PC Telcom meeting details plans to expand into Yuma County, utilize ‘fiberoptic ring’

Holyoke’s telecommunications and broadband cooperative, Phillips County Telephone Company, doing business as PC Telcom, held its annual meeting the evening of Thursday, April 13, at the old high school gym. There, 185 residents chowed down on a meal of chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes from Thompson’s Grill & Market as they examined the organization’s finances and future goals.

Thanks to a state grant, according to the company’s General Manager Vince Kropp, PC Telcom will have the opportunity to provide broadband services “to approximately 60 locations in extreme northeast Yuma County” once paperwork clears. Commenting on the situation, he said, “We hope to start that soon.”

Last year, he continued, the company activated a “fiberoptic ring,” which brings two core routers – or network backbones, connecting all devices – into its system. One core device is located in Holyoke, the second about 40 miles north of town in Julesburg.

“This ring also provides geographic diversity,” Kropp said. “If we experience a fiber cut within the ring, and we lose one of our routers, our internet stays up.”

To monitor the system, he continued, PC Telcom has deployed Arlo cameras.

As in 2021, the company has continued its shift from specializing in landline telephones to become a broadband supplier, in accordance with a rising demand for cell phones and internet access. Company data show that telephone, or voice, customers have declined by about 35 percent over the past 10 years, while broadband users have increased by about 40 percent.

From 2012-22, average broadband speed has increased by 11,100% from three megabytes to 336; and max broadband speed has increased more than 6,500% from 15 megabytes to one gigabyte. The major jump in broadband power occurred from 2017-18, when average speed increased from 41 to 269 megabytes and max speed increased from 100 megabytes to one gigabyte.

Broadband customers overtook voice customers at around 1,400 users by 2016. At the end of 2022, voice users dropped to 960 in number, while broadband ones rose to 1,850.

“We’re coming from a voice-centric world; that was how our whole business model was built,” Kropp said. “[To adapt] took thinking about our business model differently.”

Regarding company funds, PC Telcom Controller/Office Manager Kristin Koch said its current assets – those “reasonably expected to be converted into cash within one year” – have increased by 14% from about $5.25 million in 2021 to just over $5.98 million in 2022. Non-current assets, or investments from other coops and joint business arrangements, have decreased by 7.7% from more than $344,000 in 2021 to about $342,000 the following year.

Overall, she said, total assets for the company have increased by just over 2.8%, from about $11.70 million in 2021 to about $12.03 million in 2022.This year, PC Telcom’s operating revenue – or income “derived from sources related to a company’s business operations,” Koch said – totaled more than $4.26 million. Net income for Phillips County for 2022 equals about $538,000.

A graphic of a multicolored wheel spun upon a projector screen after the meeting’s end, doling out prizes including Amazon gift cards, an Arlo camera and a 50-inch television to about 25 attendees. Unfortunately, the presumed winner for a year of free internet, PC Telcom’s main prize, was unavailable to claim it and thus disqualified.

“Are they here? I didn’t see them,” the announcer said after the crowd groaned. “Son of a gun.”

Seven high school students earned PC Telcom scholarships this year: Sabryn Burris, Ethan Schneller and Tamara Penzing of Holyoke High School; Alyssa Lock of Haxtun High School; Kierra Ehnes of Julesburg High School; Allie Bernhardt of Revere High School; and Kally Kirkwood of Fleming High School. Students and then prizewinners joined for group photos to close out the day.

More information on the company may be found online at pctelcom.coop.