to help the family provide a second income or operate a business from home.
Q: Pioneer Telephone Cooperative was born on the cutting edge of telecommunications in 1953 and remains on the edge in 2023, but did it ever fall behind?
A pink "Princess" telephone, introduced in 1967 and popular in the 1970s, is on display at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative in Kingfisher.
A. No, we have always been the first to do things. We were the first telephone cooperative in Oklahoma. We grew to the third largest in the United States for years, and are currently in the top 10. We were the first to launch IPTV, Internet Protocol TV, over copper telephone lines.
We grew to be one of the largest independent cellular carriers in the nation, covering over 400 towers in western Oklahoma and Kansas, with tens of thousands of customers. We were the first ISP to provide fiber to Competitive Local Exchange Carrier towns like Weatherford Woodward, Fairview and Cashion.
Q: Has Pioneer Telephone Cooperative ever considered becoming a for-profit business?
A collection of 1940s and 1950s desk phones on display at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative in Kingfisher.
A. No. A cooperative is what we are and will be. We do have other products and services that are in our CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) environment that are not a cooperative. They are intended to make money and be profitable to help all of our customers grow and receive more products and services in the future. We do both, but the cooperative is the parent company.
Q: What are some examples of recent Pioneer Telephone Cooperative projects?
Fiber splitters work on an installation project in Frederick.
A. Pioneer Telephone Cooperative serves some of Oklahoma's smallest communities. Here are some recent projects.
Construction of 226 miles of buried fiber-optic cable outside Thomas and Custer to serve more than 300 designated locations at a cost of $5.3 million.
A $2 million fiber-optic build-out in Okeene and Thomas, which will cover 37 miles of fiber and serve hundreds of residents.
$5.4 million for deploying 67 miles of fiber to reach residents served with copper in Seiling, Mooreland, Lahoma, Cleo Springs, Meno and Ringwood.
An old desk phone is on display at Pioneer Telephone Cooperative in Kingfisher.
Fiber build-outs in Oakwood, Seiling and Okarche financed through the Rural Utilities Service ReConnect and ACAM programs for 70 miles of fiber at a cost of $1.9 million.
Construction of 163 miles of mainline fiber-optic cable facilities to serve more than 365 designated locations near Geary and Calumet, costing $5 million.
Carter and Sentinel build-outs covering 203 miles, 300 customers and costing $6.9 million.
ioneer Telephone Cooperative management: Mike Gore, division manager for telco installation and building maintenance; Randy Mowdy, division manager for customer experience; Blake Callaham, general manager; and Mike Baustert, vice president of operations and engineering.
