It was in June 1993, that interest for the Internet stirred within Roanoke County businessman Doyle Edgerton. Edgerton was running a computer consulting firm, Kinetic Data Systems Inc., in Southwest Roanoke County when his father, who lived in Southside Virginia, developed prostate cancer. Edgerton began researching the disease, via the Internet, after a fellow engineer, Robert West, introduced him to Veronica, the text-based crawler that you could use to find research papers across the Internet. From his computer, Edgerton tapped into the National Institute of Health's Internet site in Bethesda, Md. He was able to discover treatments for prostate cancer that local doctors had not told his father about. Armed with that knowledge, Edgerton talked his father into going to the Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., for treatments, which brought the cancer under control.

Afterward, Edgerton said he saw the need for a quality Internet access provider in the Roanoke Valley. Then, local access was limited to Virginia Tech's Blacksburg Electronic Village and now defunct InfiNet, a Norfolk-based Internet service with which The Roanoke Times was affiliated. So Edgerton founded Rev.Net Technologies, Inc. "We started with 2 computers and 7 modems on a shelf." Edgerton recalls. "Rev.Net's Vice-President, Jeff Culverhouse and I manned the technical support lines ourselves (Rev.Net now has over 400 digital phone lines). It was the only way to tell if we were doing a good job." During that time, Edgerton's good friend and business associate, Robert West, showed him a design for a logo. It depicted a tcp packet, pulsing down a data line and he said, "Rev.Net", Edgerton loved what the name stood for; a fast network, and it stuck. "So we became Rev.Net", just like that.

That was more than 10 years ago. Now, Rev.Net is the only dialup/broadband Internet-access provider with its headquarters in the Roanoke Valley. Edgerton has hired Bernie Cosell, an Internet pioneer, as Security Officer and Senior Programmer. Cosell, was among the 12 programmers who wrote the original code for the Internet in 1969. Edgerton considers hiring Cosell a milestone for his company. "MCI got Vint Cerf, we got Bernie Cosell. I like the way that worked out."

Rev.Net is one of the remaining handful of ISPs that compete with national telecommunications giants such as AT&T, MCI and Bell Atlantic and big on-line service providers such as America Online.

"Competition only makes this market better", Edgerton states when asked about the other companies providing service in the area. "It helps us see where our strengths and weaknesses are and forces us to constantly improve." "Without competitors, a market grows stagnant. Look what happened to cable when they had no competition. Poor service and high prices."

Rev.Net brings a lot to the Roanoke Valley. Employing Roanokers for the last 10 years, Rev.Net has created many opportunities for young, inexperienced people to hone their skills and develop earning power they might not otherwise have had. With the amount of experience that Rev.Net has employed, its offices are known as a training ground for programmers and techies. It's a synergy that works well for both, employee and company. This synergy has produced an unmatched quality of Internet service for the people of Roanoke, VA. Additionally, Roanoke County and Roanoke City rely on Rev.Net to stream their council meetings. This service provides a way to air the Roanoke Valley Council meetings to anyone connected to the Internet, even if they're in China. With archives of County and City council meetings dating back 12 months or more, it's easy to keep up with what's up in Roanoke. Just connect to the Internet, click on WREV.NET and select which meeting you'd like to view. There are local radio stations that can be heard at WREV.NET as well. Rev.Net is also affiliated with Blue Ridge Public TV and WVTF Public Radio.

Winning the Torch Award for Ethics from the Better Business Bureau in 2003 and the Small Technology Company of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce in 2004, Rev.Net Technologies, Inc. is on an upward spiral. "We have lots of surprises for our competitors on the horizon. We think the public will be extremely pleased with our next few offerings." Edgerton says.

Edgerton is alluding to their latest advances for fighting Spam/Viruses and BEAM ACCESS®, the licensed wireless Broadband Internet product that Rev.Net Technologies, Inc. developed and copyrighted in 2002. Truly mobile Internet is just around the corner.

Keep your eye on this rapidly growing company from Roanoke, VA. They are connecting Roanoke to the rest of the world.