Intelliwave Bridging Digital Divide in Southeast Ohio

PRLog (Press Release) - Jul 29, 2008 -
Intelliwave is a local company based in Athens Ohio that is trying to do what bigger companies haven't: bridge the digital divide in Rural Ohio.

According to a Broadband Report from Baller-Herbst (http://www.e-nc.org/Baller-Herbst_Report.asp), "Among the most important attributes of broadband is its ability to serve as an engine of economic development, enabling communities, regions, nations, and even whole continents to develop, attract, retain, and expand job-creating businesses and institutions. Broadband also improves the productivity and profitability of businesses and institutions of all kinds in an endless variety of ways."

 Intelliwave recently installed a high-speed Internet Access system in a section of Meigs County that has the potential to serve 800 homes.
Intelliwave will start rolling out more wireless broadband coverage in Meigs County in the coming months.

  The project was initiated by Meigs County native, Ira Dye, whose family has lived there for generations and who worked part time for Intelliwave while completing his degree at Ohio University. Dye wanted to create a lasting rural development project that could not only provide high-speed Internet access  to Meigs County, but opportunity as well. Dye worked for months on the project: scouting locations, contacting community members, plotting maps, and researching the details. It is an extensive endeavor to build a wireless network in rural areas.

  Intelliwave uses an innovative approach that allows them to not only reach many customers in rural terrain, but to do it effectively over large coverage areas. At the same time, the company minimizes the visual obtrusiveness of their equipment by incorporating it into existing structures, keeping the Southeast Ohio landscape free from blinking lights.

  Since local school districts are placing some homework online, families need to upgrade from dial-up speeds to Broadband. Local colleges are using broadband as an avenue to stay in contact with students and for distance learning. Ohio University's heavily utilized Blackboard system allows professors to place lectures and other course related material online.
These
lectures are often larger files that require more bandwidth than traditional dial-up will allow. Broadband is a necessity for students today.

   This Rural Broadband project is getting attention at the state level as a "proof-of-concept" for the Connect Ohio Initiative. Governor Strickland's office placed the Intelliwave / Meigs County story on their " Connect Ohio"
website (http://www.connectohio.org/). The Governor and Intelliwave have a common goal: to bring Broadband to the Southeast Ohio region. Meigs County was just the first step. Intelliwave is expanding its network to more areas to continue to bridge the digital divide.

   After completion of the Meigs County Rural Broadband project, Dye was approached by the managing partners of Intelliwave, Chris and Kathryn Cooper, to become the Director of Marketing and Sales.

 "We are working toward the goal of bringing affordable broadband to all of Southeast Ohio, which will attract business, and be a remarkable benefit for education, training, and productivity for the community," stated the new Director of Marketing & Sales at Intelliwave, Ira Dye.