Loyd Benson

In 1953 a group of leaders in Western Oklahoma recognized that telecommunications was the new frontier. If they were to stimulate economic development and reverse two decades of migration out of rural Oklahoma, they had to improve the quality of life for everyone and build an infrastructure for telephone service that could take advantage of the progress made by rural electric cooperatives. In a moment of inspiration, those leaders pooled their resources and created Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc., an industry leader in rural telecommunications services, is a multi-service telecommunications corporation providing communications products and services to more than 140,000 customers/members in 76 communities encompassing 30 Oklahoma counties in Western Oklahoma and 14 counties in Southern Kansas. Pioneer provides an array of telecommunications products and services, including Local Telephone Service, High-Speed Internet, Pioneer iVideo Streaming Service, Long Distance, and Business Solutions