On any given day, Wireless Network Administrator Ryan Shelberg and his team of wireless internet technicians at NITCO are ready for whatever comes their way. Some days it is a routine install at a home out in DeMotte, Indiana, giving customers access to wireless internet connections. Other days, however, Shelberg or a member of his team could be climbing 500 feet up a tower to maintain the network that connects a major part of a city.
“We have a larger scope of work. On the other side of the house, we have a construction team and an install and repair team. On our wireless internet network, we encompass all of that,” said Shelberg. “We do the full network maintenance, tower climbing, installation of plants, even down to residential and commercial installations, and fielding customer service calls and surveys.”
As a team of wireless internet technicians, Shelberg and his guys fix residential and commercial wireless internet service around Northwest Indiana, from Cedar Lake to East Chicago and more. NITCO’s wireless internet technicians work round the clock to ensure the wireless internet connection to the internet is up and running smoothly.
Shelberg and his team of three technicians, including Christopher Carden, Sam Kennedy, and Rob Wright, are a tight-knit group. Shelberg has been with NITCO coming on 15 years, while his fellow team members have been with him from anywhere between one year and seven years.
“I work with a great group of guys,” Shelberg said proudly. “You never really know on any given day if something could go haywire on a tower, which means we are up 500 feet in the air. Or we have trouble calls or surveys to do, or installations scheduled. So, we work really well as a team coordinating who is going to cover what and who’s going to go on calls or stay back to interact with customers.”
They also do their part to install networks and connect customers in underserved areas where there is minimal coverage.
“it’s something that makes us feel really good about the job,” Shelberg said. “We’re helping connect people to the internet and getting them a great internet service. They may not have a lot of options in rural areas, so that’s something we look forward to—working to get people the best service and getting to know them in the process.”
One occasion that stands out in Shelberg’s mind is a few years ago when they were in the process of upgrading towers and equipment to provide better broadband networks to customers in order to keep up with today’s streaming and internet demands.
“We were waiting for permits to come through and it was taking a while for them to come in,” he said. “When they finally did, however, we got to work and went from door to door to update customers’ connection, and together, we were able to do it very quickly.”
A few years ago, when the team consisted of Shelberg and one other guy, a tower fell over, causing a disruption in service.
“We were looking to move off that tower to begin with, so we got the equipment installed on the new tower and got every customer’s equipment changed over to the new site within two days,” he said. “It was quite challenging, I remember clearly, but we got it done.”
“We tackle issues from trouble with a customer’s connection, to a down tower right away,” Shelberg said. “We are usually out there that day, even in harsh conditions. We are always trying to keep networks going and restore service as quickly as possible.”
That dedication is more important now than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started in this business back in 2001 doing installs for high-speed internet, and back then, it wasn’t a big deal if someone’s network was down. They could wait a few days for us to get out there,” Shelberg said. “Today, that’s not the case. Now, it’s more like having their water shut off. So, we understand it, and we’re always up for answering the call.”
To learn more about NITCO, visit www.nitco.com.
