You've got
competition - Alabama city to offer Internet service
Posted at 12:12 a.m. PST Thursday, January 27,
2000
FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) -- America Online has a
new competitor: the Florence Gas Department.
The service, called Floweb, will offer
unlimited Internet access and five e-mail accounts for $18.95
a month -- $3 less than comparable service on AOL and $1
cheaper than many other Internet service providers.
Customers will be able to get gas and
Internet services on a single bill: The city's new Internet
division is part of the gas department.
Department Manager Roger Lovelace, a
computer programmer, says he hopes to lure at least some
customers away from AOL.
``We won't have as many busy signals as some
providers,'' he said. ``You can pick up the phone and call and
talk to someone you probably know.''
The city, which should be online by
mid-March, has run a small Internet operation since 1995,
catering to government agencies and nonprofit groups.
A relative handful of other cities have gone
into the Internet service provider business. Among them is
Harlan, Iowa, which offers unlimited, high-speed Internet
access and cable TV for $34.95 a month.
The manager of Harlan's system, Jerry Quick,
said the town of 5,300 has about 400 Internet customers.
``The economic developers are using our
technology as one of their premier pitches,'' he said. Iowa
also operates a fiber-optic communications network.
In Virginia, home of AOL, state-run Virginia
Tech University last fall christened an experimental network
meant to provide fast, cheap Internet access to rural areas.
The Commercial Internet eXchange
Association, a trade association for private Internet service
companies, opposes government-backed forays into the business.
``It's a very serious situation,'' said Barb
Dooley, president of the Washington-based association. ``If
the private enterprise can't compete, you've essentially set
up a monopoly.''
AOL spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said being
successful in the Internet business takes more than getting
people to the World Wide Web.
``It's providing an entire online
experience, and that is what we do,'' she said.
Floweb hopes the service helps attracts new
industry, but has no illusions of becoming an industry giant.
Instead, it plans to concentrate on Lauderdale County and
Florence's 40,000 residents.
The computerized brains of Florence's new,
commercial division are in a small building behind a warehouse
filled with gas valves and gaskets. The department is loaning
$1.5 million to cover Floweb's startup costs.
Lovelace expects a profit of as much as
$60,000 in the first year on revenue of some $2 million. He
hopes to sign up at least half of the estimated 18,000
Internet users already in Lauderdale County.
The plan has its skeptics.
Several telecommunications companies opposed
the local bill that had to be passed in the Legislature before
the city could go enter the Internet business. And an Internet
message board has been sprinkled with criticism by people who
don't like the idea of the city competing with private
companies.
``The city of Florence needs to stay out of
the Internet provider service,'' one person wrote. ``Do what
you do best city fathers: Run our city.''
Others say the service could be a boon for
the region if the city follows through with plans to wire the
area with fiber-optic cable, which enables faster,
higher-quality communication than traditional metal cable.
``It's like the difference between a steam
engine and a jet,'' said Don Rickard of the Computer Doctor
store in Florence. ``They've got an opportunity to do
something great if they do it right.''
Florence may eventually offer other services
such as wireless communication and cable television, but for
now will concentrate on the Internet business.
``We want Florence and Lauderdale County to
grow,'' Lovelace said. ``We want to be able to offer the
things Chicago, New York, Birmingham and Atlanta offer, and we
want to do it on our own timetable.''
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