Central Rural Electric Cooperative’s fiber construction project has entered its final phase and projects the build to be complete by August 2024. Once complete, Central’s entire membership, nearly 18,000 Oklahoman households, will have access to high-speed fiber internet.

“Our mission is to connect people with the speed of light, and we are working as fast as we can to do that,” said Mark Prather, Central’s President of Fiber and Technology.

Central’s board approved the expansion of fiber communications throughout its seven-county service area in August 2020 with the goal of optimizing the grid while also closing the digital divide. One of the benefits of a full fiber build is the capability of fiber internet services being offered to the home.

Centranet LLC, Central’s wholly-owned subsidiary, opened its first feeders in July 2021, making fiber available to 10% of Central’s membership. Just two years later, Centranet has more than 7,200 subscribers and is available to 83% of Central’s membership.

“We are committed to providing every member access to high-speed fiber internet at a low cost,” Prather said. “When we started construction in October 2020, we did so with the mindset of building as quickly as possible. What began as a five-year project will be finished in three.”

Despite the rapid pace, Centranet has maintained the cooperative’s member-centric philosophy by providing transparent pricing and value-added services for free. Every Centranet subscriber has home network security protection on top of their managed Wi-Fi offerings. Subscribers can manage their Wi-Fi, set parental controls and protect their home network from intrusions – services some companies offer for a fee.

“Our motive is different from other internet service providers,” Prather said. “We aren’t in this to make a big profit. That is why we don’t offer introductory pricing, hidden fees or contracts. We want to do our part to help change the way people live in rural Oklahoma. We want to help people connect to one another.”

This transparency is something subscribers approve as apparent by Centranet’s Net Promoter Score, which is currently a 90. The average Net Promoter Score for internet service providers, which is based on how likely a subscriber is to recommend the service to another person, is 30. “We strive to provide the best experience possible for our subscribers,” Prather said. “We genuinely care for our subscribers, and I think they can feel that difference. We can’t wait for Central’s entire membership to have the opportunity to experience it too.”

CBC Member, Lake Region Technology & Communications, recently celebrated a significant milestone. June 16 marked the completion of a major undertaking, building a fiber network from the ground up to all areas of Lake Region Electric Cooperative’s service territory. All Lake Region members now have access to blazing-fast gigabit internet service.

Lake Region has constructed over 3,000 miles of fiber optic, connecting more than 11,000 homes and businesses in areas that had no access or were underserved—building broadband internet where no one else would! Thank you to the board of trustees and management for their vision to provide an essential service.

Thank you to all the employees for their hard work throughout the years of construction. Thank you to all our partnerships, communities, and contractors who have helped make this project successful. Lake Region is proud of our fiber optic network and looks forward to being this area’s most reliable, fastest internet provider for many years.

Learn more at https://www.lakeregionfiber.com/

Fiber cooperatives strive to set the gold standard in the broadband industry by serving our membership through providing high-speed, reliable internet access in our rural areas.

Our focus is to have best in class customer service by answering our phones locally and responding quickly with our local team of technicians. We are here for the long game, not to increase subscriber count and then sell to the next company. Cooperatives have been serving their members for 80 years. Our goal is to be here doing what we do for at least another 80 years!

Like many cooperatives, Canadian Valley Electric knew they had to fulfill the need for high-speed internet that had been forgotten in rural Oklahoma communities. To meet that need, CVEC Fiber was created to serve its membership and went the extra mile to ensure its underserved rural communities have faster internet access than the majority of the big cities. The multi-gig network that CVEC Fiber offers is some of the fastest internet in the nation.

By going the extra mile, CVEC Fiber has been able to provide over 6,000 subscribers with reliable internet so that families can have movie nights without buffering and businesses can provide timely transactions to their customers.

“We know that our members are patiently waiting for us to get our fiber built to them. In the past 2 years, we have built half of the 4,000 miles of fiber needed to get access to 100% of the membership. It has been a huge undertaking, but very rewarding when members tell us how life changing it is once they get it,” Sheila Allgood, general manager of CVEC Fiber, said. 

Dependable internet is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity for many individuals. CVEC Fiber, alongside other broadband cooperatives, is proud to play a part in improving the quality of life in our communities. Because who else is going to go the extra mile?

Danny Wann is a third-generation cattle rancher residing on family land that spans 1,500 acres at Sugarloaf Mountain’s base on Monroe, Oklahoma’s outskirts. Danny and his family, which includes his wife, four children, his brother, sister-in-law, and their children, collectively help manage approximately 500 registered Angus “mama cows.” 

