We are Freedom Fighters

Every day, we hear from rural Kansans pleading to break free from the burden of slow internet. In everything we do, we’re removing barriers to progress – bringing customers, employees, and our communities the freedom to pursue greatness, and to have the quality of life and the opportunities they deserve.

Internet Freedom for all.

Our mission is to ensure every corner of Kansas has access to reliable, high-speed internet.

180+

Team Members

25

Years in Business

110+

Communities Served

35,000+

Customers

6,500+

Miles of Fiber

Who We Are

Internet Freedom Fighters

We believe reliable, high-speed internet shouldn’t be a luxury, and we pledge to continue the fight for Internet Freedom in rural Kansas communities.

Community Focused

We’re small-town techies and Kansans at heart, passionate about helping rural communities thrive. If we can help make that happen by connecting community members and organizations with our fast, reliable internet, we are all about it.

Local

We’re locals who care about you and your community. When you call, one of us–a real, live person–answers the phone. We love helping customers.

Award Winning

We’re a small crew with huge aspirations, one of Inc. 5000’s fastest growing private companies.

Big Thinkers

We’re an entrepreneurial, bold, resourceful team–rolling up our sleeves and pushing ourselves to achieve the impossible.

What makes a Freedom Fighter?

What we value makes us who we are.

Meet the Team

Passionate

Fierce belief in bringing freedom to the underserved
Hyper-Adaptable

Always looking ahead at different scenarios, ready to capitalize on opportunities and respond to new situations
Tenacious

Seeking out what may seem impossible with a “bring it on” attitude and grit that won’t quit
Inventive

Unconventional problem-solving through thinking like an entrepreneur—to find and act on ideas that disrupt the status quo, no matter how big or small.
Trustworthy

Having the backs of our colleagues and customers, always doing what we promise with mutual respect and decency

How We Got Here

Bringing Internet Freedom to the far reaches of Kansas is no small task. The thing is, we didn’t get into broadband because we wanted to start a business in Kansas. We started a business because we wanted to provide broadband to Kansans.

1999

In 1999, with only $250, co-founder Daniel Friesen and four friends from Buhler High School started IdeaTek as a computer repair business. Daniel continued to run the business in college while the four others left to pursue other interests.

2005

In 2005, Daniel led IdeaTek in telecommunications by purchasing and turning around failing dial-up and DSL companies. This success funded the first fiber-to-home service in Buhler in 2007, followed by Inman, Haven, Yoder, Mount Hope and Bentley.

2011

IdeaTek built its first fiber to a cell phone tower for Verizon Wireless.

2015

In 2015, IdeaTek sold its fiber-to-tower business, plus the valuable fiber network that stretched from the western state border to Kansas City. This allowed us to return to our roots — providing fiber to underserved rural communities. Reimer became CEO. Daniel, formerly the chief executive officer, became the company’s chief innovation officer. Thus, IdeaTek Telcom — the new company formed after the sale, was born. At the time, the business included 1,400 internet and phone customers across eight communities.

2017

Our service area and employee base again expanded greatly from 2017 to 2020. A cloud-based phone system was added to the product line and, in 2018, the Federal Communications Commission awarded IdeaTek $6 million to deploy fiber to rural Harvey, Reno and Sedgwick counties.

2020

In spring 2020, we acquired Skylink Wireless — adding wireless internet to our portfolio.

In October 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the vast need for everyone to have quality internet access at home, IdeaTek was awarded $13.7 million in federal funding to bring high-speed internet to 17 underserved Kansas counties. The company supplemented the project with $3.5 million in private investment.

We also were able to stretch the grant funding as far as possible by leveraging our existing large fiber network by 300 miles, then infilling all other underserved rural areas with 100 Mbps fixed wireless internet. This allowed us to reach more than 13,000 homes and businesses across central and western Kansas.

2024

Today, we provide broadband to tens of thousands of customers in over 100 Kansas communities. We are actively working on ways to bridge the digital gap and bring internet freedom to rural dwellers, businesses, and schools across Kansas.