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InternetCDS highlights wireless By DAVID PRESZLER The pace has picked up in the race to provide high-speed Internet access to the Rogue Valley. InternetCDS showcased its plans to provide high-speed connections -- both wireless and over phone lines -- before a group of potential business customers Thursday. The Medford-based Internet service provider said two-way wireless connections are now available for much of the Rogue Valley and will reach the rest of it, including Grants Pass, shortly. It also outlined plans to offer high-speed digital phone-line access for residential customers later this year. Doug Harris, who gave Thursday's presentation for InternetCDS, said the company is offering a variety of products because customers have different needs. "The goal is to find out what's going to be the most cost effective for you," Harris said. The wireless connections handle uploads and downloads at 256,000 (256K) bits or higher per second -- markedly faster than connections commonly available over phone lines. Similar, faster speeds are available through digital phone lines, but, for now, those are costly, available only in certain areas. InternetCDS' wireless service costs $300 per month for the first six months (to cover installation costs) and $150 a month thereafter, which is why the company is targeting business users more than residential ones. InternetCDS is the only company offering high-speed, two-way wireless connections in the Rogue Valley. Medford Internet and InfoStructure both offer a service called PeRKInet that has wireless 256K downloads but uses a standard dial-up connection for uploads, meaning a phone line is still tied up while users are online. The PeRKInet service runs $29.95 and is aimed at residential users. Andy Spliethof, sales manager for Medford Internet and InfoStructure, says about 225 customers are using PeRKInet. While PeRKInet is the only service with high-speed connections at a price home users are likely to pay, it won't be for long. Both Falcon Cable and the city-owned Ashland Fiber Network expect to roll out high-speed access to residents through cable modems within the next few months. Cable modems can deliver faster speeds than digital phone lines or wireless options. Falcon regional manager Tom Coleman says the company will begin testing for residential service in the next few weeks, with service slated to begin in late May or early June. Falcon will start at the south end of the valley and work its way north to Grants Pass. The Ashland Fiber Network is providing fiber-to-fiber connections for business users, but residential service won't be offered until at least this summer. Residential users will be tied into the network through coaxial cable run from their homes to fiber network nodes. The city plans to start connecting the cable to the fiber nodes in June, officials said. InternetCDS plans to launch a spinoff company, CDS Networks, to offer a digital phone line service for residential customers priced at $38.95 a month. Service is expected to begin around August. The digital line will provide 144K connections in both directions. It will be available to customers who live within 22,000 feet of phone company facilities in Medford, Ashland, Jacksonville, Phoenix/Talent, Central Point, Klamath Falls and Grants Pass. InternetCDS offers 768K two-way digital connections to customers within 18,000 feet of phone company facilities in Medford and Grants Pass. But, like its wireless services, the price ($150 a month plus $23 in charges from US West) makes businesses the primary users. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA