Wireless and broadband provider Vistabeam last month acquired Airbits, which served the towns of Estes Park and Pole Hill, which are in Colorado’s Front Range area. Vistabeam also established a digital empowerment Center in Yuma, Colorado.
The move into Colorado’s Front Range area is a sign that fixed wireless access (FWA) technology is maturing.
“I have always had a lot of appreciation for the Front Range and how it ties back into our primary service areas, but it was difficult to provide Vistabeam quality of service with the fixed wireless technology available to us,” Vistabeam CEO Matt Larsen said in a press release about the Vistabeam Airbits deal. “The newest generation of fixed wireless equipment we are deploying in the Front Range is capable of reliably delivering near fiber speeds.”
The acquisition includes 25 towers.
Vistabeam’s footprint is 40,000 square miles and covers more than 100 towns in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming. Its first move into the Front Range area was last September, when it acquired Front Range Internet.
Broadband acquisitions have been common recently. Here are some highlights.
Empowerment Center
The empowerment center features several workstations for digital education and computers that are accessible on a walk-in basis.
The company is working with Microsoft to offer digital skills programming and other online learning resources. A dedicated digital navigator is available to help eligible residents enroll in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and other digital equity initiatives.
Vistabeam opened a similar center this March in Torrington, Wyoming.
“For too long, telecommunications companies have been cutting jobs in rural communities and outsourcing to other places. We want to reverse that,” Larsen said in another press release. “Empowering communities is one of our core values, and the Empowerment Centers are an opportunity for us to build a deeper connection with the communities we serve and help people in need.”
