Element8 Investment in Wisper ISP Brings Two Fixed Wireless Providers Together

Element8, a broadband provider with a focus on fixed wireless access (FWA), made a “transformational” investment in Wisper ISP, another broadband provider with an FWA focus. Element8 will invest $151 million in Wisper, said Element8 Executive Vice President Jonathan Van. “We both believe next-generation FWA is the best high-speed internet solution for many of the markets we cover so we can connect the highest number of people and meet our ultimate mission,” Van said. Wisper ISP was the second biggest winner in the 2018 Connect America Fund (CAF II) auction, in which it won $220 million for FWA deployments in unserved rural areas. The company offers service in parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The company’s CAF win apparently caught the attention of Microsoft, which invited the company to join its Airband rural broadband initiative – an initiative aimed at bringing broadband to unserved rural areas, primarily through FWA. Element8 offers FWA and fiber broadband in Oklahoma, Texas, and “the Heartland.” The company got a big boost in 2023 when investment firm Digital Alpha Advisors invested $200 million in the company. Asked if the companies expect to pursue government funding for broadband buildouts, Van said, “When the government’s mandate is to connect every American, we continue to see the need for private capital and strategic partners to come together with proven builders and operators to make the most of public funding allocated for this once-in-a-generation digital infrastructure opportunity.”