Provider Spotlight: Wisper ISP

Roxana Ryan
Published: September 26, 2012
Related to: Southeast Central eTeam

BELLEVILLE, September 26, 2012 -- In 2003, Nathan Stooke's neighbor needed broadband. 

While Stooke had high-speed access on his side of the street, his neighbor, a small business owner, was not so lucky. Stooke began to investigate how wireless internet worked, and was soon providing service to his neighbor. 

"I figured, if I can do this for him, I could do it for lots of people in the same situation," Stooke said. 

Stooke convinced his wife put $36,000 on their credit cards and the business began out of their two-car garage. 

Based out of Belleville, Wisper now serves a large chunk of South Central Illinois and has no intention of slowing down. 

"We want to be the best wireless service provider in a 120-mile radius of St. Louis," Stoke said. "We have happy customers from Jerseyville all the way to Red Bud and from O'Fallon, MO to Marion."

Wisper provides service to residential and business clients, including multiple city, government and federal agencies in addition to a large health care organization in St. Louis. 

"We also hook up a lot of folks and farmers in rural areas who don't have access to other services," Stooke said. "We figure if no one else can reach them, we will. Many farmers are utilizing us because we're able to put equipment on grain bins and serve everyone within a 5-6 mile radius."

Wisper has recently completed five new acquisitions and is adding a plethora of new towers. The company recently received a Small Business Administration loan that will allow them to expand further.  

"The loan has been huge for us," Stooke said. "I've hired nine employees since January and am looking to hire five more. We're doing our part to invest in the community and turn the economy around." 

In addition to the expansions, Stooke is ensuring that new networks are upgraded to Wisper's standards- at no extra cost to his customers. 

"It's all about our people," Stooke said. "We take care of our employees and we take care of our customers. We're proud of that and that's how we'll succeed in the long run." 

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