WideOpen Networks
Gigabit Networks Pioneer

Access to high-performance broadband and telecom services has become essential to businesses and individuals alike. As the Internet evolves to include services such as VoIP, video-on-demand, VPN, gaming, TV, and more, the demand for bandwidth has also risen to support these uses. Virginia-based WideOpen Networks is redefining the networking landscape through its new Gigabit networks designed with state of the art fiber and wireless equipment and offered as a multi-service, multi-provider open-access business model that empowers buyers to choose from a wide variety of broadband services and pricing packages.

WideOpen Networks unique solution brings several service providers under its networks, thereby giving customers a true choice of services and service providers. WideOpen’s Gigabit networks are designed, built and managed by the company itself, and the firm is bringing communities affordable access to high performance Internet and broadband services.

One of the distinguishing features of the WideOpen Networks approach is symmetric bandwidth, where the download and upload speeds are equal. This feature makes the network highly favored by people who are working from home–a growing national trend in the U.S. Typical asymmetric cable modem or DSL services are not able to support business needs like VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), business videoconferencing, and cloud-based business services.

Another rising trend among residential users is to “cut the cord” of the traditional cable and satellite television services with expensive subscription fees and instead switch to OTT (Over The Top) Internet-based on-demand video services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sling, Hulu and others. The high performance fiber and wireless networks offered by WideOpen Networks allows people to stream online video and content and get access to a broad range of Internet-based services at a much lower cost.

“Our clients are typically communities in rural areas of the U.S., who are searching for better broadband services at reasonable pricing,” says Andrew Cohill, Ph.D., President of WideOpen Networks. Most of these communities usually have sparse budgets and/or lack the experience to build and operate their own network. The firm’s one-stop-solution for designing, financing, building and operating a modern broadband network relieves local governments from the responsibility of these tasks.

One of the distinguishing features of the WideOpen Networks approach is symmetric bandwidth, where the download and upload speeds are equal

Apart from the comprehensive suite of solutions, WideOpen Networks also provides their planning and implementation services on an as-needed for local governments.

When developing a fully integrated network design, the WideOpen Networks staff closely evaluates key market aspects like the size of the community, kind of businesses that might become customers of the network, policy and regulatory requirements in the locality and state, and the needs of K12 schools, higher education, and both large and small businesses. The WideOpen goal is to design and build a business class network for the community without complications. “Our flexible and systematic approach can get customers connected with Gigabit fiber very quickly,” states Cohill. The construction of WideOpen Networks first fiber network in Blacksburg, Virginia neighborhoods of Blacksburg, VA took less than a year to complete, with super-fast Internet service now available in a previously underserved area of the town. WideOpen Networks has completed numerous broadband planning and construction projects in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean and it has on-going projects in Texas, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire and Virginia.

Cohill draws a close analogy between the art of sailing and meeting the demands of the ever-changing telecom industry. Just as a sailor has to stay watchful to keep a sail boat on course and to trim the sails with the changing weather conditions, CIOs and CTOs need that “sailor mindset” of continuously making adjustments to the business to meet the demands of the network and Internet marketplace.

Functioning in tandem with the market trends, the firm has a pipeline of a half dozen new community fiber projects in development and is actively seeking additional communities that want world class Internet and broadband connectivity. Cohill also anticipates heavy growth in Gigabit network deployments in the coming year.