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"It's a consumer-owned system.
                                                      It helps support our parks, our
                                                      pools, our police. The money
                                                      stags in the community."
                                                      Keith A. Hill.boroug'i manager, holding
                                                     filaments like those in Kutztown's Internet link




About 5,000 call ft homo: Main Street in Kutztown Is about to be served by the Pennsylvania
town's very own bypass to the information superhighway.




     Shooflgpie, and
     broadband, too
                                                                         cover them. As politicians In
                                                                         Washington dicker over how to
                                         soon oder Its own high-speed bridge the so-called •digital di-
     s|Kt*i Interm* service,             Internet service to every resl- vide." these towns built their
                                         wlil likely be less than people In superhighway.
     stall Us own system.                Maryland pay If they can even        'Some of these towns were too
                                       where they live. Kutztown. on          large Incumbent providers; the
                                       the edRe ot Pennsylvania Dutch         rale of return Isn't there for
     By ANDREW RATXER                  country. Is [he latest of 100 cities   them." sold Ron I.unt. director
                                       and towns across the country           of telecommunications services
                                       that have Installed their own          for the American Public Power
        KUTZTOWN. Pa. — This high-speed systems for Internet                  Association, a trade group of
     town midway between Reading usirra.                                      municipal Utility companies In
     and Allentown has about 5.000       Some of the places simply            Washington. "And I don't see the
     residents, an annual Amish fes- have the wealth or know-how to           large Incumbent providers up-
     tival renowned for Its apple but- do so. such as Palo A;to In Call-      loading the systems with the en-
     ter and shoofly pl«. a Mam fomla'i Silicon Valley or the                 trenchment and stock prices the
     Street adorned with hex signs Hoston suburb of Brain tree. But           way they are."
     and gingerbread facades, a Kutziown. like many of the more                  One of the four regional Bell
     neighborhood park with a
     wiire store when? the vendinc for one of the lam if providers Jor. nationwide upgrade of lU
     machine sells candy for 15 cents. such as Verizon Corp. to dis- system    {See Broadband, -i-
Page 4c. Sunday. March 10.2002: The Sun                                                                        BUSINESS


Town builds its own
information bypass
I Broadband, from Page lc
 last fall. Uncertainty about govern-
                                          Small towns, high-speed links
 ment regulations made It IOD nsky        Some towns that created their own broadband
to invest in distant areas that are
difficult to serve, said Its chief ex-    Internet systems: _ „
ecutive.                                                                  V O Gta>f°w' Ky" Regarded as the Erst.
     While most midsize and large                                           ";• municipal Internet service, with
cities are served by the two majcr                            ,--y> r           amonjr the cheapest subscription fees
forms of broadband Internet con-                             " ; y1'            In the country
nections — digital .subscriber lines
typically from phone companies                                       - 0         LaGrang-e. G*.: Fr«s Internet service
and cable modem service from ca-                                                 to cable subscribers.
ble television providers - less man
0 percent of towns with fewer than                                           ^ Klulmmee, Ha^ Offers free computer
 10.000 residents have both serv-                                              traJnlnc and users' croups In Er.Elish
ices, according to a government                                                and Spanish for bilingual clientele
study.
     Kutztown resiileiilj, have hud                                          ./jl Kutztown, Pa^ Completing; fiber-optic
one option to date — cable-modem
broadband service from the local                                                 speed Internet to residents, one-third
cable TV company. Service Elec-                                                  of whom are scudents at a nearby
tric Cable TV Inc.                                                               state university.                        Somewhere a buyer: BUI Schuster Counts on the Web to attract distant buyers to painted milk
    Trie roster o( towns and cities                                                                                       jugs. Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs and other products of the workshop that he and his wife run.
