Firm eyes rural Net Wireless access – Open Range Communications Inc.

For former telecommunications executive Bill Beans Jr., rural America is the next uncharted territory.

The founder, chairman and chief executive of Denver-based Open Range Communications Inc. is on the verge of securing millions of dollars to roll out inexpensive, high-speed Internet access in rural areas.

Part of that funding comes in the form of a $267 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantee Program.

"We saw an opportunity in rural markets … to deploy a wireless service in a meaningful way," said Beans, who founded the company in 2004.

He said the Internet technology is maturing, and after years of testing out Wi-Fi options for rural areas, the company settled on using WiMax, a more powerful version of Wi-Fi that allows for wireless transmission of signals across wider ranges.

WiMax has been touted as the next frontier in wireless Internet service. Currently, Washington-based Clearwire, in partnership with SprintNextel and several cable companies, is trying to offer WiMax to about 140 million people by the end of 2010.

But Beans and others in the industry say those broad corporate plans will focus on major metropolitan areas, still leaving those in small, rural towns without fast Internet connections or with no access to the Web at all.

By Kimberly S. Johnson
The Denver Post

Full Story: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_9289367