Chowing down on success in the WiFi market

Learn how the strength of the Rogers Business network helped niche wireless provider, Shark WiFi, become a bigger fish in the telecom pond.

“At the time, I wasn’t enamoured with any of the telecom companies. But Rogers wound up being a breath of fresh air.”

After 22 years running one of the country’s largest security companies with its own radio frequency network, Brad Morrison was ready for his next venture in the telecom space. “When we sold, we didn’t sell the telecom side. And I loved the telecom side of the business. We had about 30 towers in major cities across Canada.”

Then, a large Canadian telco came knocking to buy the towers while also encouraging Brad to get into the cellular business, for which the telco offered to supply SIM cards and provide a wealth of guidance. “It takes a while to get a handle on how you can make money in this industry,” says Brad. “This is the only industry where two plus two is not four.” As such, Brad looked forward to learning a lot from his new provider, but over the course of two years, that guidance never materialized. “We pleaded with them to help us, and nothing,” says Brad. "We would email 10 or 20 times a day and not get any responses.”

Now President of Shark WiFi, a national provider of mobile routers and data plans primarily for remote locations like campsites, cabins and RVs travelling through rural areas, Brad couldn’t be happier having switched to Rogers Business. “Anytime I call, my rep always works hard to ensure I get what I need when I need it. They’ve helped me understand more of the industry.”

One key aspect Brad has learned from Rogers Business is what a truly reliable network should be like. “Every month, I have people saying the network is phenomenal,” he says, referring to families vacationing in the Great Outdoors. “I've had clients say we've never been able to get the net out here. Some of them have four video game consoles going at the same time. I've seen 240 gigs go through in a two-hour period. The throughput that that takes without missing a beat is staggering.”

However, Shark WiFi doesn’t limit themselves to campers and RVers; they also provide internet connectivity to a variety of businesses. Brad remembers when a major client they signed just two days earlier called him to say they lost their broadband internet from their primary provider—another major Canadian telco—in the middle of crunch time for their business. Because of that, they wanted to start using Shark WiFi right away. “They’ve got 60 people in their office,” says Brad, “and they all need to use the internet at one time. They phoned me the next day saying how I saved their business. Rogers came through yet again.”

But Brad’s largest client relies on the network for one of the more unique use cases of any organization. “They're in every airport in Canada,” says Brad. “They de-ice planes. They rely heavily on the internet for their loads and the different sprays they need to put on the planes. If their internet goes down, they're in trouble, but so are the passengers. We're talking life and death.” Brad couldn’t be prouder to offer that company the routers they need and rests easy knowing it’s often the Rogers network they’re connecting to.

Brad looks forward to a bright future for Shark WiFi with Rogers Business providing not only the connectivity his business needs to succeed, but the service and support he feels goes above and beyond what he’s seen from other corporations, particularly other large telcos. “Rogers really does care,” says Brad. “I know that sounds cliché, but they do.”

Find out how to power your solutions with connectivity from Rogers Business.