XMission was the first and is one of the few remaining independent Internet Service Provider

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

s (ISP) in Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, founded in late 1993 by Pete Ashdown

Pete Ashdown

Peter Lynn "Pete" Ashdown is the founder and CEO of Utah's first independent and oldest Internet service provider, XMission. In 2006 he challenged and lost to incumbent U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, running as the Democratic candidate....

. Starting in 2003, the company began providing free wireless in public libraries and some local businesses. By the Summer of 2005, XMission worked out an agreement with Salt Lake City government to expand free wireless to many parts of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. XMission also provides streaming support for radio stations, including NPR

NPR

NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

 affiliate KCPW-FM and independent radio station KRCL

KRCL

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XMission also provides free accounts to hundreds of non-profit organizations and sponsors many events, including the Utah Open Source Conference, the Living Planet Aquarium, the Living Traditions Festival, the Utah Arts Festival, the Twilight Concert Series, and the Junior League

Junior League

The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 292 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women's organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and...

 of Salt Lake City.

The company announced in late 2007 that it would be upgrading to 100% renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

, provided by Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky program. This move makes the company the first ISP in Utah to use entirely environmentally friendly power.