Hilliary Communications traces its routes to Medicine Park Telephone Company which was formed in 1911 to provide telephone service to the Medicine Park resort community. In 1958 Edward A. Hilliary, Jr. and wife Alice Jo purchased the telephone system in Medicine Park from the Wolverton Family. At that time the system had 100 subscribers. Junior set out to upgrade and enhance the system, among the upgrades was installing a Step-by-Step telephone switch that was decommissioned from a naval ship. The original Central Office is located at the corner of East Lake Dr. & Forrest Ave, and is currently undergoing renovations to provide additional office and meeting space for the community. The system has continued to steadily grow over the course of 55 years of Hilliary ownership.

The Hilliary family has always strived to make Medicine Park Telephone on the leading edge of technology.  Since 1958, the Hilliary family & Medicine Park Telephone have invested over 20 million within the service territory to better service their customers.

1967

Medicine Park Telephone began its partnership with USDA Rural Utility Services with its first loan complete its move away from party lines and upgrade lines to Southwestern Bell.

1978

Medicine Park Telephone was awarded $1,000,000 RUS Loan to build a new office and serve new developments in its service area.

1979

Medicine Park office moved from original location in downtown Medicine Park to Highway 58.  The first all-digital switch in Oklahoma, a DMS 10, was installed providing single party service.

1981

The Hilliary family was some of the first in the state to invest in providing Cable TV, building out Tuttle, Minco, Cement, Sterling, Apache, and Grandfield.  Over the years, these systems were routinely upgraded with the latest technology.

1986

Additional cable systems were built in the towns of Alex and Randlett.

1989

Partnered with other Telephone companies in the area to bring US Cellular to SW Oklahoma.

2000

Hilliary Communications through Medicine Park Telephone applied and was awarded a $4,000,000 RUS loan for upgrades in the Medicine Park area.  This was to provide high speed internet and upgrade existing copper plant to fiber.

Sold all cable systems to local investors.

2001

Medicine Park Telephone turned up its first DSL customer.  Also that year, Medicine Park became the first company in Oklahoma to make broadband available to 100% of its service area.

2004

The Hilliary family started Wichita Online a fixed wireless company serving customers outside of the service territories with High Speed Internet.

2007

Medicine Park Telephone installed the first FTTH community in SW Oklahoma in a Greenfield development.  Hilliary Communications purchased the cable systems of Sterling and Cement

2008

Hilliary Communications purchased the Elgin, Fletcher, Cyril and Rush Springs cable systems.  Immediately setting out to upgrade and tie all cable systems under one master headend.  Wichita Online was awarded a $4,000,000 RUS loan to build out to 52 communities in Oklahoma.

2010

Medicine Park received two awards under the USDA Broadband Incentives Program, totaling in excess of $3,000,000. One project would build a state of the art Fiber to the Home network around the Meer’s community, which is adjacent to the Medicine Park exchange. The other would allow Medicine Park to construct 100 miles of fiber between its’ Oklahoma network and Scotland, TX to provide for Middle Mile services, including redundant telephone switching and broadband connectivity.

2011

A Hilliary Communications’ company constructed over 200 miles of fiber in North Texas counties of, Wichita, Clay, & Archer.

2012

Medicine Park Telephone is deploying a $4,200,000 project to bring Fiber to the Home to all of its customers.

2013

Hilliary Communications affiliates applied for and received in excess of $6,000,000 in USDA Community Connect grants for the Acme, Agawam, Cookietown, Ringgold, Sunset, & Saddle Mountain service areas. These are rural areas in SW Oklahoma that Medicine Park will be able to expand into via Fiber to the Home and provide world class service. These projects will be completed in late 2016.

2014

Hilliary Communications has constructed and acquired over 200 additional miles of fiber.

Hilliary Communications has expanded its Fiber to the Home system dramatically, with deployments in Elgin and Lawton.

Purchased the cable system in the town of Walters.

2015

Hilliary Communications turned up its first fiber served customers in the towns of Anadarko and Chickasha, with plans on serving the entire communities with FTTH. The Hilliary family sold off Wichita Online’s 3000 wireless customers.

Future

Medicine Park Telephone Company will continue to deploy the most advanced services available to its customers throughout Oklahoma and Texas.

Today the company is run by Douglas, Edward, Michael and Dustin Hilliary.