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

As appeared in the July ‘07 issue of Vermont Business Magazine.

On May 29, 2007, Governor Jim Douglas signed a bill creating the formation of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (“VTA”), H.248, that sets out to pave the way for his mission of making Vermont the nation’s first e-State by the year 2010. The setting for the signing couldn’t have been more representative of challenges that lie ahead: lakeside at Elmore State Park. More than 50 luminaries were on hand including representatives from Senator Leahy’s office, the State of Vermont’s Department of Information and Innovation, the Vermont Broadband Council, the VT Council on Rural Development, and several Internet Service Providers including Great Auk Wireless, Cloud Alliance, and Power Shift to witness the signing of the bill that will surely change the way Vermonters communicate, conduct business and exchange information whether simple email, family photos or for commerce.

The Vermont Telecommunications Authority will help provide the resources to create broadband ubiquity throughout the Green Mountain State by identifying areas that are under served or not served at all by high-speed Internet access, facilitating the permitting process when necessary, and earmarking as much as $40 million for the building of infrastructure or deployment of customer equipment, whether for wired or wireless broadband Internet services.

While deployment of high-speed services have reached approximately 80 percent of Vermont’s population, the challenge, both physically and economically has been in reaching the last 20 percent of residents. These consumers live in the sparsely populated rural sections of the state where traditional broadband delivery, such as DSL or cable, is too expensive to implement. Senator Patrick Leahy comments, ”Too many Vermonters remain at a social and economic disadvantage because high-speed Internet providers either choose not to, or could not build their networks into many parts of rural Vermont.”

High Cost in Reaching Rural Consumers; Users Form Broadband Committees
Typically, it will cost a cable provider approximately $23,000 a mile to deliver cable services. DSL services based out of the phone companies’ central offices have a limited range (18,000 wire feet) and are unable to reach many of the consumers more than three miles from the center of town. Permitting for this these types of deployment, not to mention the environmental impact of running miles of cable, could take until 2010 just to get started. In the end, these solutions for low-density areas do not make economic sense for the providers and are cost prohibitive for the consumers. However, tired with dial-up and not seeing satellite services as a viable solution due to high cost and latency and weather related issues, many users and their surrounding communities are not willing to wait and have sought out solutions to get high-speed access services on their own.

One such emerging solution, high-speed wireless Internet access, seems a silver bullet of sorts in reaching rural consumers with costs that are significantly lower, have faster deployment times and have less environmental impact, a key factor for residents living in rural areas. These benefits are in addition to an ability to defy rough terrain and topographies while providing line of sight (LOS) customers access from more than 20 miles away. By comparison to the high cost of DSL or cable deployment, the cost of a single wireless access point, using fixed wireless or point-to-multipoint solution capable of serving hundreds of customers can cost as little as $20,000. Deployment times can be as little time as one week to light up the access point and begin delivering services to customers.

While there are a number of wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) around the state, the company that appears poised to make broadband or high-speed Internet access ubiquitous in the State of Vermont is Brattleboro’s Great Auk Wireless, a start up created by the founder of Optima Computers, who was 17 years old at the time. So far, the company has put more than $4 million into building infrastructure around the state. Grant funding, which the company helps communities secure, has been helpful, but accounts for less than five percent of that total. Sen. Leahy comments, “Wireless Internet Service Providers, like Great Auk Wireless, are reaching those Vermonters who have been left off the high-speed Internet highway. Wireless providers offer an innovative solution to build out the last mile high-speed broadband infrastructure to Vermonters that might otherwise be stuck using dial-up technology for many years to come.”

Great Auk and the Vision
In 2004, H. Josh Garza, Great Auk Wireless CEO, was trying to meet the technology demands of a client in Lake Dunmore. He was faced with the challenge of delivering high-speed Internet to a high-powered financial executive from New York in an area where high-speed meant your dialup modem might connect at 26Kbps. Garza recalls, “The infrastructure for high-speed simply didn’t exist at Lake Dunmore. Every Vermonter and visitor to the state should have the option to receive high-speed access and at a reasonable price. If the larger companies can’t deliver, we will find a workable model and build it.” By leveraging his own “can-do” attitude and the know-how of CTO Nick Huanca and now COO Gregg Noble their model ultimately resulted in the deployment of the tourist area’s first ever high-speed broadband Internet network. That network ultimately became the first beta site for what is now Great Auk Wireless and helped Garza realize his “vision” of how Internet service in rural Vermont should be delivered. Now, only a little more than two years old, the technology that was first implemented has been replaced with a network that allows for true mobile connectivity with blistering speeds. The Lake Dunmore Broadband Network now services the community that sees more than 50,000 visitors during the summer months with meshed WiFi solutions at Kampersville Campground, Waterhouses Marina & Campground, and the Keewaydin Camps allowing users to roam freely while remaining online.

