Scottsdale, AZ, March 19, 2009 - Sparkplug Communications, a leading provider of fixed wireless business broadband services, today announced that it is providing high speed, wireless Internet access for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" for a home that was made-over in Las Vegas the week of March 12th.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is now in its sixth season, and has won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality Program, plus two People's Choice Awards and the Family Television Award for Best Alternative/Reality Program.
On March 12th, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" gave the good news to the Cerda family of Las Vegas that their home would be rebuilt in seven days. The Cerdas have two daughters suffering from an immune disorder called Combined Immune Deficiency Disease (CIDD). Their existing home threatens the health of the two girls. The home renovation and filming began in Las Vegas on March 12th and ended on March 17th.
The communications infrastructure for an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" film site is extensive, and has to be stood up on very short notice. Wright Engineers of Las Vegas won the contract for the home renovation, and it was Wright that first called Sparkplug for help.
"From the time Wright Engineers called us on Wednesday afternoon, we completed a site survey on Thursday, and were installing the service by 5pm. At 8pm the site was up and running with 3 Megabits of Internet access," stated JR Jamarillo, Sparkplug Market Manager for Las Vegas.
One of the major benefits of Sparkplug's wireless broadband service, which is currently offered in five states, is the rapid installation timeframe and immediate scalability.
"Sparkplug's service is ideally suited to events like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"," stated Mike Ruley, Sparkplug's CEO. "We can literally stand up access in a day, and then immediately increase the capacity as demand for the event grows. There are no lines to pull, and no ground to dig up. We just point our wireless radio at the customer's location, and they are up and running."
Anjuli White, office manager for Wright Engineers, who are rebuilding the house for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" couldn’t be happier with the results. "We had to set up a construction site including all communications services in just one day. Until Sparkplug came along, we were using wireless cards, which were just not working given that are passing large design diagrams back and forth across the Internet, as well as building permits."
"Sparkplug Communications delivered the capacity we needed within 24 hours of my call. We have every laptop in our trailer connected to their service, as well many mobile users across the construction site. This project could not have succeeded without us having high capacity, reliable Internet connectivity. Thanks to Sparkplug Communications, now we can focus on what we came here to do: build a house," said White.
About "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", which has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as Best Reality Program (non-competitive), is entering its 6th season on ABC. The program is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. Anthony Dominici is the executive producer; and David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA.
About Sparkplug
Sparkplug is a leading fixed wireless broadband service provider currently operating networks across five states, including the metropolitan markets of Chicago, Nashville, Des Moines, Phoenix and Las Vegas. The company offers a suite of high-speed data, voice over IP, and other managed services over its own network to business, education and government customers. All enjoy the benefits of fast, scalable and easy-to-deploy broadband service. Customers can choose from a complete range of symmetrical bandwidth service options starting at 2 Mbps with speeds up to 1 Gbps at a fraction of the typical cost. The company also provides high capacity data services and transport to many of the nation's leading telecommunications providers. For more information, visit www.sparkplug.net.
Media Inquiries:
Carolann Samuels
Kendall Communications
(303) 495-2999
carolannsamuels@mac.com
