GAW. Great Auk Wireless, Broadband Wireless Internet Provider for Vermont, and New Hampshire.

Brattleboro, VT – Beginning Thursday, February 1st, residents, businesses and visitors in downtown Brattleboro will be able to access the Internet on the City’s first-ever wireless network. Brattleboro’s Great Auk Wireless will officially launch its GAWSpot WiFi network with a free preview beta test of its high-speed broadband wireless service. With its GAWSpot wireless network deployment, Great Auk Wireless is providing a lower cost, locally-based broadband alternative to traditionally wired cable and DSL services while creating a paradigm shift in the way wireless broadband is marketed; by emphasizing wireless mobility. This deployment helps in achieving Governor Douglas’ goal of making Vermont the nation’s first “e-state” by 2010.

Great Auk Wireless’ Main Street deployment of GAWSpot WiFi gives local businesses and residents a high-speed wireless broadband option that can replace existing cable or DSL services for as little as $5 a month; transient plans, ideal for visitors to the area, are being offered for as little as $2.00 per hour with daily and weekly rates available. With Great Auk Wireless’ GAWSpot service, users will be able to “cut the cord” and move about town on the same wireless network included in the same low monthly access fees that cable or DSL providers are simply not able to match.

According to Josh Garza, Chief Executive Officer at Great Auk Wireless, “We’re really excited to offer Brattleboro residents, businesses and visitors to the area a local wireless Internet service option at a cost that makes broadband access, let alone wireless broadband access, available to everyone. With mobile Internet access, consumers, municipal and state emergency services and businesses that work outside, will be able to access the Internet anywhere the signal exists, using a wireless enabled computer or web-ready mobile device. The mission of Great Auk Wireless is to make our signal ubiquitous and accessible to everyone and that aligns with the Governor’s goal of making Vermont the Nation’s first ‘e-state’ by 2010.”

The free preview beta test will run from February 1st until February 28th to allow users the opportunity to check out the network at speeds of 256Kbps while providing the company with a “stress” test of the system. However, early adopters and existing users of the network can sign up at any time for speeds up to 1.5Mbps; the free preview will end at this time.

When fully operational on March 1st, Great Auk Wireless will offer plans for visitors with speeds of 256Kbps that start at $2.00 per hour with daily and weekly options available. Monthly plans for residents and business will be available for as little as $5.00 a month and available speeds up to 1.5Mbps. While the pricing is certainly a hook, perhaps the greatest point of differentiation is that Great Auk Wireless will offer a service guarantee. Specifically, if a user is not satisfied with the service, a refund will be issued. No questions. No other Internet service provider, whether cable, DSL or satellite, offers a service guarantee, let alone refunds or service credits to unsatisfied customers.

Inherent in the Great Auk Wireless GAWSpot network is its ability to defy rough terrain and topography using standard broadcast technologies such as 802.11b/g and the emerging 802.11n, ensuring a fast, secure and reliable broadband wireless networks. In areas such as Brattleboro, Great Auk Wireless provides a high-speed, high-value alternative to cable and DSL. All that is needed is a wireless enabled laptop or desktop computer or any web-ready mobile device.

With GAWSpot, users will be able to access the Internet on the street, from their car, in their office or while sitting on a park bench. The initial coverage area in downtown Brattleboro runs from just south of Grove Street south to Canal Street with coverage extending west to nearly Elm and Bullock Streets and east to the railroad. An additional hot spot exists north of Terrace Street to Bradley Avenue on Putney Road, with coverage in a portion of the park at Park Place east to just shy of Tyler Street.

The deployment of the downtown network adds to the expanding Great Auk Wireless footprint in Vermont and in Southern New Hampshire. More than 500 users enjoy the service in the Lake Dunmore, the 20-mile radius surrounding Stratton and Equinox Mountains, in the area surrounding Pinnacle Mountain in Roxbury, New Hampshire and in increasing areas, the City of Brattleboro.

The Company is in the process of continually building out the network and is the process of securing leases to locate repeater antennas on downtown buildings and structures. More antennae locations are needed and the company encourages landlords and property managers to contact Gregg Noble, the Company’s Chief Operating Officer, for details on leasing information.

For more information about Great Auk Wireless, high-speed broadband Internet access or to lease locations for antenna placement, visit the Great Auk Wireless website at www.gaw.com, call 1.877.220.2873 (802.246.3000, locally) or email Great Auk Wireless at info@gaw.com.

About Great Auk Wireless
Great Auk Wireless, the sister company of Optima Computers in Brattleboro, was formed in 2005 by Josh Garza and partners and shares the same management team. Great Auk Wireless (www.gaw.com) currently operates a successful wireless Internet services providing service to more than 500 users on Lake Dunmore, just north of Rutland, the 20-mile radius surrounding Stratton and Equinox Mountains and in Roxbury, New Hampshire. Great Auk Wireless currently offers subscribers broadband wireless Internet access on a network that defies rough terrain and topography in areas not served by standard cable or telephony based broadband services. The minimal environmental impact, lower cost and speed of deployment versus cable or DSL make Great Auk Wireless a natural for communities in desperate need of low-cost, high-quality broadband wireless service. For more information on the Great Auk Wireless network or to find out about becoming an antennae lessor visit the Great Auk Wireless site at www.gaw.com, call 1.877.220.2873 or email info@gaw.com.