Age: 46
Nationality: American
www.firstmark.net

Not many European start-ups have raised $1 billion or can boast of backing from the business elite in both the U.S. and Europe.

FirstMark, a two-year-old wireless broadband services company, has done both. Forester, an attorney known for her political and business connections, established herself as a wireless entrepreneur in the Americas and then set her sights on Europe, attracting the heads of Grupa Prisa, N.M. Rothschild & Sons and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux to the board of FirstMark's holding company.

FirstMark is introducing competitive broadband services into the "local loop," the part of the network that connects homes and offices to the wider telecoms grid.

Instead of cabling, FirstMark uses fixed wireless broadband technology, which delivers voice, high-speed Internet connections and video services from base stations to rooftop antennas via radio waves.

FirstMark has already won wireless licenses in seven European countries, started building fiber-optic networks to link wireless local loops and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

The vision thing: "Eventually, broadband for the home will be a huge application."

Forward spin: FirstMark is targeting small- and medium-sized businesses with high-speed, always-on Internet access, but it may eventually offer broadband for the home.

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