New Wireless Service Gets Its Go-ahead
NORWOOD - A fledgling Internet company is ready to beam its wireless Broadband signal to county residents living off the beaten path, hoping to build a customer base of rural computer users tired of slow dial up modems.
Since January, Lisbon resident Chad D. Rice, co-owner of New Horizons Wireless, has been meeting with officials in the towns of Norfolk and Lisbon and in the villages of Norwood and Heuvelton, seeking permission to place wireless transmitters on each community's municipal water tower.
Mr. Rice said Wednesday he has now received the go-ahead from Norwood, Heuvelton and Lisbon and expects the Norfolk Town Board to grant permission to use its water tower in the coming weeks.
As a result Mr. Rice said he has formed a wireless grid capable of providing Broadband Internet service across a 400-square-mile swath of St. Lawrence County.
"Lisbon and Heuvelton should be on line in about a month and Norwood is already up," Mr. Rice said. "Our primary target customer is the rural community. That is the reason we go on such a high structure, so we can broadcast that wireless signal out into the little nooks and crannies where the cable and the DSL companies won't service."
Mr. Rice projects his company will have 100 customers within the next six weeks, a small base he hopes to build on. He calculates there are upwards of 16,000 households within St. Lawrence County that are either underserved when it comes to Internet access - or simply not served at all.
"We've been in negotiations with several municipalities since January and its been a long road," Mr. Rice said. "I have been very persistent in wanting to bring this to the community, to not only have a business, but to provide a much needed service. I can't tell you how many home-based business people I've talked to that are still on dial up and can't wait for it to come to their area."
St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Patricia L. McKeown said she is familiar with Mr. Rice and his company and welcomes his effort to help provide fast Internet service to rural residents. She said the county has 105,000 inhabitants spread over 2,500 square miles, leaving plenty of potential Internet customers for any entrepreneur savvy enough to go after them.
"All I know is that no matter who it is, this chamber will welcome anybody who can provide service anywhere in St. Lawrence County," Ms. McKeown said. "The field is wide open for anyone who wants to connect people."
Mr. Rice said the wireless technology being used by his company will allow customers to sign up for a Broadband connection for as little as $27.99 per month. He said the only installation required will be a 4 inch by 12 inch receiver that will be mounted at a users home.
If successful, New Horizons Wireless hopes to set up a larger grid utilizing farm silos and other tall structures that could expand wireless Broadband service county-wide, according to Mr. Rice.
Norwood Mayor James H. McFaddin said village officials voted to allow Mr. Rice to use their municipal water tower in exchange for free Internet service for the village offices, police station and department of public works.
He said trustees also felt the new wireless grid being created by Mr. Rice would provide an opportunity for rural families on the village's outskirts and beyond.
Mr. Rice said the wireless transmitter installed on the top of the Norwood water tower is capable of serving customers as far away as Waddington.
Mr. McFaddin said Norwood officials also supported the fledgling New Horizons Wireless network because they believe it could benefit rural school districts like Norwood-Norfolk Central, where a number of children don't have a viable Internet connection at home.
"We had an informal conversation with the Norwood-Norfolk Central School about children in the rural areas that do not have access to Broadband and we felt it impeded their ability to learn," Mr. McFaddin said.
On the net:
newhorizonswireless.com
