The company, which is based at 101 Plaza East Blvd., Suite 105, Evansville, has put up about 30 towers to provide wireless service in Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick and Gibson counties in Indiana, and in Wabash County, Ill., said Brian Jackson, marketing director for the company. The company is currently expanding into Pike County, Ind., he said.
"We are mostly focused on the under-served areas of outlying communities that don't have DSL (digital subscriber lines) or cable," Jackson said.
Many of the people who live in these areas, especially those who work in Evansville or other areas where they have access to high-speed broadband services, are frustrated by their inability to get high-speed Internet service at home, Jackson said.
"It's that kind of frustration that makes this product as hot as it is," Jackson said.
SIT-CO, which stands for Secure Internet Technology Company, is owned and was founded by Tom Kolb, who was active in network consulting for many years, Jackson said. The company spent three years in research and development before offering its services to clients in 2004.
The company originally promoted its service to businesses as providing a more secure service. It protected companies against the hacker, virus, spam and other problems that a business might otherwise have to provide its own protection for.
Today, however, the company is focusing on providing residential service to the under-served areas of the Tri-State. The company has a little more than 1,000 customers today, Jackson said.
Jackson said the basic service the company provides gives users an Internet speed of about 512 kilobytes per second. The basic service costs $39.95 a month, and there are installation charges which vary from customer to customer.
Higher speeds and services for business customers are also offered. Additional information is available at the company's Web site (www.sit-co.net), Jackson said.
To receive the service, an antenna must be installed on homes or businesses. The company offers both a line-of-sight connection with a tower, or a non-line-of-sight connection, depending on their location, Jackson said. There is no difference in price, he said.
The company currently employs 12 and currently receives about $48,000 a month in subscriptions, Jackson said.
While the company focuses on outlying areas, there are areas even within Evansville that are under-served by DSL and cable, Jackson said.
The company has also "lit up a section of the Ohio (River)," stretching two miles north and south of Marina Pointe, Jackson said. Along this stretch of river, the company can provide "reasonable bandwidth to boaters," Jackson said.
The company is also currently a sponsor of the Gibson County Fair and will be providing bandwidth at the fair office with general access wi-fi (wireless fidelity Internet service). This is the first time the an Indiana county fair has had public access wi-fi, Jackson said.
The company is also seeking capital funding and has plans to serve counties in Western Kentucky, Jackson said.
Among the communities served now are Arthur, Buckskin, Elberfeld, Francisco, Fort Branch, Haubstadt, Johnson, Mackey, Oakland City, Owensville, Princeton, Sand Hill, St. Wendel, Wadesville and Winslow.