The Wann family runs a “seed stock” operation, producing Angus bulls for commercial breeders and Angus heifers for commercial and registered breeders. 

In 2003 the Wann family started hosting an online auction for their stock, a direct and efficient method of selling a large number of cattle each year to interested buyers across the country. 

“We don’t even run them through a ring,” Danny explained. “We have them pinned, and people buy them off the video. It’s safer for my family and quicker for the buyer.”

The Wann family had the cattle, the facility, and the workers—all they needed was quality internet. 

Unfortunately, the latter proved challenging to find. 

Although the Wann family’s internet service was “fine” for a while, they started experiencing issues. As they attempted to live stream the auction, the service crashed, which was detrimental to the success of their business.  

The unreliability of their internet service left the Wann family frustrated and concerned for the future success of their yearly auction. 

Thankfully, in 2021, a friend shared the good news of Wave Rural Connect coming to eastern Oklahoma residents who were also Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative Corporation members. 

“It sounded too good to be true, and it couldn’t get here fast enough,” Danny shared. “We got WAVE here in time for our sale that year, and it has been awesome ever since.” 

He continued, “It’s helped us have more of an internet presence with a good and updated website, and personally, our kids can work on their homework assignments.” 

Danny’s wife, Liz, a speech pathologist at a local school, also uses WAVE to communicate with students’ parents via video chat and work in the comfort of her home throughout the summer. 

“It has just continually made things easier, better, and more advanced and allowed us to get more done,” said Danny. 

The Wann family recently hosted their annual sale for 2023 and described Wave Rural Connect’s service as “awesome” and was happy to report that it “held up well during the entirety of the sale.”  

When James Meador called Cookson Hills Connect to see how much longer it would be until fiber was available at his home, the conversation was familiar to the fiber team. 

Employees at the Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative fiber subsidiary get the opportunity to speak to members each day who are extremely excited to find out when they will get fiber to their home or business. 

As the team learned more about James’ situation, it became clear that he wasn’t calling because he was eager to stream his favorite TV program or because he needed to use his computer to do business from home. In fact, James doesn’t even own a computer, nor does he have much interest in gaming or streaming movies. He has a much more serious reason for inquiring about the service timeline for his home. 

James’ health depends on a reliable lifeline to emergency services. James, like many other Oklahomans, lives in a remote, rural location with limited or no cell phone service; therefore, he relies on the internet to connect to Wi-Fi and call for help on his cell phone. 

Unfortunately, the only thing worse than his cell service is his internet options which make calling on a cell phone nearly impossible. James lives alone and has some serious health issues. He is a heart patient with a history of suffering from three heart attacks, among other health related issues.

The problem is when he needs to place or receive a phone call, he has one small “sweet spot” where his cell phone signal is strong enough to communicate. He has strategically positioned a phone cradle in a precise location, so he knows exactly where his phone needs to be when he uses it. 

“I just don’t have any other reliable and affordable options since I live this far out in the country,” Meador said. “My need for the internet is much more than fun and games. I have to be able to call for help if something happens, and as of right now there is only one small location outside my home where calling out is even possible.” 

While other providers have business models that exclude building fiber to rural areas, Cookson Hills and other electric co-ops throughout Oklahoma have committed to building the critical infrastructure that provides internet and phone services for those who live outside of the typical geographic boundaries in which other companies provide service. 

“James’ story is a sobering testimony as to why we must continue our efforts building out fiber to every unserved and underserved household throughout Oklahoma,” says Juli Orme, CEO of Cookson Hills Connect. 

The story of James Meador is only one of the hundreds of thousands among the citizens of Oklahoma who are facing the consequences of a digital divide between urban and rural areas. However, with each passing day and every new connection to rural homes and businesses, co-ops in Oklahoma are working to help bridge the digital divide. 

You probably have heard our story. Co-ops serve because it’s our mission. It’s our core value. It’s how we began – bringing electricity where no one else would. We saw a need and we filled it.

But that’s not the only reason we serve. We serve because it’s our calling. It’s why we’re different.

There are certain attributes that naturally belong to a cooperative employee. They care about those they serve.

This is true for 29-year veteran employee, Office Services Director Tamara Hawkins, “I started my co-op career as a membership clerk and quickly realized it was a perfect fit for me.”

