Philomath-based Pioneer Connect announced this week a permanent overhaul of its internet pricing that the cooperative says will lower monthly bills for more than 85% of its current customers.
The changes apply across nearly all of the cooperative’s service tiers from DSL up to fiber. The new pricing is available now to residential and business customers throughout the service area. Pioneer Connect also said managed Wi-Fi equipment will now be included with internet packages at no additional charge.
According to the cooperative, rates have dropped by as much as 44% compared to previous prices. Its Fiber GIG package with Wi-Fi, for example, previously cost $138.89 a month and is now $84.95. Customers can take another $5 off for enrolling in autopay and another $5 for paperless billing.
Pioneer Connect said the reductions are not a limited-time promotion. Fiber customers are covered by a new “Price for Life” guarantee, which requires no contract and keeps a customer’s rate in place as long as they remain a Pioneer Connect customer in good standing, according to Claire Marwitz, the cooperative’s sales and marketing assistant.
DSL customers are not eligible for Price for Life. Instead, they receive a Price Lock Guarantee that holds their rate at $60 a month, or $50 with the autopay and paperless discounts, until fiber service becomes available at their location and they switch over. Marwitz said the cooperative’s goal is to move all of its members onto fiber.
General manager James Byerly said the cooperative examined whether its pricing was meeting the community’s long-term needs in a competitive market.
“We needed the answer to be yes — and not just doing it right, but doing it better,” Byerly said.
Board president Charla Koeppe said making high-speed internet more affordable was the goal of the restructuring.
Current customers will receive notifications about the changes, and the cooperative said many will not need to take any action to receive rate reductions that apply to them.
Founded in 1950, Pioneer Connect is a member-owned cooperative providing internet, voice and connectivity services to homes and businesses in the Willamette Valley and on the Oregon Coast. Details on the new pricing, guarantees and availability are posted at pioneer.net.