Ridin’ The Airwavz

Firm provides economical solutions for poor wireless coverage inside buildings

By Brandi Smith

We’ve all been there: as part of a conversation or meeting, you pull out your phone to show something of interest only to run into the dreaded delay. Either the app can’t load at all or your group sits gathered around your phone as it takes an absurd amount of time to display what you wanted to showcase.

“These days, no one can survive without at least one wireless mobile device. Some people have several,” says Jay Cutler, the director of emerging markets and special projects for Airwavz Solutions. “It’s a great source of frustration for people when they go somewhere to do business and they cannot use these devices for which they’re paying a lot of money.”

On occasion the app itself is to blame, but more times than not, you’re buried inside a building of concrete and steel with windows covered by a film that blocks outdoor cellular signals. It’s really no surprise that you can’t access a decent cell signal, is it? Five years ago, perhaps you could have answered ‘yes’ to that question, but the demands of the customer or client no longer allow that.

“Millennials today want a work environment where they’re not tied to a desk. Anyone under the age of 35 basically needs to be mobile in their work environment because they do not sit in a cubicle much anymore. That’s the environment we live in,” Cutler adds. “And more and more companies are doing away with office landlines all together as a cost-saving measure.”

He offers himself up as an example. Cutler spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, working as a spectrum engineer and gaining telecommunication skills for eight of them. Once he retired in 2004, Cutler says he hasn’t had a traditional office job since.

“I’ve been mobile my entire career. I work from my home office, then I’m on the road,” he says. “It can be extremely frustrating when you’re trying to do business with people, and you cannot use your phone to pull up whatever data you need to share with them to conduct business.”

His crew at Airwavz has heard the horror stories and is working to solve the problem in properties all over the country. The team designs, develops, owns and operates wireless infrastructure platforms as a service for building owners and enterprise customers. The company’s leadership team has been involved in the wireless industry since its inception. Over the past three decades, they’ve helped deploy billions of dollars of wireless infrastructure.

“We were founded about six and a half years ago to solve a problem in the telecom industry in building coverage for the cellular carrier,” Cutler says. “We came up with a solution that actually solves that problem in an economical way.”

The solution to the poor-signal problem, Cutler explains, has been around for years. Until now, however, it’s been prohibitively expensive.

“We’ve developed a method that makes it very economical,” he says. Carriers, such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, took on the challenge for themselves when it came to projects such as NRG Park, Cutler says. In that case, it’s an issue of brand protections. Those carriers wanted users to be able to take video, send pictures and post to social media while at a Texans game, for example. They’re unable to do that in every building — new and old — in the country, though.

Airwavz works with developers to outfit new buildings with the technology that will allow its tenants unmitigated cell service, but it can also retrofit buildings ranging from Class-A office to industrial facilities to hospitals and hospitality venues.

“Because the buildings can actually put that cost into their operational expenses and charge it back to the tenants (if they want to recoup their costs), it’s no longer a capital expense to them,” Cutler says. “That works for everybody.”

The experience and tools of Airwavz extend beyond just basic cellular service as well.

“Laws are being passed that require public safety systems in buildings to allow police and fire radios to operate throughout a building. We solve those problems as well. We can solve WiFi problems,” says Cutler.

“We want people to know there are solutions available and there are economical ways to get them done. Ubiquitous wireless service inside a building isn’t an amenity; it’s a must-have for business and security.”

He adds that, as executives across the country have realized the opportunities offered by Airwavz, the company has experienced incredible growth.

Based in Charlotte, Airwavz launched in Houston first, followed by Dallas. Now Cutler is traveling to Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, San Antonio and Denver to open those markets up as well.

“We’re growing quickly. It’s pretty exciting,” Cutler says. “Word is spreading fast and we’re very happy about it.”

To learn more about Airwavz Solutions and how its technology can work for you, visit Airwavz.com or call 833-AIRWAVZ.