AirCanopy

My name is Phil Walsh and I am the General Manager and founder of AirCanopy Internet Services Inc. Before I created this company, I was a telecommuter and required stable reliable and most of all fast internet connections to keep my work done. When I lived in California, I was using a new technology called Sprint ION which was an early iteration of VoIP and DSL over an ATM connection. The Internet service was exceptional but the VoIP was still not ready for general adoption. In the spring of 2001 we moved from Burbank CA to Midlothian TX and to my disappointment, I discovered that broadband access was not as universally available as I thought. The realization that much of the US is underserved came as both a culture and economic shock.

Having a strong background in RF and Wireless networks, I contemplated sharing a T1 connection among the folks in my neighborhood as the T1 cost was prohibitive individually. The thought of using WiFi as a delivery method was my initial thought but was concerned about the scalability and reliability of that platform. After some analysis, we decided to implement a new product by Motorola called Canopy. This choice proved to be the best of all worlds for broadband access. It gave us consistent response and fair use of bandwidth to all users on the system with excellent reliability. Although the initial cost of this system was higher than WiFi, it was the perfect solution for multiple users that a contention based 802.11 is simply not capable of. The news about the availability of a high speed service spread and requests for service came in from all over the area.

For a time we struggled with funding for our young company and we often had to take some expensive financing to keep going. There were times that we did not think we could survive the climate and the costs to continue but demand was higher than we could have ever anticipated and somehow we managed.

In time, interested individuals came along that brought experience from other large consulting firms and began to work with us to build a carrier class operation. With individual backgrounds with companies like EDS and Accenture, we had an opportunity to build a true carrier class ISP and take the neighborhood network to the next level.

Soon after, we met Bill MacNamara of Agility solutions. Bill gave us the break we were looking for… We were finally able to manage our need for equipment and have a single source for financing that understood our business and was able to provide the funding and equipment at good rates.

Our business was bursting at the seams, we needed space and we needed to expand. We leased over six thousand square feet in a new office building and built a data center, sales office and training facility. We went from an extra room in the house to the garage to our own building. Our network now covers nearly three thousand square miles and we have recently partnered with Hilco Electric co-op to provide broadband access to some twenty thousand co-op members.

As we move forward we have set our sights on acquiring other providers and expanding our coverage area both locally and in other states. We have been involved with wireless projects around the country and have designed and deployed solutions in other countries. It has been very exciting to see this grow from humble beginnings to one of the largest and fastest growing providers in Texas. Our thanks to everyone that has contributed to our success and to Motorola who continues to support and develop the Moto Wi-4 platform that Canopy is a part of and to organizations like Agility for funding us when we needed it most.