1926

Wilhelm Sihn founded his company in the southern German town of Niefern at age 29. Together with five employees he manufactures radio detector receivers, banana plugs and radio parts in rented facilities.

1932

The company's first factory is built in Niefern. 80 employees manufacture a product line to which insulators and lightning arrester circuit- breakers for long-wire aerials have been added.

1939

Start of the antenna production. First tests of community antennas.
The workforce has grown to 150.

1952

A workforce of 410 manufactures and distributes aerials for FM radio and television, tube amplifiers and accessories. First complete WISI community antenna program.

1956

Begin of the TV antenna production facility in Breisach on the Rhine. 635 white and blue-collar workers work for WISI.

1959

The product range is expanded once more by relays, controllers, program control units and high-frequency plug connectors. A workforce of 750 is employed at the two locations.

1960

The production of RF filters and amplifiers at the subsidiary plant in Oberhausen near Bruchsal begins. Over 1,000 employees now work in three production plants at WISI.

1961

Production of HF antennas starts to receive the newly founded second program of German television (ZDF).

1962

The first foreign subsidiary, WISI FRANCE S.A.R.L., is founded.

1967

Frank Sihn joins his father's company as general partner. 1,150 employees produce a broad assortment of 1,200 articles.

1969

Antennas for the French market are now being produced at the subsidiary plant in Colmar. A subsidiary company, WISI Antenn AB, is founded in Malmö, Sweden.

1973

First test series in 12-GHz directional radio relay. Already in 1974 construction start of a countrywide 12-GHz directional radio feeder network for Swiss cable system headends (GAZ). WISI develops and produces the first active car antenna.

1976

The Swiss subsidiary WILHELM SIHN AG is founded in Zurich. The VN amplifier system for community antenna systems is introduced to the market.

1978

New products for cable TV, satellite reception and antenna measuring instruments are developed by WISI. The production and sales subsidiary, Mantenna WISI Engineering Co.Ltd., is established in Hong Kong.

1982

The German Federal Mail begins with the development of the cable network all over Germany. WISI delivers building terminal points and 300 MHz amplifiers. Introduction of private broadcasting.

1987

WISI advances the production of electronically operated automatic car antennas. The Niefern parent plant is expanded by the addition of a 2,500 m² production facility.

1989

Start of the ASTRA satellite system. WISI manufactures a broad spectrum of satellite antennas and receivers. First products of fiber optic technology.

1992

Further expansion at the parent plant Niefern with an area of 2,800 m². Subsidiary company, WISI-COMMUNICATIONES, S.A. is founded in Barcelona/Spain (1990) and WILHELM SIHN jr. & Co. Ges.m.b.H. in Wien / Austria (1991). Product offering expanded to include GSM mobile radio communication antennas, 50 Ohm connector jumper cable. Market introduction of the WISI-ORBIT TOP-LINE for satellite reception. The Swiss subsidiary WILHELM SIHN AG moves into a newly constructed corporate building in Mägenwil (1993). WISI supplies MMDS System for Wharf Cable in Hong Kong.

1994

Axel Sihn, son of Frank Sihn, joins the WISI corporate management. Many new products, from SAT-Compact, TOPLINE-HEADEND to GPS car antennas.

1996

WISI develops the GLOBAL LINE and VALUE LINE series for HFC networks. First digital UPLINK station for closed-loop control of the Usingen/Taunus earth station is set up.

WISI is the winner of the Cable & Satellite Awards in the category Most Innovative Product or Application in the area of cable television.

1997

WISI establishes the "Mobile Communication" profit center. Independently organized development, engineering, production and sales. Development of the new multi-switch system TOPLINE MULTISYSTEM II and the multimedia box for TV / radio / data. WISI is OEM of leading automobile brands in Europe.

2000

Integration of all components in the Network Management System (NMS) based on the HMS standard.

Completion of the first turnkey projects in Germany. WISI is market leader in the conversion of the German CATV networks to interactive HFC networks. Introduction of WISI TOPLINE HEADEND II and SAT-Compact II.

2001

WISI is the system provider for modern multimedia networks and celebrates its 75th corporate anniversary.