Tech pioneer Atlantic.net eyes future of 5G speeds
Orlando company plans to be a major player in next-generation service
An Orlando-based tech pioneer from the long-gone days when dial-up Internet was standard has plans to jump headfirst into the world of 5G Internet speeds.
Atlantic.net debuted 25 years ago in a dorm room with lofty expectations, hoping to compete directly with the telecom giant AmericaOnline.
After early success, the company has since shifted to providing cloud services for clients such as the Orlando Magic, Hilton and NASA from its seven data centers around the globe, including its main site on Kennedy Boulevard in Eatonville.
“The thing that makes 5G more exciting is we don’t yet know its impact,” Atlantic CEO Marty Puranik said. “It’s a big opportunity for us.”
Telecommunications companies have been positioning themselves in anticipation of an expected widespread rollout of next-generation connectivity.
That 5G speed is expected to eventually affect everything from trash collection to medical re
sponse times, allowing nearly instantaneous communication between devices and 5G-enabled products.
For instance, a gunshot could eventually signal nearby cameras to start recording, said Ron Willett, president of ClearSky Technologies.
“The kinds of applications this could enable, people are not even thinking about right now,” he said. “Who knew when 4G rolled out that you’d be able to have food delivered to your house? Cell phone connectivity allowed that to happen.”
That speed will be crucial in more life-preserving ways, he said.
“If you’re dealing with an autonomous car, you don’t want to see the ‘circle of death,’” Willett said, referring to a loading screen on Apple computers that indicate a slow-loading program or application.
While AT&T announced in April that it had rolled out 5G networks in Orlando, among other cities,
mobile phones with those capabilities remain scarce.
Some say the next-generation service could become more widespread as soon as next year, but skeptics caution that it might not be readily available for another five years.
In either case, Atlantic .net plans to be a player.
The company manages data for small businesses and Fortune 500 companies from its 25,000square-foot Eatonville data center.
“Twenty-five years ago, nobody knew what the Internet was,” said Puranik, 46. “We have gone from that to websites and highspeed Internet to now we are shifting to 5G.”
Atlantic.net employs 40 people in Central Florida, having come a long way since Puranik and two cofounders started the company at the age of 20 out of a University of Florida dorm room.
He said there was a little bit of naiveté when he started the company, thinking he could take on AOL. But not much.
“There was some of that, but we had a big belief in it,” he said. “It worked out.”
The concept for the company’s formation was that the Internet at the time was a quickly emerging resource — and they offered access to the Internet for free.
Since then, the company has had to adapt in the fiercely competitive technology industry.
“I try to see a lot of things happening before they happen,” he said, noting that many entrepreneurs aim for where they see the market headed. “It’s not about survival of the fittest. It’s survival of the most adaptable.”
It wasn’t all positive for Puranik, who had to initially battle skeptics in his own home.
His parents, who both come from academic backgrounds, expected him to follow in their footsteps.
“They were not happy at all,” he said. “But it comes down to doing what you want to do. When you see an opportunity, you have to pull the trigger. You have to be all in.”