Our History

Founded in August of 1995 by Bill Ward, and his son, Brad, FRII has benefited from the knowledge and top-notch skills of this father-son team of entrepreneurs. The two men didn't go it alone, however, but received help from a number of other computer specialists, including Andy Neely. Neely, who is the current vice president of the company's technical operations, played an instrumental role in developing the technical side of the business from the start. In addition, Brad Wherry, though not an employee, contributed invaluably in the creation of the architecture for FRII's entire system.

Bill's 20 years' experience building large-scale, networked information systems in both the government and commercial sectors came together nicely with his son Brad's educational experience, prompting their decision to form FRII. As a recent graduate of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Brad received a degree in computer science. Thus starting FRII as a father-son venture seemed like an almost guaranteed success, given the backgrounds and expertise of the two men. The company's performance since its inception has proven their decision to be an advantageous one - FRII went from a start-up to a company producing $3 million in revenues in just five years.

That system - which provides all of the same services as well-known nationwide ISPs - has enabled FRII to permeate the regional community. Backed by the guarantee of better, more reliable customer service and customized business solutions, FRII has reached out to both residential and business Internet users. Though initially the majority of the company's revenues came from residential users, this trend has shifted as more and more businesses have signed on with FRII. This has happened as local and regional companies have come to realize the benefits of having more immediate technical support and truly customized business solutions that they would be unlikely to find through a larger ISP.

FRII's rapid growth received a boost in May 2000 when the company acquired the assets of Verinet Communications, formerly a separate local Fort Collins ISP. In merging with Verinet, FRII not only expanded its customer base, but also eliminated one of its major local competitors.

Another significant event occurred in 2000 when FRII became involved in developing an ISP pilot project for an Internet weather warning system similar to those used on televisions. The project, sponsored by the ISP Business Forum and the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, also involved the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In November 2000 FRII received the Front Line Award from the ISP Business Forum in recognition of the company's participation in the project.

FRII has made it a point to give back to the community since its inception, as exemplified by the personal efforts of company President Bill Ward. In 2000 Bill spent a year working with a group of business owners and people in the community in creating a vision of Fort Collins' future library. He has also serves as the committee chairman of the library fund, managing the funding for the library that comes from private sources.

As a company, FRII is always looking for ways to provide services to the community more efficiently, as well as performing community outreach projects. Such projects have included the donation of low cost and free Internet access to local nonprofits. While preferring to maintain a low profile in this area, FRII is always striving to find better ways for underprivileged groups to receive access to Internet technology and to reap the benefits of that technology. In addition the company is a member of Chambers of Commerce in Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Denver.

In the rapidly changing ISP environment, FRII embraces the challenges presented by both the present and the future. Whether it involves transitioning from modems to broadband, DSL, cable, wireless or another potential technological advance, FRII is ready and able to incorporate new advances as quickly as possible in order to best serve its expanding customer base. While currently about half of FRII's customers are located in Larimer County, the company also serves metro Denver and Colorado Springs and has plans to become the ISP of choice for other regional areas as well. With the virtually guaranteed increasing popularity of the Internet, FRII will undoubtedly provide for years to come the high-quality, personalized services its regional customers have come to expect.