Jun. 25—BATESVILLE — Watch Communications recently expanded their company's coverage area to include Batesville by adding two towers in the city.

The company and many of its representatives celebrated with Batesville Chamber of Commerce leaders through a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The company is a subsidiary of the Benton Ridge Telephone corporation founded in 1902 to provide telephone services to rural Ohio communities, according to Chief of Staff Lindsey Gardner.

"Fast forward 80 or 90 years, Watch TV Company was started," Gardner said. "It actually stands for Wireless Approach to Cabling Homes. ... Fast forward a few more years and we broached into fixed wireless broadband, which is now our main portion of the business."

Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer Tommy Della Rocco explained the importance of broadband coverage, which was realized by many when the pandemic struck and individuals needed to work from home. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently awarded a $52 million grant to cover specific rural areas including the Batesville area.

"One of the things we're terribly proud of is that this is our only business," Della Rocco said. "Rural. That's it. ... We don't go to cities, this is what we do. We have over 20,000 customers and growing fast. We're the fourth to fifth largest fixed wireless carrier in the county. ... But we are local, too, and we keep a local focus."

Contact Josie Clark at josie.clark@greensburgdailynews.com or 812-651-0873.