Charlotte-area startup Open Broadband is expanding its high-speed internet service to west-central Florida following an acquisition.
Waxhaw-based Open Broadband was founded in 2017 by Alan Fitzpatrick and Kent Winrich. The startup’s high-speed internet service is designed for customers in underrepresented communities that have been “left behind” by larger providers. It also provides hybrid fiber and fixed wireless internet service with up to multi-gigabit speeds.
Open Broadband announced yesterday it had purchased Spring Hill, Florida-based Nature Coast Networks. The acquired company provides broadband communications to underserved neighborhoods in west-central Florida. Nature Coast Networks’ full staff has joined Open Boradband. The startup also hired a new technician to manage the company’s growth in Florida, said an Open Broadband spokesperson.
Alan Fitzpatrick, CEO at Open Broadband, said the startup’s team has developed and implemented innovative solutions to provide its internet offerings in the Carolinas and Virginia. He added the startup is excited to join forces with Nature Coast and extend its services to Florida residents.
“The team at Nature Coast has done an excellent job building a reliable network in west-central Florida,” Fitzpatrick said. “Adding our experienced team to the work that Nature Coast Networks has done is an exciting new chapter for our company and for Florida residents.”
Open Broadband’s services are available to residents, small and medium-sized businesses, technology incubators, universities and government sites, including police, fire, town hall and airport facilities, the startup said.
Open Broadband also supports the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, health care and more. It offers free public Wi-Fi zones in downtown areas, parks, campuses and low-income communities.
“Our goal was to improve access to the internet in the community. … The rural broadband industry is a small community,” said Andy Roscoe, managing partner at Nature Coast Networks. “I have been aware of the work being done by the Open Broadband team for a while. With our local expertise and Open Broadband’s systems, Florida's broadband internet consumers will have new and exciting options.”
Open Broadband operates in the Carolinas, Virginia and now Florida. It is available in 13 North Carolina counties, including portions of Mecklenburg County.
To determine which communities are in need of its services, Open Broadband looks at where customers are most underserved or cannot afford services through larger providers.
“Generally, the county or town will tell us what their needs are, and we map our access in those places,” Fitzpatrick previously told CBJ.
Nature Coast Networks is the fourth acquisition by Open Broadband since 2018. In November, it expanded to western North Carolina after it purchased Cashiers-based Pyranah Communications. All of those acquisitions were small and local internet service providers.
