Broadband Is In These Hills
How Intelliwave is changing the Internet landscape in southeast Ohio
Most people take access to high speed internet for granted. But for residents of southeast Ohio, this commodity has been, at times, hard to come by due to the region’s hilly landscape. The issue has garnered attention from the Federal Communications Commission, the telecommunications industry and elected officials, but as yet no comprehensive plan has been enacted to solve the problem. In an effort to fill the need for a service that has become increasingly necessary, Intelliwave, an Athens-based wireless internet service provider, has been supplying high speed internet to this university town since 2002. For home owners living outside the range of big box internet companies, Intelliwave has helped to provide a modern amenity. And now, with the assistance of TechGROWTH Ohio, Intelliwave has been able to expand service to the counties surrounding Athens, looking to eventually serve a region that reaches as far as western West Virginia.
Owners and founders Chris and Kathryn Cooper have a long history in the internet service provider industry. When they first moved to Athens from Columbus in 1995, southeast Ohio did not yet have easy access to what was at that time an emerging technology: dial up internet. Capitalizing on this opportunity, Chris and Kathryn set to work building a dial-up internet company that would serve their new home. Over the course of the next few years, however, the company grew to service not just the city of Athens, but all of Athens County and nine additional counties in Ohio and West Virginia. By 1999, the Coopers had sold the dial-up business and set to work running their family farm.
In 2002 Chris and Kathryn were approached by a group interested in starting a broadband internet company; as internet technology rapidly changed, so too would the equipment and service necessary to serve Athens. It wasn’t long before Intelliwave was born, and the Coopers found themselves again a part of a thriving technology company that was also serving the community in a meaningful way. But, as with any burgeoning business, Intelliwave sought outside entrepreneurial assistance for further growth. With the help of students in the Masters of Business Administration program at Ohio University’s Voinovich School, Intelliwave made a presentation to TechGROWTHOhio early in 2008 with an aim at receiving further assistance.
As a result of that presentation, Intelliwave signed a contract with TechGROWTH Ohio to work on a series of projects in the future, including collaborating again with the Voinovich School’s MBA students. To date the company has benefited from the advice of a sales and marketing expert, brought in by TechGROWTH Ohio, who has helped to develop a new sales program and a revamped website for Intelliwave. Chris and Kathryn have also been able to utilize the ESP’s resources to develop a new engineering tool which will greatly benefit Intelliwave in the future. The tool will enable the company to identify the unique demographic and topographic factors that affect a given region, generating a case-by-case business potential analysis.
“We are so excited about this particular engineering device, because it will really help to transform Intelliwave from an internet business into a technology business,” Chris said when discussing the future of the company, “This will help take our company to the next level, allowing us to expand in the region much more effectively.”
The effect of the assistance Intelliwave has received from TechGROWTH Ohio and the Voinovich School are already evident. With points of presence is seven counties, in addition to Athens County, and with staff expected to at least double in the next year, the company is poised to expand significantly. The Coopers couldn’t be more excited about that prospect and about the work that has been done as a result of TechGROWTH Ohio collaboration: “Athens is a town awash in good intentions and smart people. The folks at TechGROWTH Ohio and the Voinovich School have harnessed that sentiment and done something really productive with it, not just for our company, but for the entire community.”