Surfing Roads Less Traveled

Ashburn Firm Makes WiMax a Reality in Small-Town America

In Sprint's multibillion-dollar vision, Washingtonians will soon be able to sit in a moving car (passenger seat, please) and take part in a video chat while downloading a movie and writing e-mails.

That is courtesy of a fast, new wireless technology called WiMax. But while Sprint has faced delays making WiMax a reality, a little-known Ashburn firm has been connecting residents in such unlikely places as Jackson, Wyo.; Appomattox, Va.; and Idaho Falls, Idaho, to the Internet.

What DigitalBridge Communications has done offers a preview of what the technology might mean for the rest of the country. DigitalBridge has brought broadband Web access to homes that had none, and now it's allowing people to access the Web on the road with their laptops at about the same speed they'd get at home or at work.

Mobile phone companies have unveiled all sorts of plans to allow people to browse the Web from laptops and smart phones, but none have offered the speeds rivaling what one gets at home. Sprint, in partnership with start-up Clearwire and giants Intel, Comcast and Time Warner, plans to roll out WiMax in Washington, Baltimore and Chicago this fall.

"It'll dramatically change the way they live and the way they enjoy the Internet. [Users] won't have to go back to their individual house or business or hotspot for broadband. They'll be able to do it wherever they want," DigitalBridge Chairman William Wallace said.

Joe Kochan, DigitalBridge vice president of operations, said about his own experience in Jackson in the passenger seat of a moving car: "We were going 40 miles per hour. I had a laptop. I was making a Skype call. I was watching a YouTube video and browsing a Web site at the same time."

Sprint, which has been trying to stem the exodus of customers from its mobile phone service, sees WiMax as a lifeline. Intel is looking for a second coming in the technology, putting WiMax chips in everything from laptops to smart phones, cameras and as-of-yet unimagined mobile devices. DigitalBridge is simply looking to build a profitable business -- something it has yet to attain, though executives say their business model should make the company profitable within two years.

Formed by a trio of Verizon executives in 2005, DigitalBridge seeks to bring WiMax to cities with populations of up to 150,000. At first, the company focused on bringing broadband to where it wasn't. That included places like Appomattox, population 1,725, where cable and phone companies didn't want to invest in building expensive landlines to reach faraway customers.

When it selects a locality, DigitalBridge installs broadcast stations atop cellular towers and tall buildings, which are connected by fiber cable to a regional Internet provider. The stations send a signal as far as three miles. Customers rent a device that looks like a modem and plug it into an electric outlet and into their computer.

DigitalBridge markets its service as BridgeMaxx, starting at $25 per month. It first moved into Rexburg, Idaho, before spreading to other cities and states. DigitalBridge operates in 14 localities, marketing the product through newspapers, radio and sponsorships, including a rodeo in Twin Falls, Idaho. It has a network of 20,000 customers that is growing by about 2,000 a month.

"You can aim the base station radio directly toward the pockets of underserved communities," Wallace said.

DigitalBridge sees its long-term success as dependent on the multitude of devices that will allow people to get broadband on the road -- on a bus, in a park or by the lake.