We will treat each other, and our customers, with respect and dignity, honesty and integrity, doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.
We are committed to our communities’ long-term prosperity and actively participate in making them a better place to live.
We seek our employees’ long-term success by helping them develop skills necessary for the future.
We are committed to managing our resources to maintain the long-term viability of the organization.
Our History
On January 2, 1961, two struggling telephone companies, Bowman-Slope Rural Telephone Mutual Aid Corporation & Dunn Telephone Mutual Aid Corporation joined together in the cooperative venture that we today, call Consolidated. Soon after the Cooperative was formed, it grew when services were provided in Richardton, South Heart, Reeder, Regent, and Marmarth, doubling in size in1978.
In 1996, Consolidated’s Board of Directors and management made the decision to purchase 5 communities from U.S.West (now known as Century Link), Killdeer, Mott, Hettinger, New England and Bowman. Consolidated once again more than doubled the customers served. Later, in 2001, members of these 5 communities became part of the Cooperative.
In 2006, Consolidated took on the very ambitious goal of serving all customers with a fiber infrastructure within 10 years. Currently, we are nearing the end of our Fiber to the Home Project to all Cooperative members. With that vision in mind, we are able to achieve affordable gigabit speeds, which is 100 times faster than 100 Meg.
We started with 2 telephone companies merging in 1961 with fifteen (15) employees to a Broadband, TV and telephone company with over 110 employees. We deliver a state of the art network providing advanced services to our customers. It is an amazing time to be in the telecommunications business serving rural North Dakota. Our belief has stayed the same that treating our customers and employees with honesty and integrity is the best way to conduct business.
With technology constantly changing in Southwest North Dakota, Consolidated really does “Reach the World from Here”.
What is a Co-op and why were they formed?
A cooperative is a private business organization this is owned and controlled by the people who use its products, supplies or services. Cooperatives have historically been formed to promote the interest of the less powerful members of society, with the idea that consumers could accomplish more collectively than they could as individuals. In the telecommunications industry, they were born out of the need for goods and services that were not offered in rural communities, because it was not often profitable for commercial telecommunications companies to serve rural areas. Farmers, workers, and members of the community banded together to find a way to obtain essential services, such as telephony, at a reasonable cost. Thus, telecommunications cooperatives were born.
What does being a Co-op customer mean?
Cooperatives are run by their customers: You. in order to become a member of a co-op, you must use its services. Every member has one vote, so decision making is shared by all members of the cooperative. A Board of Directors is elected by the membership in order to handle the day to day operations. By purchasing services form your local telecommunications co-op, you are enabling them to bring new and updated services to your community. Being a member of a co-op also has financial benefits. Revenues earned above operating expenses are disbursed to members on a pro-rated basis. Capital credits are allocated in a proportional manner – the more services from the co-op you use, the more credits are available to you.
The biggest advantage to you, as a customer, is that co-ops are not motivated by profit, but by high-quality goods or services that meet the needs of their membership, at the most affordable rate possible. Rural telecommunications cooperatives are fighting for your interests and trying to ensure that you have access to the same essential services as a member of urban areas.
