Hampton – The Exeter High School graduate and his business partner have founded a startup that offers high-speed internet at a much lower cost.
People who live in Hampton Beach can pay anywhere from $40 to $85 a month for Internet through Airwave Networksrun by Al Dattilo of East Kingston and his friend Trent Linville.
The two, who are 22 and 21, met in college at Florida Institute of Technology when Linville was just launching Airwave. Now, they’re on a mission to help customers ditch cable and internet packages that can run people upwards of $100 a month.
“Seafront residents and businesses have long been late for someone new to the market that delivers the speeds they pay for, all at a reasonable cost,” said Dattilo.
How it works?
air wave It uses radio frequencies To provide low-cost and fast Internet service. At this point, they said they are only able to offer their services at the super local level. Service currently extends from near the Hampton Beach Police Station on Brown Street just north of Ras Pur.
Airwave is not the first company to offer wireless service through radio frequencies. They said Starry offers a similar service on a larger scale, covering city areas like New York and Boston.
In development:Here’s Al Fleury’s vision of hotels, apartments, and more at the Webber property in Hampton
Airwave is a product for tech students
Linville started the company in his home state of Indiana, where he also provides service in the southeastern part of the state. Now out of college, the duo decided to expand into Dattilo’s home region of the New Hampshire coast as well. They found a place on top of an apartment building on Ocean Boulevard and were in the running for about eight weeks.
Dattilo said customer acquisition involves a major relearning because many people used to pay high prices for cable packages that provide Internet, telephone and TV. He said the cable companies had convinced many people that leaving would lead to poor service.
The average monthly cost of cable internet bills was $116 per month in 2021, according to the US Cable and Internet Market Size and Household Spending Report.
Where will the Hampton Beach pier go?:Is it worth 17 million dollars? The study lists the pros and cons.
No contracts, just high speed internet
Datillo and Linville promote their service as having no contracts, allowing for month-to-month service. Hampton Beach Village Commissioner Chuck Raj, also a chooser and beach hotel owner, said the service will help a lot of people who live at the beach only part of the year.
“I think what’s nice about that is. It’s something you don’t have to have permanently. You can do it seasonally,” Raj said. “It will help people who have apartments.”
Airwave is currently expanding its coverage to extend Ocean Boulevard along the North Shore seawall. They said that growth outside of Hampton Beach anytime soon is unlikely, because they want to ensure they can maintain quality.
more:Laney & Lu acquires Sweet Dreams Bakery in Stratham with a new name and vision
However, they said they could add to the service they provide to the beach by working with local officials. They said they plan to meet with the town to talk about the new site access right to boost the service.
Rage said he plans to talk to them about providing internet for the Seashell Stage where the Village District holds nightly concerts in the summer. Dattilo also said they may look into ways to provide free public WiFi by working with local officials.
“We look forward to building a relationship,” Linville said.
Originally posted 2022-11-20 10:09:08.