Frankenmuth-based Air Advantage Francising Group LLC said last week that it had issued its first franchise to DLST Enterprises of Harbor Beach.

DLST will deploy the Air Advantage wireless broadband Internet access system to rural areas in parts of St. Clair, Macomb and Oakland counties.

Air Advantage Franchise is a subsidiary of Air Advantage LLC, a wireless Internet service provider.

Air Advantage’s wirelesstechnology offers service to areas generally not served by other traditional ISP’s,telecommunications providers or cable companies. Air Advantage currently servescustomers primarily in Michigan’s largely rural Thumb area. Its business began in 2002 serving residents in five communities using farm silos as the vertical real estate necessary to broadcast their signal and provide broadband service.

Since its inception,Air Advantage has grown its network to more than 40 communities serving more than 4,000 customers and has become one of the largest license-free wireless broadband providers in the nation.

“This is a great opportunity to bring broadband service to areas in desperate need of this service," said Air Advantage Franchising Group founder Scott Zimmer. "We receive a lot of calls from this area asking us to expand. The development of this franchise territory will provide these residents with an essential service.”

Air Advantage cites research showing that only about 31 percent of rural Internet users have broadband service available nationwide. This compares to approximately 47 percent in urban areas.

Dave Korbel, president of DLST, said he looks forward to bringing this service to rural southeast Michigan.

“We have watched Air Advantage grow for several years and are excited to be the first franchise to offer this service to an expanding territory," Korbel said. "We know there is a need for this service and we look forward to fulfilling this need.”

More franchise territories are available in Michigan and throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.a2fg.com.

Air Advantage franchiseeswill have a full line of Internet services available to offer prospective customers. Theseservices are available for viewing at www.airadvantage.net.