The company incorporated in 2005 as Great Auk Wireless, LLC and has been deploying networks throughout Vermont and parts of New Hampshire with a pipeline of demand for services that is nearly overflowing. Currently, Great Auk Wireless serves more than 1,600 customers with both fixed wireless and meshed wireless high-speed Internet solutions. The company’s fixed wireless product typically serves areas that don’t have access to cable or DSL. The meshed wireless “WiFi”, the next generation of “hotspot” WiFi technology and a truly mobile high-speed connectivity product, is typically used for areas with higher population density such as town centers and tourist areas. Great Auk Wireless is driving wireless innovation by combining these typically disparate products by using its fixed wireless product to provide backhaul to a meshed wireless solution to reach harder-to-get-to last mile customers. Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) comments on the new Brattleboro mesh network recently deployed by GAW, “I am immensely proud of the talented folks at Great Auk Wireless, a Vermont-grown company that is leading the way in providing rural high-speed Internet service to Vermonters. Their recent cooperation with the people of Brattleboro to provide the town wireless service is a hallmark example. Great Auk’s expanding network, from Brattleboro and beyond, offers a beacon of hope for Vermonters around the state that need better access to the growing Internet to be competitive in the world economy and to connect to this invaluable resource. I remain committed to helping support the development of high speed Internet throughout the state and look forward to seeing this great success thrive.”

Great Auk Wireless has been successful in working with not only municipalities around the state for deployment of their high-speed services, they have worked closely with communities to secure grant funds for infrastructure development or used to subsidize the cost of customer equipment. According to Great Auk CTO, Nick Huanca, “the importance of providing high-speed Internet allows for quick access to information for schools, municipalities and businesses to help them grow to their full potential by competing on a national if not global level. And with free access at every library where we deploy Great Auk Wireless service, our children will have access to educational resources the world over, better preparing them to become leaders within our communities.” The company has a number of methods to finance high-speed fixed wireless and meshed WiFi networks including a self-funded model whereby potential users can prepay for a period of time, creating a capitol fund for network infrastructure.

Since the third quarter of 2006, the company has merged with LastMile Networks, LLC broadcasting off Stratton and Equinox Mountains and Island Pond Wireless which services the state’s Northeast Kingdom. GAW has made significant system enhancements to these networks delivering a much-improved product as technology and wireless capability advances. COO Noble recounts, “Whenever Great Auk looks at prospective mergers, it’s not just about their coverage and subscriber base. While those factors are important, the critical item we find is, ‘Do they share our vision?’” Garza chimes in, “We found very early on in the business that WISPs are usually built by true pioneers in the digital age like Jake Marsh from Island Pond (who was featured in Ken Belson’s New York Times article on rural broadband on Sept 2006) and Tim Flesher at LastMileNet. These are individuals who understand the importance of the service to their fellow Vermonters and who are willing to dedicate themselves to something larger…the ‘vision’ if you will. Great Auk is only ‘great because of the dedicated and talented people we’ve brought onboard and the wonderful work they’ve done. Without these pioneers, Great Auk Wireless wouldn’t exist.”

Great Auk Wireless offers plans for every type of user including residential, business and users who are on-the-go, typically a business traveler, seasonal visitor or sojourning tourist. Fixed wireless rate plans start at $59 a month, including free installation. Meshed WiFi monthly plans start at $14.95. For visitors, the company offers plans for an hour, day, week or month. Four month seasonal plans are also available. For businesses, Great Auk Wireless offers symmetrical speeds, meaning the same download and upload speeds, something not readily available from most other providers.

With the increasing demand that will surely come from the signing of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority and the Governor’s commitment to broadband ubiquity, Great Auk Wireless and other Vermont WISPs are ready to make it happen. Wireless services by Great Auk Wireless can be obtained by visiting the company’s website at www.GAW.com or by calling 877.220.2873.

About Great Auk Wireless
Great Auk Wireless was formed in 2005 by Josh Garza and partners and shares the same management team as its sister company, Optima Computers, LLC. Great Auk Wireless (www.gaw.com) currently operates a successful wireless Internet services to more than 1,600 users In Brattleboro, Vermont; Lake Dunmore, Vermont: the 20-mile radius surrounding Stratton and Equinox Mountains in Vermont; Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom and in the New Hampshire areas surrounding the towns of Roxbury and Colebrook. 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 or as a lower cost alternative to traditionally wired 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 that respects our natural environment. For more information about Great Auk Wireless or to find out how to get municipal deployment of the Great Auk Wireless service, visit www.gaw.com, call 1.877.220.2873 or email info@gaw.com.