Wavelinc - Bucyrus Wireless High Speed ISP

Article Date 10/1/2005

It all started in early Spring of 2004. On 114 South Walnut Street a computer consulting firm run by Kurt Fankhauser realized the growing need of broadband internet in Rural Crawford County. Months of planning and much thanks to help from Wealth Assurance, owner Ken Gortz, of 114 South Walnut Street got the concept of a wireless internet service rolling.

Many tower owners and grain handling facilities were approached with the idea of using them for a wireless internet service and in July of 2004 the first tower site was selected which was West Side Feed on West Mansfield Street in Bucyrus, OH. West Side Feeds' owners were very interested in the idea and it wasn't soon before the antennas were in place and 2 test customers were running. Months of testing was done to ensure that the wireless service was reliable and ready to go public.

In August of 2004 two more privately owned grain handling facilities were selected north of Bucyrus thanks to much cooperation of the farmers in Lykens Township. Over the next several months WAVELINC gained many new customers. Word-of-Mouth was spreading and WAVELINCS' subscriber list was growing long.

Then in Spring of 2005 one of the earlier subscribers sent a note to the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum informing them that they should run an article on the wireless service. On May 26, 2005 an article hit the cover of the Telegraph-Forum. "Business went through the roof," said WAVELINC's owner Kurt Fankhauser. "We almost doubled our subscriber list in a month." Since that article WAVELINC had to put up 3 more towers which doubled the coverage area with a total of 6 towers in Crawford County.

Today WAVELINC is the leading provider for broadband wireless internet service in Northern Crawford County and is rapidly expanding west, north, and east of Bucyrus.