THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602060127
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Beginning today, northern Isle of Wight County residents will no longer have to pay long-distance tolls to travel on the information superhighway.
People living in the Smithfield and Carrollton telephone exchanges can now access the Internet through their computers by dialing a local telephone number, said Brian Harrington, who manages Computer Source in Smithfield. Anyone whose telephone number begins with 238, 357 or 365 can participate in the service, he said.
Isle of Wight County computer users have been able to tap into the Internet for some time, Harrington said. But because there isn't a local Internet service provider, they have had to use long-distance telephone service to access the worldwide computer network.
To get around that, Computer Source teamed up late last year with Visinet, a Newport News-based company that provides Internet access to homes and businesses on the Peninsula.
Visinet recently ran a T-line - a massive, large-capacity telephone line - from Newport News to Smithfield, Harrington said. Now all it takes to go on-line is a local call to Computer Source, which automatically transmits it to Visinet.
``We are offering Smithfield residents the opportunity to link up on the Internet without having to pay the long-distance fees to Norfolk or Newport News,'' Harrington said. by CNB