ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 23, 1996 TAG: 9611250137
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: MARK CLOTHIER STAFF WRITER
Internet Business Technologies Inc. said Friday it has hooked up with Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions to offer Net access in the New River and Roanoke valleys.
The partnership gives the 15-month-old Blacksburg company - previously designers of World Wide Web pages for local businesses - the ability to offer a total Internet package with the backing of a major company, said president Robert D. James.
Joyce Sullivan, director of channel management for Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions, said the company came to the New River and Roanoke valleys because of their high number of residents with connections to on-line computer services.
Bell Atlantic plans to announce similar arrangements with companies in Lynchburg, Richmond and Norfolk by early next year, she said.
At least a half-dozen companies already are offering Internet access in the Roanoke and New River region, including industry giants such as AT&T and America Online and local companies such as R&B Communications, the Floyd Citizens Telephone Cooperative, Kinetic Data Systems Inc. and InfiNet, a service of The Roanoke Times.
Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions is a six-month-old subsidiary of Bell Atlantic Corp., a Philadelphia-based telecommunications giant. It has similar arrangements in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
James, an assistant director at Tech's Center for Transportation Research, said he has wanted to provide Net access since the company started, but was waiting for the right time and the right opportunity.
"I saw the way the market was going and I knew it was a matter of time before the big companies entered," he said. "We wanted to wait until they got involved, then it was a matter of finding a national company that had a local focus."
The Blacksburg company will offer unlimited local Internet access for $17.95 per month or $198 per year to Roanoke, Salem, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Shawsville, Bent Mountain, Fincastle, Montvale, Stone Mountain and Troutville. Technical support is available at all times.
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines KEYWORDS: 2DAby CNB