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[Fishing at Surfside]

Article about a small white space competitor - let's go get'em!

Start-up's goal: Wire, hire, use space at old Jacksonville library

Nov 09, 2010 (The Florida Times-Union - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A win-win-win scenario was laid out Monday afternoon at the old downtown library: well-paying jobs downtown, affordable Internet access to those who can't afford it now and a vital piece in moving the library redevelopment ahead.

At a presentation in front of about 40 people, officials of Ringtail Technology, a Jacksonville-based start-up, unveiled its product: a wireless encoder that provides Internet, television and telephone services at a lower price than existing cable technology. Ryan Younger, the CEO, said the company is looking at charging about $50 for all three.

As a demonstration, Ringtail had three TVs, a computer and a telephone operating on signals beamed in from Third and Main in Springfield.

The primary target audience is poor and unserved markets, including overseas, he said. But the company does plan to launch it in Jacksonville, perhaps as soon as next year.

Younger said he expects the company to have raised $5 million by the end of this month, which is enough to get the company under way. And one of the places they're considering setting up shop is Haydon Burns Library, which has been vacant for five years.

If they move there, the company would take the entire third floor, said Bill Cesery, a developer and one of building's owners.

Younger said Ringtail would open with 50-75 employees doing sales, marketing, administration and programming work. The jobs would be in the $80,000-$100,000 range and could eventually grow to about 300 employees.

The device, about 12 by 5 by 1 inch, would be assembled here with parts made overseas. That assembly, which might be done in the library's basement, could start with 100-150 jobs paying $40,000-$45,000, Younger said. He also said they're considering Cecil Field. With Ringtail for a tenant, Cesery said that would put him in position to apply for a Small Business Administration loan to finance the renovation of the 125,000-square-foot building.

The only definite tenant he has so far is a nightclub planned by partners Matt Richardson and Michael Yokan. Work on the club has already begun, and Richardson said it would be on two levels with bowling, a full-service restaurant and concert space for a crowd of 1,500-2,000.

The library location and the company's full funding are not definite. Among other funding sources, Ringtail hopes to qualify for the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund, a state program that could pay the company as much as $8,000 per employee.

The technology uses what's called white space, the unused spectrum between TV channels. The Federal Communications Commission agreed in 2008 to open the space to unlicensed users and in September voted to allow providers and manufacturers to make devices to use it.

The signal can be sent from existing cell phone towers.

The company got its start in Belize, in an attempt to provide Internet, TV and phone to the poor and rural people there.

"But we had some problems with the government," Younger said. "And that didn't work out." Chris Chaleki, the chief technology officer, said the technology they use exists elsewhere, but at three times the price. The key, he said, was designing encoding software to make it financially feasible.

The video quality, he said, isn't quite as good as Dish TV or cable, but it was designed for those who either can't afford or don't have access to traditional providers.

"We can't compete with the big boys on that," he said. "But the question we worked with was, 'Is it acceptable?'" Much of Monday's presentation was about bringing the Internet to those who can't afford it.

Lynn Griffin, operations manager of the Hollybrook Homes Apartments on King Street, said Ringtail has been used for the past six months in the complex's computer lab and that the signal has been as good as the T1 line the complex had before that.

The goal, he said, is to get Ringtail in each of the 182 units.

http://4g-wirelessevolution.tmcnet.com/wimax/news/2010/11/09/5124438.htm