Big Sky Internet offers wireless access in Butte

Ties to Montana, a call on state officials and facilitating by local economic officials have lead to a new enterprise in Butte that could spur new activity.

By Leslie McCartney of The Montana Standard

Partners Bob Lopp, Dick Abramson and Bill Macnamara have combined their talents, new technology and money to start Big Sky Internet. The company has begun offering wireless, high-speed Internet access from its Butte office in the Thornton building.

The venture will eventually employ about eight workers and is the model for future high-speed ventures in similar markets — markets often ignored by larger companies. With the placement of towers to catch bandwidth, the company began offering service this week.

High-speed access, which is much faster than the traditional phone-connect service, is a sought after commodity in towns like Butte because the services can be utilized by residents, businesses or university students who need the service.

Big Sky was steered Butte’s way after the men — who were visiting relatives in the state — met with state economic czar Dave Gibson and Secretary of State head Bob Brown. A meeting with Chief Executive Judy Jacobson and economic development officials Evan Barrett, Kathy Fasso and Jim Smitham followed.

That sealed the deal for the trio. “ You are really fortunate..they are the biggest promoters of the community,” said Abramson. Knowing they were welcome and had people willing to assist them was key, but Big Sky also found a suitable home at the Thornton Building, courtesy of MSE. That Butte-based company was in the process of turning the historic building into a state-of-the-art data center — perfectly suitable for the Internet company.

“ It really tipped the balance to have a data center with redundant capability,” said Lopp. Redundant capability means that the center has a backup so those using the service are not interrupted for any reason.

The operation also meant that Big Sky did not have to build their operation from scratch.

With the high-speed system, customers will be able to access the Internet much faster anywhere from five to fifty times faster than old access. The network is also delivered to customers’ computers with out wires — there is simply a small dish and then a box that captures the signal and gives it to the computer.

Another advantage, according to Abramson, is that the access is always “ on” — no dialing up is necessary. The service runs about $50 a month and founders say that is roughly equal to a second phone line and provider charges but patrons get much-faster and reliable access.

It is also very important to the service’s founders that the company has a Butte presence and that local customer service is available who know Butte. “ This is really neighbors serving neighbors,” Lopp said.

The three men are formerly of CSG Systems, service that printed more than 50 percent of cable television bills. With their concentration on customer service delivery, high-speed access was a natural for them.

Large fiberoptic companies often don’t want to deal with customers — they simply want to provide the needed backbone. With Big Sky, that’s opposite, they actively seek the “ last-mile” customers.

“ That’s precisely who we want to deal with,” Lopp said.

So far, response to Big Sky’s offer has been swift with 100 businesses and 400 residences seeking service.

Business are especially keen on obtaining high-speed access, which is cheaper than other methods such as installing a T-1 line. For example, Lopp said, four large hotels in Butte are in the process of installing the service for the business clientele. Small businesses and home-based businesses have also been anxious to sign up.

“ We’re going to be pretty busy for the next couple months,” Abramson said.

Big Sky Internet can be reached at 533-6850 or at 723-4061.

http://www.mtstandard.com/newslocal/lnews313.html