Company unwired and growing

By James Dornbrook
The Examiner

Computers & Tele-Comm of Independence is the last wireless Internet provider in the greater Kansas City area and is consolidating its position in what company representatives feel is the future of the industry.

Graeme Gibson is president and CEO of CTC of Independence, headquartered at 1307 S. Sterling Ave. in Independence. The company has 16 employees.

Gibson said he outlasted all his competitors by having a unique transmission strategy and providing high quality reliable service

Since wireless Internet technology relies on a line-of-sight transference, the tall trees and hills in the Kansas City area present many challenges. Gibson said his company's strategy is to install as many antennae as possible, in close proximity.

"None of the other companies did that. Instead, they relied on one large antenna to reach everyone. The result of this was that these companies went out of business said Gibson.

His biggest competitor, WorkNet, Inc., recently left the market and national wireless heavyweight Winstar, Inc. declared bankruptcy. The companies couldn't provide enough coverage area in this hilly terrain with one large transmitting antenna.

Gibson's company currently has 10 antennae, allowing CTC to cover all of downtown Kansas City, most of Raytown, and western Independence to Noland Road. The company is planning to one day have 50 antennae in the area, allowing continuous coverage from Kansas City to Blue Springs. CTC is working on installing an antenna to Blue Springs, but a location hasn't been settled on yet.

The antennae are very small and are often placed on tall buildings. Gibson said CTC works out deals on wireless Internet service for owners of tall buildings who allow him to install an antenna. This keeps CTC out of the controversy surrounding the construction of expensive, unsightly towers. Gibson said high speed wireless Internet service has many advantages over regular ground lines.

It is much cheaper for the parent company to install a wireless Internet transmission system than it is to install ground wires an over the nation.

Wireless doesn't require the use of a phone line. Installation of the system in personal computers is easy, requiring a small receiver in a computer and a small, personal antenna on the roof. The receiver card is about five inches long, two inches wide and can be easily installed in either a desktop or laptop computer.

Gibson said that wireless service is also more reliable than ground lines. If anything happens to a cable anywhere along its length, ground-line service goes down. The company logs an connection activities and Gibson shared statistics showing a 99 percent connection rate for CTC's wireless service.

This reliability factor is what draws many customers to CTC, Gibson said. Many of the company's customers, such as ambulance services and stock brokers, need the most reliable Internet service possible.

Wireless service is also more secure, he said, as the signals are not being shared on a common wire. Customers receive a bandwidth to use, similar to a cell phone. The transmissions are encoded with an encryption system.

Wireless service can be much faster, depending on how close a customer is to the signal. Gibson said this is another reason why he is trying to install lots of antennae. He said many customers switch to wireless because they are more concerned about speed and not "pipe," which is the technical term for outgoing transmissions from something such as a home-based Web site or bulk e-mail .

Most of CTC's customers are business people looking for reliability, speed and mobility; However, the service is available for personal Internet use. .

The cost of going wireless depends on how far away you are from the transmitter and how much pipe you are planning to use regularly. The cost can be anywhere from $100 to $350 a month.

Gibson started CTC in Florida in 1983. The company was very different then, teaching people how to use computers, operating systems and installing networks. The focus of the company moved toward installation.

In 1985, Gibson landed a major contract with NASA, helping it with its networks. It was at NASA where Gibson learned about Wireless systems. At the time, NASA was interested in finding a cost-effective way to network across swamps, water and other obstructions.

Many breakthroughs in wireless technology were made at this time. However, it all came to a halt in 1988. The NASA contract with CTC was frozen, along with countless other contracts, after the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1988.

Gibson relocated CTC in Kansas City and went back to installing operating systems. .

In 1992, Gibson helped put together a television show called, "Computers Today." The show taught people about computers and aired from Denver to New York. The show ran until 1997.

After the show ended, CTC got involved in installing bulletin board systems. The BBS system eventually evolved and CTC soon became an Internet system provider, via phone lines. .

"There are just as many new people seeking dial-up service as there are people leaving to seek faster service," he said. "It basically came down to what was the delivery method left? We came up with wireless." .

Nationally; wireless technology is on the rise. Several Internet publications, such as Internet World magazine, have been describing wireless technology as the Internet market over the horizon. .

The current status of the technology is comparable to cell phones a few years ago. Gibson said CTC is focusing on incorporating antennae near the highways and major cities across America. He thinks this will help make mobile passenger use in automobiles possible in the future. He believes the possibility of incorporating wireless technology into automobiles will some day become reality.

To reach James Dombrook e-mail jamesd@examiner:net or call 350-6322. .