BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho resident is launching a new mobile network in hopes of providing better coverage to areas with poor service.
Erik Finman from Rathdrum, Idaho, started a company called Idaho Mobile, which will offer a starting price of $12 for unlimited premium wireless coverage across all 44 counties in Idaho.
His inspiration for this project came from his previous memories while growing up in North Idaho.
"The phone and Internet access was so horrible. It was so bad. Unfortunately,” Finman said.
So connecting to the world to share his ideas was certainly a challenge.
“Actually at 12 years old, I was trading Bitcoin at that time on a very slow Internet connection on Internet Explorer and, uh, and it was insufferably slow,” Finman said.
Wasn’t just the internet, phone service proved to be a problem too. Finman laughs remembering the hurdles to calling a high school crush.
“That's really unfortunate, not just from a romantic perspective, but a professional perspective, because people need to take phone calls for jobs, especially now. A lot of people are working remote and trying to apply for remote jobs. Fast phone and Internet access is not just a nice privilege, but a necessity,” Finman said.
He dropped out of Cour d’Alene High at 15 to chase the tech dream in Silicon Valley. Already a huge success story, Finman made headlines around the world earning the moniker “the youngest bitcoin millionaire.”
Finman seized the opportunity to launch a successful education startup as well as other successful tech ventures. But he never forgot the beauty of his home in Idaho.
“It was a great experience. I mean, the Bay Area, Silicon Valley was unfortunately kind of a dump, although with a lot of talented people. Finman said. "So I decided to move back to Idaho."
With the move came a mission: creating opportunities for young Idahoans across Idaho.
“People shouldn't have to drop out of high school and move to an entire state to find better opportunities," Finman said. "I think that's changed a lot in Idaho, but I'm trying to accelerate that with, you know, more Internet access, more phone access."
Enter Finman’s next project, Idaho Mobile.
He said when driving from Cour d'Alene, there are many dead spots, and that's unacceptable, so he wanted to change that and bring better internet access at an affordable price.
He said he also plans to invest in and improve infrastructure throughout the state. Also, people who care for Idaho oftentimes don't have money to install new equipment. Then the people with money don't necessarily care for Idaho.
It's very important to me, tremendously important to me,” Finman said.
Finman hopes Idaho Mobile will connect young Idahoans to big opportunities. He knows the potential of the people.
“I want to help them, and I want to help create more stories like mine in Idaho, where, you know, there's tremendous success here,” Finman said.
Idaho Mobile is available now, they are also introducing an option for low-income individuals to apply for free unlimited phone and internet access.
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