In an era where high speed Internet access is seen as a public utility — a fundamental right — one North Carolina company is seeking to more equitably distribute high-speed access across the state, particularly in more rural communities.

That company is Open Broadband, founded by Alan Fitzpatrick (CEO) and Kent Winrich (CTO), two telecom industry veterans that saw an opportunity to disrupt broadband companies across North Carolina.

Open Broadband is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that only deploys service to underserved markets. As the FCC reports that nearly 30 precent of census tracts in the United States lack a residential service provider with 25Mb/s speed, the need for high speed Internet in rural areas is immense. Considering that another 48% of census tracts have only one option for ISP, the potential for disruption is quite large.

Fitzpatrick and Winrich live in a rural community, and though the closest city is Charlotte, they’ve selectively chosen communities across the state to launch projects.

‘Huge market opportunity’

“Incumbent ISPs are largely ignoring these markets,” says Fitzpatrick. This results in an increased demand from rural residents seeking access to high speed Internet. “We are industry insiders that saw a huge market opportunity and had a business model to capitalize on it.”

The company launches a new project in partnership with the City of Belmont, a Charlotte suburb in Gaston County on Wednesday evening at TechWorks & Riverman Brewing Company in Belmont.

“The City of Belmont partnered with Open Broadband to provide a high-speed free public Wi-Fi service for Downtown,” says Adrian Miller, City Manager, City of Belmont. This coverage will also service the city’s new innovation center, TechWorks, led by Terry Cox, executive director. Beyond this service agreement, says Miller, Open Broadband will provide residents and businesses another alternative in the subscription Internet service marketplace.

Under the terms of the deal, Open Broadband will own its own hardware and will locate the hardware in discrete locations downtown, says Miller. The City of Belmont has agreed to pay $400 per month to provide the free public wireless network for residents and visitors.

Growing footprint

This project is the latest for the young company, which has already worked with Stanly County, Wayne County, Alexander County, and with the cities of Greensboro and Goldsboro.

In Greensboro and Goldsboro, Open Broadband hopes to provide high-speed wireless access at 50Mb/s to residents that receive housing assistance for just $15-17 per month per unit. They’ll partner with the Housing Authority, who will manage access points for those in public housing. Beyond the difference in speed compared to larger companies, Open Broadband won’t require residents to fill out paperwork proving SNAP qualification and requires less administrative oversight due to the partnership with local agencies, says Fitzpatrick.

Unfortunately, some firms have limits for low income residents, and will disqualify the customer from a low priced plan if they previously paid for a higher priced service, says Fitzpatrick, which doesn’t necessarily make sense for customers.

“Open Broadband is serving this market,” says Fitzpatrick. “It’s the right thing to do to ensure digital equity. After all, what good is broadband infrastructure if segments of our society are excluded?”

New funding

In addition to launching a new project, Open Broadband just closed a convertible note to the tune of $150,000 from three investors. The investment came as a result of participating as a demonstrating vendor at New Ventures Demo Day in the Triad. A few weeks after the event, Fitzpatrick received follow up from an investor that wanted to set a pitch meeting to learn more about the progress of the company and the pending project pipeline. The investor brought a friend, the meeting went well, and a week later, that friend brought in a business partner and the round closed.

“We went from demo table, to pitch meetings, to signed convertible notes and checks in less than 60 days,” says Fitzpatrick. With the new investment, the company will invest in infrastructure in their first three markets and continue to execute new partnerships across North Carolina.