A high-speed wireless Internet provider in Wilmington is now taking reservations.
WhyFly announced the service on its website, with a sign-up page for future customers.
Kevin Kriss, vice president of operations, said the company sends a high-speed wireless signal to customers in downtown Wilmington.
The start-up company is based in The Mill start-up center in the Nemours Building in downtown Wilmington.
According to Krriss, the company discovered that Internet speeds in the Market Street area of downtown are low and affect the ability of smaller companies to do business a time when software and services are moving to the cloud.
WhyFly also sees growth potential as more people move to downtown and demand high-speed Internet for gaming and working from home.
Kriss believes landlords will see the system as a drawing card for residents, some of whom work on technology jobs at banks and other employers.
High-speed wireless also plays into the popularity of “cutting the cord” and bypassing the cable TV system by streaming content from Netflix and cable networks.
“I believe it is the wave of the future,” Kriss says.
The website lists prices starting at $25 a month for 100 megabits per second or $50 for business at 100 MBPS. Comcast also offers a separate business broadband service, with rates for 100 MBPS rates of $149.
Speeds on WhyFly go as high as one gigabyte at a starting cost of $1,000 for a business to $125 for a residential customer.
Comcast has been increasing speeds on its system. Meanwhile, Verizon is offering a FIOS promotional rate of around $65 a month for 100 MBPS outside the city. Comcast’s Xfinity site lists a $99-a-month rate for 100 MBPS with a discount for the first year.
Verizon, AT&T and other carriers are working on high-speed wireless technology that would go into homes and perhaps businesses through upgrades in their mobile systems.
Verizon’s plans to go into densely populated Boston are said to be tied to high-speed non-fiber access. Verizon bypassed Wilmington with its fiber-optic FiOS system.
Kriss said the company is in a quiet mode at present but will be active at technology events.
The system will first operate in downtown Wilmington, but could expand to other areas, Kriss said.
