Chicago, IL., May 28, 2008 - Sparkplug, Inc., a leading provider of fixed wireless broadband, today announced that it has significantly expanded the reach and capacity of its Chicago network, making Sparkplug's affordable high speed business grade broadband available to more businesses in the Chicago metropolitan area.

With the latest expansion, over 19,000 additional Chicago businesses can take immediate advantage of Sparkplug's service, bringing the total number of businesses in Sparkplug's service area in the metropolitan area to more than 63,000, a more than 43% increase. In addition, Sparkplug has significantly increased the capacity of its Chicago network backbone to support geographical expansion and new customer growth.

Driven by new Web-based applications for voice, video, images and hosted software, many businesses find they are straining the limits of their existing wireline service. Businesses are demanding dedicated symmetrical connections that go well past traditional T1 services that top out at 1.5 Mbps. Affordable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy wireline solutions are often not available in the range between 3 and 15 Mbps. This has become a real challenge for many businesses. As a growing number of Chicago area businesses have discovered, Sparkplug's fixed wireless network offers the most cost effective and scalable way to stay ahead of their rapidly growing bandwidth requirements. They are attracted to the control and flexibility Sparkplug's solutions provide to them as their needs grow.

One such business is COLOR IMAGE, a Chicago-based provider of high-quality graphics for over 25 years. Over the last decade, the company's business has become increasingly oriented around the Web, which offers a convenient way to exchange large graphic files and interact with customers. Now COLOR IMAGE is taking its use of the Web to the next level with a new customer portal.

"Sparkplug has been with us every step of the way as our business has grown and changed, said Tom O'Dowd, IT Manager of COLOR IMAGE. "We have been able to upgrade our bandwidth to a 6 Mbps symmetrical connection as our needs have evolved, and it's easy, fast, and flexible. Sparkplug provides the competitive edge we need in our business."

Healthy and Secure

For Lincoln Park Hospital, the challenge was large radiology files and other demands creating spikes that bogged down the existing T1 line. The hospital also required a secure point-to-point connection to meet HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) compliance requirements.

"Sparkplug's broadband satisfies all the needs of our hospital: a secure, HIPAA-compliant connection, easy upgrades, fast service, and more attractive pricing than our other choices," said Karen Gill, Director, Information Systems at Lincoln Park Hospital. "Sparkplug provided a 14 Mbps high capacity data connection as well as an additional 4 Mbps connection for our radiology needs, and was able to provide installation and service rapidly and easily. We like the fact that Sparkplug is a Chicago company with a strong local technical support team."

Tripp Lite, a world-leading manufacturer of power protection and connectivity equipment headquartered in Chicago, faced a similar bandwidth challenge. In the midst of an expansion effort, Tripp Lite found itself needing scalable high capacity broadband.

"Sparkplug's fixed wireless broadband solution delivered the extra capacity that was difficult to find from any other provider," said Frank Scalise, IT Operations Manager of Tripp Lite. "We purchased a 10 Mbps connection and now have the flexibility to add more capacity easily over time as our needs change. The flexibility and capacity choices Sparkplug offers above 3 Mbps solve a significant challenge for our business."

"Growing data applications including voice and video are creating broadband speed and capacity challenges for today's business," said Ben Brimhall, Vice President of Engineering and Operations for Sparkplug. "The Sparkplug network leverages WiMAX technology to provide our customers with the latest in affordable, easily scalable, high bandwidth, low latency service that businesses need."

Sparkplug's Network: Providing Scalable High Speed Broadband

Sparkplug's network offers a number of advantages over competing solutions. Sparkplug can deliver service much more cost effectively than wired alternatives, offering a savings of 30 to 60 percent. In addition, many buildings simply do not have the wired infrastructure to support the kind of capacity customers need for their business. With Sparkplug businesses can be up and running in a day or two. Wired alternatives often require months of waiting. Sparkplug can also increase customer bandwidth capacity on demand as business needs evolve.

"Our continuing growth and expansion in the Chicago market is a reflection of the demand we're seeing for a better class of business broadband service," said Bill Malloy, Sparkplug Chief Executive Officer. "Customers in Chicago and all our markets across the country are asking for a solution to their growing broadband demands that goes beyond what is available today. Given the need in the market for high speed, affordable, scalable broadband, our fixed wireless service is proving to be a valuable solution for today's broadband-intensive businesses."

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:
Rob Goodman
McKenzie Worldwide
(503) 863-2004
robg@mckenzieworldwide.com