Imagine driving from San Diego, Calif., to Jacksonville, Fla.

That same amount of mileage about 2,200 - is how much fiber Pioneer built in 2022.

“Last year, Pioneer Telephone made significant strides in the massive buildout of our fiber-to-the-home projects,” said Blake Callaham last Tuesday during the cooperative’s annual meeting.

Held at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building, the event celebrated Pioneer’s 70 years with a “Here to Stay” theme and had a near-record turnout in the process.

There were 927 members who signed in at the meeting, a number topped only once.

The cooperative’s 60th meeting has the record with 1,190, according to Pioneer’s records.

This year’s attendance provided a quorum at the annual meeting for the first time since 2018 (there was no annual meeting in 2020).

That allowed for the seating of board members elected this year.

Gail Parker, president of the board of trustees, also addressed the crowd.

She discussed Pioneer’s fiber project and, like Callaham, the strides the cooperative had made in that area.

“Pioneer will do its best to provide fiber to all customers where it is possible,” she said. “We believe that fiber provides a far better customer experience than the alternatives currently available.”

Callaham noted the cooperative currently has more than 36 construction zones under way in its fiber buildout.

As it continues the conver- sion of more than 13,000 miles of copper to fiber optics, Pioneer will have invested more than $400 million to deliver the highspeed broadband services to customers.

“As technology advances, Pioneer has seen a growing demand for high-speed, quality internet in rural Oklahoma,” Callaham said. “By providing fiber-to-thehome, more individuals and households can simultaneously stream movies, work from home, experience a virtual doctor appointment, attend school or participate in online gaming activities.”

Internet has become Pioneer’s largest core product and focus in the last 10 years.

That’s especially the case now as the cooperative has announced it is discontinuing its cellular operations.

“Pioneer is aware of the weight this decision had on our customers,” Callaham said, adding that Pioneer is working with Verizon to ensure a smooth transition.

“This was a difficult decision, but with rising costs for equipment, operating costs, maintenance expenses and roaming fees outside of western Oklahoma, the cooperative has navigated the decrease in revenue over the last few years.”

Callaham said sustaining cellular service would come at a steep cost to the cooperative.

“It was no longer sustainable without significantly downgrading the cooperative’s finance and future,” he said.

The financial report provided at the meeting backed it up.

Cellular’s loss in income went from tens of thousands to millions from 2020 to 2022.

A big part of that dramatic increase in losses was a merger of national carriers, which eliminated a large chunk of roaming revenue for Pioneer.

The loss in revenue combined with rising costs forced the board to announce its decision in February.

“Pioneer Cellular provided not only a good service, but also income for many years,” Parker said in her address. “The margins have been shrinking for quite some time. The decision to discontinue…was made to ensure that Pioneer Telephone will be a viable cooperative for many years in the future.”

Callaham also discussed the future of the cooperative.

“As always, our goal is to be a trendsetter to be your technology provider and continue our historical mission,” he said.

The financial report listed more than $537 million in total assets for Pioneer in 2022.

That’s up from $466.5 million in 2021.

Of that, 61 percent ($329.2 million) was in plant and equipment property. Another 24 percent ($127.2 million) included current assets such as cash and investments, inventory and accounts receivable while the rest was non-current assets.

The report listed $381 million in total equity; $81 million in long-term debt; $25.6 million in current liabilities; and $49.6 million in other liabilities.

Pioneer has retired more than $151 million in capital credits to members since 1953, the report said.