HiWAAY: Internet Services
HiWAAY's Beginnings
Meeting a Need
HiWAAY is a full-service ISP providing service throughout the state of Alabama. We first began in the fall of 1994 when Huntsville-based Channel 31 WAAY-TV, which at the time was owned by Smith Broadcasting, needed to receive mission-critical information in a timely manner. Along the way, we realized we could bring this type of service to businesses and residents in North Alabama under the parent company of WAAY-TV. HiWAAY then began offering Internet services to the public in March of 1995.
Smith Broadcasting sold WAAY-TV in 1999, but continues to own HiWAAY.
December 1994 - The year Netscape was first released. The equipment and lines were ordered and HiWAAY was born.
February 1995 - HiWAAY began taking orders for dial-up access at the annual IEEE conference in Huntsville.
June 1995 - HiWAAY acquired Nuance Network Services, based in Huntsville.
March 1995 - The first time we dialed-up to HiWAAY's system. First customer was Josh Kelly of Harvest. He is still a customer today.
February 1996 - HiWAAY doubled its staff and moved to its current location in the Market Square Mall.
June 1998 - HiWAAY expanded its facilities to accommodate growth.
January 1999 - HiWAAY acquired AIRnet Internet Services and the Internet access and web design business of Traveller Information Services, both based in Huntsville.
April 1999 - HiWAAY again doubled its office space to accommodate its growth. HiWAAY also announced its expanded services throughout the state of Alabama.
November 1999 - HiWAAY acquired NetMaster Internet Services, based in Decatur.
January 2000 - HiWAAY acquired Idea-Works of Birmingham, and the Internet services division of Internett Port of Oxford.
February 2000 - HiWAAY introduced its DSL services for business or home to Alabama's large markets, including Huntsville, Birmingham and Montgomery.
December 2000 - HiWAAY acquired NetNav Internet of Guntersville.
April 2001 - HiWAAY opened its secure co-location facility in Birmingham, and expands its Wireless solution for the Huntsville area.
May 2001 - HiWAAY offered its Wireless solution in Birmingham.
September 2001 - HiWAAY offered its DSL to mid-sized markets, including Athens and Decatur.
August 2002 - HiWAAY expanded dial-up services to include 14 additional Alabama cities.
October 2002 - HiWAAY introduced Managed Servers to help businesses keep web and email servers secure and updated while running at high speed.
February 2003 - HiWAAY introduced AnteSpam, a spam filtering product for businesses and individuals with their own domain names.
April 2003 - HiWAAY moved their Huntsville Network Operations Center to a more modern, secure location.
Recent History:
January 2004 - HiWAAY expanded its DSL offerings to include Lite and Super Fast.
September 2004 - HiWAAY moved their Huntsville Network Operations Center to a more modern, secure location.
December 2004 - HiWAAY opened the Computer Clinic, which specializes in the removal and prevention of spyware and viruses.
April 2006 - HiWAAY introduced Network Services, which specializes in network design, business process analysis, information security and managed IT servers.
A Snapshot of HiWAAY Today:
- More than 20,000 dial-up members
- Thousands of corporate accounts
- Provides Internet services to many of the state's top Fortune 500 companies
- Offers a full range of business solutions, including high-speed Internet access, web site hosting, server co-location, managed/unmanaged Windows- or Linux-based servers, spam filtering, and network services
Having been born into Huntsville's large government and technical industry base, HiWAAY now provides solutions to a wide range of industries. From medical to computer, from furniture to farming, from government agencies to individual subscribers, HiWAAY provides solutions to fit all kinds of Internet-related needs.