building tneir own Internet net-                                             O Eaiton, Udj Town's utility company
works is spread across the country.                                           provided first high-speed Internet
    The lone one In Maryland is                                               connections available on the                government competing with the             other things The cost Is about          optic cables in a trailer a fewblocks
Eastun. although its network Is                                                Eastern Shore                              private sector?' But I don't look at      twice as expensive as In more           away. Local concerns were mos:ly
less ambitious than Kuutown'n.                                                                                            It that way. It's a consumer-owned        densely populated AUcntown and          how much it would cost — the
    About 500 -i Eastor.'s 5.000 ca-                                         (ft North AlUeborough, Maw,: Connects        system. It helps support our parks,       Reading, each about 20 miles away       town hasn't set a rate yet, but
ble TV and electric customers be-                         r                     1.500 school computers to Internet       our pools, our police. The money         In apposite directions, he said.         pledges tnat it will be 10 percent to
gan receiving always-on. broad-           SOURCE: Aniericwi Public               through municipal system                 stays In the community"                       This part of the county Isn't al-   20 percent less than prices else-
                                          ;• - i AiiucUlkm                                                                    Kulztown said It wrote to Veri-      ways ready to accept change." Cl-
band service through the town sys-                                                                                                                                                                          where — and whether they'd he
tem last summer. The monthly fee.                                                                                         zon Corp. beginning a few years           chelli said. A poster of Camden         forced to subscribe. They won't, of-
about $40. Is roughly what pnvate                                                                                         ago asking It to bnng digital sub-        Yards above his desk is a reminder      ficials said.
providers offer, although private                                                                                         scriber line service to town, but re-     of Ills boyhood in Sparrows Point          But even before the coming
service Isn't available In many cor-                                                                                      ceived no reply. It also unsuccess-       before his father was transferred to    broadband project, the Internet
ners of the Delmarva Peninsula.                                                                                           fully solicited Service Electric, the     Bethlehem Stcci Corp.'s main            age has already brought change
    When £aston Utilities Intro-                                                                                          local cable television provider, to       plant 30 miles east of nere. He re-     here.
duced an earlier cable-modem                                                                                              became a partner In the town's fi-       mains a big fan of the Orioles —            Bruce A. Haver. 52, runs one of
connection in 1998. It was the first                                                                                      ber-optic system by leasing lines or     and of the technology focus at Bor-      the naif-dozen or so antique shops
area on the Eastern Shore to offer                                                                                        providing local TV production            ough Hall                                In town. There used to be more of
broadband service, said BUI Rus-                                                                                              "We were like everyone else. We           Said Clchelli. These guys are       them, but they closed as dealing
sell, cable and communications                                                                                            wanted DSL." said Frank P. Ca-           really thinking way ahead. Oh.           antiques and collectibles over the
manager for Easton Utilities                                                                                              ruso. Kutziown's director of Infor-      man ~
    Glasgow. •:>-, which has been                                                                                         mation technology. "We're still on            Kutztown officials say their        Internet gained popularity in re-
                                                                                                                          the waiting list."                       new Si.C million system will do          cent years
described as UIR most wired town
in that state, launched the first                                                                                                                                  more than pipe the Internet Into         'Kind of a scary thing*
municipal Internee service In the                                                                                         $300 biniou tab possible                 homes and businesses faster. With
late 1980s LaGrunge, Qa.. pro-                                                                                                UnK Koewlng. a^v.iir. 1 vice          the network linked to electric and         •People keep telling me about It,
vides ll free to subscribers of Its ca-                                                                                   president for Internet and technol-      water meters, the town will be able      but I haven't gotten my feet wet
ble TV system. A county in eastern                                                                                        ogy policy for Veruon in Washing-        to collect in leu than two hours tne     I've got to Jump In tnere. I've got to
Washington state witn Its own                                                                                             ton. D.C.. said the cost of upgrad-      data that a meter reader now             see what happens with this Inter-
high-speed network Is so Isolated                                                                                         ing the nation's telecommunica-          spends 10 days collecting. Resi-         net. It's kind of a scary thing
—12 homes per square mile — that                                                                                          tions infrastructure forbroadband        dents would receive one bill lor all     though." said Baver. who hasn't
its project has been referred :o as                                                                                       service could cost $300 billion.         government services, from inter-         begun trading his century-old
•fiberto the trailer."                                                                                                    That investment is very unlikely as      net subscription to trash pickup.        lamps and other Items online.
