GoBrolly received a Google review recently. We wanted to share it, along with our response, with our Customers and with anyone who is researching Internet providers.

The GoBrolly Google Review:

“I work in the IT field and was wanting to sign up for their service until I learned that they operate on unlicensed and unregulated frequencies. The data that is sent from you to them and visa versa is literally free for anyone with half of a mind to grab! I’ll be calling Fairpoint tomorrow to get DSL service. I would highly recommend you stay away from this type of internet service unless you are wanting to be hacked and/or spied upon. They should definitely have this concern posted on their webpage. BEWARE.”

Our response:

Beware of Fairpoint commercials disguised as Google reviews.

Thank You, Steven for bringing up these issues. We relish the chance to discuss all of the concerns you mention. We want everyone to have this information before they make a poor and uninformed decision about Internet service. We will post this information on our website – thank you for the suggestion. This information is written by an IT guy that has worked in the Industry for the past 35 years, worked in the military in an “electronic warfare” capacity before that, and has extensive experience in Internet Security requirements for the Banking Industry. So yeah, kind of an IT Spook.

So, as IT professionals, aren’t we working in an unregulated and unlicensed profession? That really does not seem to be the real issue. Should we assume that unregulated and unlicensed does not mean “gone rogue?” Someone from a phone company might suggest that unregulated is a bad thing. Funny, they have a regulated monopoly in phone service with protected territories. You only need to be regulated when you have a monopoly. Phone companies do not enjoy a monopoly in the Internet. The Internet is open. Internet providers of any kind enjoy no such protection.

We do understand that RF or Radio Frequency is something that most IT types don’t understand in depth. The home router that you may be using is not quite the same thing, even though we use some of the same frequencies that these routers use. To the “unregulated” part of what we do; We can only operate under the jurisdiction of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). We really are regulated. We are regulated to the frequencies that we can use, we are regulated in the power that we can transmit with, we are regulated by any interference we might generate. (In fact, we have to accept any interference and learn to work around it, like that home router.) We are regulated by how the FCC wants us to operate and serve the Consumer. Here is a shout out to the FCC for giving us some operating room in the radio frequency spectrum!

To the unlicensed part of what we do; It may make good press to refer to unlicensed out of context, but the unlicensed frequencies that we use have purposely been set aside by the FCC for this use. This keeps the Industry giants from grabbing up all of the radio frequency spectrum with their large checkbooks and stifling innovation practices. Rest assured, they are still trying to take up all of the licensed and unlicensed radio spectrum to keep operators like us out. Can you imagine the “license fee” you might have to pay to use that home router? The definition of unlicensed in this regard is that you can’t buy it. A license can’t be bought to exclude others. Hooray!

To the unlicensed Industry as a whole; The Internet is unlicensed. The Internet is (almost) untaxed. The Internet has been kept open and free on purpose, by design. To spur adoption and innovation in the communications industry. The phone companies do not run licensed Internet – there is no such thing. All Internet is unlicensed. Old wireline phone companies run the Internet unlicensed. All the cell phone based wireless companies run unlicensed Internet. All fiber companies run unlicensed Internet. All of the Internet is unlicensed.  Thank God we live in a country like ours, so that we can all use the Internet as we see fit.

As an IT professional, you should be aware that TCP/IP is a technical standard that does not care what kind of underlying technology is used to enable TCP/IP communications. Dial Up, satellite, fiber, copper wire, and radio frequencies all use the same standard Internet. The security of the communications is a function of what you the User have for communication security, not the medium that it runs on. Do you encrypt your wired phone line calls? Do you encrypt your cell phone? Do you encrypt your DSL Internet? Do you encrypt your fiber Internet? Do you encrypt your Google or Facebook usage? You should.

We, of course, do run our network in multiple encrypted fashions.  Can you intercept our signals? Maybe, maybe not. Can you decode the signals? Maybe, maybe not. Can you glean any useful information? Maybe, maybe not. Would it help you to know that one of our Customers is an Internet Security service? They seem to be pleased with our performance.  We pay attention to security 24x7x365.

We are simply the best Internet that you can buy. Wireless gives us a cost advantage as compared to a copper or fiber medium. There is not a security disadvantage. Security is something that is part of any network by design.

We hope these answers address most of your fears, uncertainties, and doubts. If not, we would love a chance to have a conversation about anything Internet!

GoBrolly Wireless Internet