Celebrating a Remarkable Chapter in Connectivity

For over 30 years, Kanokla has been part of something truly special — a rural cellular network partnership that connected people along the Kansas-Oklahoma line long before cell phones became part of everyday life. What started as a bold investment in wireless technology evolved into a decades-long success story, bringing cellular coverage to places others overlooked.

A partnership of five telecommunications companies banded together to solve a rural problem–something no one else would build in our sparseness. Cellular was a great compliment to Kanokla’s core business, which in the 1990s was landline telephone, launching our own long distance, and dial-up internet. Ahh, the 90s!

Although we didn’t operate the system, we were a financial partner in an ambitious move by our board of directors. We also partially owned a statewide Kansas cellular partnership, working toward the same goals, but was dismantled when Kansas Cellular sold to Alltel, shutting down the network. We invested our slice of the proceeds into buying more shares of Pioneer Cellular on our Oklahoma side and got to work building towers along the state line. This ownership proved to be a good investment.

At our Annual Meeting in April, I shared the news that our Cellular Network Partnership, aka “Pioneer Cellular,” was coming to a close. We didn’t want to sell, but changes in the industry forced our hand. We began selling it in parts, beginning with the equipment on top of the towers to Verizon. In August, we completed the sale of a good portion of our spectrum to AT&T, and now preparing to close on the sale of our tower assets to another entity. We are on target to finalize remaining sales by early 2026.

Even so, we are incredibly proud of what we built together. Our network served rural residents and businesses for more than three decades — connecting families and getting work done at the speed of life.

As this chapter closes, our focus remains where it’s always been: building the future of connectivity in our rural region. From broadband expansion to next-generation services, Kanokla will keep doing what we do best — keeping our members and communities connected, while venturing beyond into fresh, bold moves that will serve our members and the communities we call home.