I was just sent a few media questions locally in Bermuda, so I figured I’d write the same response here that I send to the reporter!

How is the ICO going and have you had the support you were hoping for from investors?

- The ICO is going very well and we’re getting a great number of purchases every day. We soft launched the ICO at the end of April / beginning of May to start stress testing the website, payment processor etc and put things through its paces. We aim to sell the “pre-sale” within a few months, which puts us on track with many other successful ICO’s. Everything is going great, so now we will start to ramp up our marketing of the ICO to the various outlets and the crypto community in general.

I’m quite elated really at the level of support we are getting both in Bermuda and internationally. We hit a few technical snags that delayed us a bit, but as anyone who’s ever been in business will tell you, no matter how hard you work to hit deadlines sometimes things are out of your control.

Having 7500+ people in our chat room on Telegram (a popular chat program similar to Whatsapp) shows we have real traction in the blockchain / cryptocurrency communities.

I think we’re a bit of fresh air in ICO’s. We’re building an “infrastructure” company, where almost every other ICO is building software solutions. This is quite uniqe, we’re certainly breaking a lot of ground. We have a great team that has done this business time and time again…. solving a real problem that people worldwide can relate to. We’re bringing all the advances of wireless technology coupled with blockchain solutions that really drives our competitive edge. The people who are experts in these field really understand how groundbreaking that is.

We’ve also decided that buying and using the HRZN Token will be the only way people can use services on our network, but we’re ensuring that for people who arent crypto savvy that this is an easy process. On the back end, payments made for services will be exchanged for the HRZN Token. It doesnt mean anything for the customer, but for people with the HRZN Token they will see even greater value as it will be underpinned by the growth and strength of our customer base and network.

Are many local investors signing up?

- We’ve had strong support locally with a number of local buyers, a relatively small number, but their contributions have been surprising and quite significant. I certainly wasnt expecting that level of buy in, however I am a very strong proponent local companies being supported by fellow Bermudians.

When my Grandfather started Bermuda Container Line, he alongside Mr. Perry and Mr. Brewer gathered the support they needed from the community to get off the ground (or more to the point, on the water). I feel we’ve lost a bit of that “community spirit” over the past many years, I’m glad its starting to come back.

ICO’s are a new model and cryptocurrency adoption worldwide is a faction of 1%. So getting even some in Bermuda to buy our token, which we’ve already done, would be a major accomplishment and we’ll be looking to push for that number in the coming weeks / months. A lot of it just comes down to education and awareness.

Everyone understands the internet though, so even if they didnt get a chance to buy into the Horizon Token, they will greatly benefit from us entering the market.

When do you hope to start an internet service in Bermuda?

— We are aiming for Q3 / Q4 to begin to install customers . As we progress in the ICO, which is still early stages, we will be getting resources in place as quickly as possible. A great advantage of our business and technology is we are able to roll out services quite quickly compared to stringing hundreds of miles of cable everywhere.

Have you applied for the appropriate licenses from the Regulatory Authority Board (RAB)? And are you confident the RAB will grant the licenses to Horizon, as there is a moratorium on awarding new licenses at the moment, I believe?

— We have at present a signed agreement with a license holder and we’ve been approached by other companies s who are “single service” companies, only providing 1 service, that realize the disruption having such an advanced company such as Horizon means to the marketplace. We’ve also been approached by other companies in the Caribbean who realize that if we enter the market they have a limited runway. While we are under confidential talks, Horizon has been approached by other countries in the Caribbean to also startup our services there as well, so I think we’ll be looking to expand as quickly as possible to other markets.

It’s important to note that 4 years ago, everyone in telecommunciations in Bermuda were given licenses, for free, really no matter what particular activity you were doing or wanted to do. I imagine that the purpose for licenses was to impart a level of regulation on the telecommunications industry. However placing a moratorium on licenses, coupled with the mass buyouts and consolidations, along with little to no penalties when we have sub-standard internet compared leaves telecommunications in Bermuda lacking.

The RAB recently released a statement that shows (in my opinion) they clearly understand the telecommunication landscape in Bermuda is far from ideal. I look forward to working with the RAB to help improve that situation.

Our team and advisors have built telecom companies throughout the world, so at its core this is “old hat” for us, but now we’re bringing together the right Bermuda has a rich history of great business ventures starting on our shores and bringing positive change to the entire world, Horizon will be no different.

Gilbert A Darrell is the Founder of Horizon. He has 18 years experience in information technology and telecom solutions, a veteran in Fire and EMS Services, a crypto enthusiast and a member of the Bermuda Government’s Cryptocurrency Task Force.

Horizon Communications is an upcoming fixed wireless internet service provider looking to provide services in Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Central America before expanding internationally. While utilizing 4th generation and soon 5th generation wireless technology, it will also heavily incorporate blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, one of the 1st ISP’s in the world to do so, while launching an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) as a part of their capital raise and blockchain integration. More information can be found on their website — www.HorizonComm.co