At the time Las Vegas-based Terrible Herbst approached Sparkplug Communications, the retail locations were running a frame relay network to connect the c-stores to their corporate [image-nocss] headquarters. The cost of maintaining and upgrading this network spurred Terrible Herbst to initiate a comprehensive cost review.
"With the wireless network solution we offered, we were able to deliver a 34% cost reduction per store," said Daman Wood, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Sparkplug Communication's vice president of sales. "Sparkplug will give Terrible Herbst a private network solution that is much easier to manage, and enable well over $100,000 of annual savings over their previous solution."
Bill Kissell, vice president for IT at Terrible Herbst, said, "I had a legacy network that worked, but I needed to cut costs. Our network is extensive and supports key corporate functions such as point-of-sale transactions, backoffice applications and corporate email. I needed to find a way to reduce spending even as the network was growing."
Sparkplug's wireless network spans five states: Nevada, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee and Arizona. Sparkplug's wireless solution is ideal for business customers like Terrible Herbst, who are operating end-of-life networks and facing costly upgrade decisions. High capacity wireless is less costly, and scales in real-time with the growth of the business, without having to wait for more wiring to be laid.
"This is a win-win for Sparkplug and for Terrible Herbst," said Michael Ruley, CEO of Sparkplug. "We have invested in creating a high capacity, business grade wireless network to deliver the quality that businesses require for their communications needs, and we do it at a price point that makes a lot more sense than traditional wired solutions."
Sparkplug is a leading fixed wireless broadband service provider currently operating networks across seven 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. Customers can choose from a variety of symmetrical bandwidth service options with speeds up to 1 Gbps. The company also provides high-capacity data services and transport to many of the nation's leading telecommunications providers.
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