The local dial access number became a reality for Dodge City when Pioneer Telephone of Ulysses, Kansas, established service in September 1995 followed in November by Netspace provided through the KIN-NET consortium of independent telephone companies. Three area independent telephone companies announced plans to establish local number access by summer of 1996. Community awareness has been expanded through public programs at the public library and through efforts of the Chamber and Development Corporation to provide web page creation services at reduced prices to members. Negotiations are in the final stages for a wireless network to link the public library, city hall, two additional city buildings and chamber offices to a direct leased line provided by Pioneer Telephone for a shared web server and community wide area network. Two libraries in counties in the Southwest Kansas Library System have initiated similar technology committees in cooperation with economic development groups.
Training is underway in member public and school libraries to create and maintain web pages.
The Dodge City Community College is completing a project to fiber optically connect all buildings to facilitate access to a router supplied by a National Science Foundation grant and recently dedicated an interactive video classroom that connects two education consortia serving more than thirty school districts to other IT network clusters in the state. Pioneer Telephone has established dedicated line access to school and public libraries in its service territory as well as local number dial access to served communities.