Co-op employees are helpers, civic volunteers, coaches, and neighbors. We feel the need to give back, to serve others and to help make lives better. “It’s my job to make serving our members the best it can be,” Hawkins said. “I take a lot of pride in that.” 

That’s why when the desperate need for high-speed internet in rural areas became apparent, we knew we had to do something. We knew we had to find a way to meet a need for our members. 

That’s another thing about co-ops, we care enough to find a way.  We believe in our mission to serve and follow through. We deliver safe, reliable and affordable electricity and now we are privileged to expand this service into reliable internet through East Central Electric Cooperative’s fiber subsidiary, ecoLINK. 

It’s fitting that ecoLINK’s fiber internet initial member project will be completed during East Central Electric Cooperative’s 85th anniversary year. For East Central, 85 years ago, it was about bringing much needed electric services to the rural areas.  Now, it’s about bringing fiber internet to those same areas.  

“This is more than a job to me,” Hawkins stated. “And now, offering high-speed fiber makes the job that much sweeter.” It puts the icing on the 85th anniversary cake. 

As owner and CEO of Community Options, Inc., Grace Peterson understands that where there is freedom and independence there is also dignity and hope. Community Options provides these and more to the individuals it serves in northeast Oklahoma.

The Chelsea-based company offers residential and vocational placement for nearly 60 special-needs individuals. Its mission, explained Peterson, is three-fold in nature and ranges from fostering independence through employment to assisting with medical needs to creating recreational opportunities.

“Our goal is to help them learn become as independent as possible in their living skills and give them meaningful employment,” she said. “They take a lot of pride in doing a job and receiving a paycheck.”

Peterson added: “We also help them access the community for shopping and recreational activities and with medical issues. We make sure they make scheduled physician appointments and that they receive any prescription medications at the proper times.”

Community Options began contracting with the State of Oklahoma in 1999 to provide essential services for mentally and/or physically-challenged individuals. It began utilizing BOLT Fiber Optic Services for its technology needs five years ago. Not only does BOLT provide internet service to the company’s office headquarters, it also delivers both television and telephone service to some of the Community Options group homes.

“All of our billing, payments, receipts, and interaction with state employees relies on the internet,” Peterson said. “State-mandated training is also done via the internet. We also use internet services to pay our employees.”

When choosing a provider, Peterson said reliability is the number one priority.

“We also consider pricing, and we like to keep our business local as much as possible.”

BOLT is proud to partner with Community Options and keep its clients connected with the fastest and most reliable broadband services available.

Peterson, for one, has not been disappointed.

“BOLT services have been very reliable,” she said. “Anytime there has been an issue, they have been there to correct the problem no later than the next day.”

It took less than a day for the phenomenon of scooters to roll across the local college town of Stillwater, home to Oklahoma State University and 25,000 students. The electric scooter company, Spin, allows students and residents mobility across the 30-square-mile town by placing rentable scooters throughout Stillwater and OSU’s campus. 

Many students walk to and throughout the 700-acre campus from their homes or designated parking spots, making the scooter company a staple not only on campus but also throughout Stillwater.

“Spin’s scooters connect students to the community, and from personal experience – they are a lot of fun!” said Mark Prather, Centranet’s President of Fiber and Technology. “Centranet works to better our local communities through connectivity, which is why we are so happy to have Spin as a business subscriber.”  

The scooters are app-based and used daily, making Centranet crucial to their business, local students and residents. For business and residential subscribers, reliability and affordability are key components that set Centranet apart from local competitors. 

Spin, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co. based in San Francisco, brought 200 scooters to the OSU campus in January 2019. The scooters, which are available from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and rented through Spin’s app, are charged and updated each night at their warehouse outside of Stillwater utilizing Centranet’s high-speed fiber connection. 

Zipping around town is not the only benefit to students and residents, it also provides an extra source of income for those who pick up the scooters and take them to the warehouse for charging and updating each night. The scooters are dropped off at designated locations each morning. 

Similar to how Centranet provides affordable pricing to subscribers, Spin worked with OSU to lower rental expenses for students, faculty and staff by halving the cost of the standard unlock rental fee from $1 to 50 cents. 

Centranet, LLC, is a locally owned and operated subsidiary of Central Rural Electric Cooperative located in Stillwater, Okla. Centranet serves more than 6,000 residential and business subscribers and is a member of the Cooperative Broadband Coalition.