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HOUGHTON -- Last month, ShoreWaves Internet and Telephone announced it will cease operations, as the company's founder, Steve Fitzgerald, is retiring after 14 years. The news was announced to customers on July 2. It was later announced that the network will continue to operate under an interim operating agreement while a new company, Keweenaw Broadband Cooperative, is formed as a legal entity. Interim operations are being supported by Northern Perspectives, of Hancock, and by Superior Tech Wizards. According to its website, Superior Tech Wizards primarily works with municipal, commercial and community clients providing Cybersecurity and IT support
Alex Radke, founder and CEO of Superior Tech Wizards, and a member of the interim board, said he wants to assure subscribers prices will not increase. In the 14 years Fitzgerald was at the helm of ShoreWaves, prices had not increased, said Radke.
"Our intent is not increase prices at all," he said. "Fitzgerald founded the company and he was able to hire four people: He's got two incredible techs and two incredible administrative folks."
In fact, it was that service and customer support that led subscribers to come forward with requests to form a cooperative to assume the network assets and operations from Fitzgerald after he announced the closing of the business.
After ShoreWaves announced it would cease operations, long-time subscribers came forward with considerable enthusiasm for forming a new cooperative to assume the network assets and operations from Fitzgerald.
"The ShoreWaves customer service is what brought the communities out into the street saying they don't have alternatives, they need this internet to stay on."
The transition has encountered a few bumps in the road, Radke said. For instance, during the transition period, physical space is being relocated.
"One of the major fights against this right now is the ShoreWaves voice mailbox has been terminated," Radke said."The old phone line is down. Their office at the Mall is now closed." While various press releases list the Keweenaw Broadband location as 101 Quincy, there is no indication of its presence in the building.
"We have been moving things physically from the old mall location into the one at 101 Quincy," said Radke, "so it is a little bit of a mess."
Among the tasks of the interim board is creating the Keweenaw Broadband Cooperative board of directors, Radke said.
"We're looking for five to seven members, folks who want to come through, voice their opinions and help us run things, especially if they have any interest or knowledge about alternative internet systems that you're not going to get anywhere else," he said, adding that technical experience is not a requirement. Any interested subscriber is welcome to submit their name.
Radke said while the transition is in process, the major point he wants to emphasize is that the Keweenaw Broadband Cooperative is a not-for-profit organization.
"Any excess revenue we have is slated to go to rebates towards our paying customers," he said. "We're looking to make the internet prices go down, as opposed to everything else going up, which is what a cooperative does."
Radke said Fitzgerald has built an incredibly sophisticated and resilient broadband system.
"In other areas, you could just run a bunch of fiber lines, especially when you have folks with deep pockets to fund it," he said. "Instead, ShoreWaves, and now Keweenaw Broadband, has this sophisticated system where a little bit of it run by lines, a little bit of it is run over radios, but what it winds up being is something kind of reflective of the area we have."
Fitzgerald was was dedicated to the business and his customers, Radke said. In addition to the electronic equipment, Fitzgerald had purchased a lot of equipment for ditch digging and laying cables and installing equipment.
"It makes due with what it's got," said Radke, "and it's actually surprisingly good."
Radke said once the subscriber base become stabilized, the boards learn the "ins and outs," the plan is to continue to break ground and expand internet and phones to communities where dependable service is currently lacking.