The C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority was established in 1958 by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as a 100% Native American owned telecommunications company.  The company operates separate from the tribe, under its own Board of Directors.

The company's steady growth has been more than respectable.  Having assets of approximately $100,000 in 1958, the company's assets now exceed $10,000,000.  C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority was the first Indian company to utilize the loan process from the Rural Electric Administration (REA).  Since 1977, the company has built a solid financial relationship with the Rural Utility Service (RUS), utilizing the loan process to access millions of dollars of working capital. 

Through 40 plus years of progression, the company has worked hard to provide the most modern state of the art telecommunications services that are currently available to its customers.  In 1999, the company upgraded all five (5) telephone exchanges to new Nortel digital switches to be Y2K compliant.  The year 2000 saw Class services such as Caller ID, ISDN features and other SS7 offerings.  Over 250 miles of fiber optic cable has been installed as a backbone to haul local and long distance traffic throughout the service area.  The company has over 1,800 miles of buried underground copper cable that offers continuous and reliable service during the harsh winter weather of the South Dakota plains.  The company service area today consists of 4,600 square miles, including 20 communities, and over 3,400 subscribers.

The backbone of the C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority is our dedicated, well-trained employees.  We maintain a progressive training program in which employees are kept educated on the latest technological advancements.  Ninety (90) percent of our employees have been with the company for more than ten (10) years.  Also, ninetyfive (95) percent of our employees are Native American.

The success of the C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority has been largely based upon diversity.  Other aspects of the company and additional subsidiaries have been developed and operated successfully.  These areas include Internet service, authorized Cellular One dealer, paging service, and fiber optic expansion.  The subsidiaries include a cable and direct broadcast satellite television service, a retail office supply business, and bulk propane service.  Through this diversity, the company has developed working relationships with firms such as AT&T, U.S. West, and Western Wireless.   We are affiliated with national, state and local industry associations.  We are members of:  National Telephone Cooperative Association, South Dakota Telephone Association, and National Tribal Telecommunications Association.

C.R.S.T Telephone Authority entered the Internet Service Provider business in November of 1998 and the business operates under the name of Lakota Network.  The new Internet offering serves the entire Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.  With a direct T-1 connection, customers can surf the net with ease and at an affordable, unlimited usage rate.   Rural residents on the reservation have found entertainment and business needs to stimulate the desire to have interconnectivity to the web.

Through 40 plus years of operation, the C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority has proven itself to be an American Indian business leader in many areas.  Future development, advancement, and success will come in the form of Lakota Technologies, Inc.

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