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BellSouth Makes Athens, Georgia, Wireless
BY JOHANNE TORRES
TMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist
Residents of Athens, Georgia will now be able to sign up for wireless broadband service thanks to BellSouth. The telecom giant announced today that it will now offer a new wireless broadband service in select areas of the southern city. The new service does not require subscribers to have a wireline telephone in their home.
Wireless broadband-speed Internet services are at most times the only option residents in rural areas have to get access to the net. This happens because traditional wireline broadband services can't be efficiently deployed in such areas. Such is the case of Athens, Georgia.
The VoIP Minute Watch columnist is sure that local area residents and businesses will find it cool to be able to connect to the Internet at a broadband speed via signals transmitted between local radio towers and a small non-line-of- sight desktop modem when they sign up with BellSouth for its new FastAccess Internet Service.
The service's speed can be compared with broadband speeds you would get through a cable modem, but for a lower price. It is pretty clever for BellSouth to market a competitive priced wireless broadband Internet service in an area occupied by a large group of college students attending nearby University of Georgia. "With the University of Georgia here, Athens was a logical place for us to first offer this exciting new technology," said George Hill, vice president of product marketing for BellSouth. "Students demand even greater flexibility and affordability from their communications provider, and with this, we will be able to offer students and residents another high-speed Internet solution that fits their needs.
The telecom is even offering a special subscription for students living on or around campus who attend the University of Georgia. According to BellSouth's news release, the students living in Athens will be able "to suspend their wireless broadband service between May and July, when many leave town for the summer. They will pay a nominal charge per month to maintain their accounts and can re-activate service at no charge when they return to Athens. Pricing will range from $24.95 to $39.95 per month, depending on the speed selected and if the customer has BellSouth wireline service."
BellSouth began testing wireless broadband in 2000. Most recently, the company conducted technical trials in Daytona and Palatka, Florida. BellSouth will offer wireless broadband in select Florida cities later this year.
BellSouth Corporation
http://www.bellsouth.com
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit:
http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columnists/columnist.aspx?id=100006&nm=Johanne%
20Torres
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