Figures provided to cooperative members last week shed some light on the Pioneer Board of Trustees’ decision last year to discontinue cellular services.

Pioneer hosted its 71st annual meeting last Tuesday at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

Some 549 members registered, leaving it 143 short of a quorum, though it wasn’t needed because no bylaws changes were on the agenda.

The crowed heard from General Manager Blake Callaham as well as Gail Parker, president of the board of trustees.

Both touted the “Pioneer Broadband Revolution” as the cooperative has focused its efforts on fiber-optics.

Callaham noted that the cooperative’s fiber expansion to date includes more than 11,000 miles of fiber, a number that grows monthly. That’s on top of a project of switching over some 13,000 miles of copper to fiber.

“This migration to fiber will ensure our members/ subscribers will have the most reliable broadband service as well as the potential to grow with future technology enhancements,” Callaham said.

Combined, the projects will see Pioneer exceed $400 million in capital investments.

“This is truly a future- proof foundation and we are proud to provide this type of solution to western Oklahoma,” Callaham said. In the financial report, Callaham pointed out Pioneer’s property, plant and equipment assets rose from just over $329 million in 2022 to nearly $361 million in 2023.

“Those assets are all the fiber we put in the ground,” he said. “That’s about $31 million we put in the ground in a year, which is a positive.”

The report also noted the declining revenues for the cellular division, which was turning into an annual hit on Pioneer’s bottom line.

The report shows Pioneer Cellular’s part in the losses grew from $3.1 million in 2021 to nearly $8.9 million in 2022 and then to nearly $13.6 million in 2023.

It was prior to last year’s annual meeting the Pioneer trustees opted to eliminate those services, a process that is now nearly complete though Pioneer Cellular will remain an entity for the next couple of years.

Callaham said a bulk of the major recent increase in losses are essentially writing off equipment.

“It’s not a cash thing,” Callaham said. “We’re just closing everything down and writing off equipment.”

Despite the losses, Callaham said “the cooperative is doing great financially.”

The report showed a net consolidated income of $12,128,093 in 2023, up slightly from 2022.

Callaham also touted Pioneer’s “strategic partnerships” with electric cooperatives “to better serve western Oklahoma.”

Specifically he mentioned a current working relationship with Cimarron Electric Cooperative in the Cashion area, which is seeing a building boom.

Cimarron builds a trench to provide electricity to new builds and Pioneer puts its fiber optic duct in the same trench as opposed to digging a different trench.

“It’s one dig and so much more efficient. We share the cost, so it’s a win-win for everyone,” Callaham said. “It’s been a huge success. That’s the power of cooperatives working together.”

Callaham said he’s working toward similar partnerships with other cooperatives.

“That’s something pretty strong on my to-do list,” he told the Times & Free Press.

This year’s meeting was the first since Pioneer changed its bylaws allowing for drive-thru registration.

“I think that part went really smooth,” he said.

Weather didn’t exactly cooperate with parking. More than two inches of rain Monday night and early Tuesday morning meant a majority of attendees had to park at Kingfisher First Baptist Church and be transported to the fairgrounds.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience because of that and truly appreciate all those who did attend,” he said.