    These systems are often               Web bargain on the way: These Kutztown homes await                              long aa federal policy requires the           If the town signs up a competi-        To this point, he's been content
cheaper than commercial provid-           high-speed Internet service at rates well beluw market prices.                  regional Bells to share Uieir lines,     tive phone company to offer serv-        to sell his goods from a tiny shop
ers. According to Lunt of the                                                                                             ho said. Meanwhile, towns building       ice on its volcc-ovcr-lntcrnct sys-      with an Ivory-colored, pressed tin
power association, public system                                                                                          the "last mile" of the Web do a dis-     tem, town residents will need only       celling — as delicate and intricate
rates average J33 a month, at least       times raster than digital sub-           of glass.                              service, he argued.                      to mouse-click four digits on their      as the handmade quilts at the
20 percent less than market prices.       scriber lines and 225 times faster           Kutztown anticipates strong            "One problem with local gov-         computer to reach a neighbor by          summertime Pennsylvania Ger-
    Cheaper doesn't mean lesser.          than the dial-up modems in most          demand For such service because        ernment doing it on a patchwork          telephone rather than dial the           man Festival
though. KutKtown's fiber-optic            homes with Internet access.              half oi Its dwellings are rented out   basis Is that It undermines our In-      whole 10-digit number — oddly               Down the street, BUI and Char-
system will be able to download               Several factors encouraged           to Internet-sawy s'.udents who at-     centive to invest and huild an inte-     reminiscent of a long-ago era of         lotte Schuster didn't know mucn
niea In an eye blink — 10 times           Kutztown's push Into cyberspace.         tend the nearby state university.      grated network." Hoewlng said, 'It       town operators manning plug-In           more about Kutztown's fledgling
faster than cable modems. 20                  The town has Its own electric        Also, the town manager is a civil      could be « problem If many Iccal         switchboards,                            Dber-opllc Initiative, although
                                          generator - and resells energy to        engineer by training, so he wasn't     governments :rled to do this. They            The system would also be able       they're already hip-deep in e-com-
                                          local energy companies — so it felt      Intimidated by the technical chal-     don't have the economic chal-            to ring every home In the borough        merce.
                                          that it already had the equipment        lenge.                                 lenges we nave. It's unfair competi-     within five minutes In case of an           The couple create and sell Penn-
                                          and know-how to maintain an                  "It Is feasible for certain com-   tion,"                                   evacuation or other emergency,           sylvania Dutch hex signs on every-
                                          Ethernet system, which transmit*         munities.' said Keith A. Hill. Kutz-       In fact. 11 slates. Including Vir-   Hill said                                thing from milk |ugs to wooden
                                          voice, data ano pictures In the          town's borough manager since           ginia, now bar or restrict munici-            Kutztown Isn't foreign soil for     saws 'If you ain't Dutch, you ain't
                                          form of light through tiny strands       1690. Tou nave people ask, 'Is the     palities from offering the service.      forward-thinking. Just outside           much.' crowed one sign In their
                                                                                                                          Private companies have also sued         town Is the headquarters ofRodale        workshop lull of vibrant geometric
                                                                                                                          some public providers.                   Inc , publisher of magazines such        designs.
                                                                         annapolisvolvo.com                                   They don't want that market
                                                                                                                          to go away and lose it all together."
                                                                                                                                                                   as i'i,-,-.-r,iti>n and known for Its
                                                                                                                                                                   founder's environmental          run-
                                                                                                                                                                                                              A decade ago. the Schusters' art
                                                                                                                          said Carol Helberger. an energy          stousness.                               attracted some international buy-
                                                                                                                          and telecommunications consult-               Bui the town of 1,5 square miles    ers, but mostly by happenstance.
                                                                                                                          ant In Philadelphia. -Qut the cities     nevertheless appears an unlikely         Bill Schuster, BO. recalled Japa-
                                                                                                                          and towns are saying. 'You're not        place for such an experiment.            nese tourists years ago walking
                                                                                                                          doing anything for me now. Tills is           Its quaint Mam Street could be      past his handiwork displayed out-
                                                                                                                          about economic development.'"            the set of a Frank Capra movie —         side Ms home and buying a couple
                                                                                                                              Although typically ccol to gov-      allowing for the occasional tattoo       of hundred dollars' worth on the
                                                                                                                          ernment Intervention In technol-         parlor and a fancy mlcrobrewery          spur ofthc moment.
                                                                                                                          ogy. Michael K Powell chairman           popular with the college crowd.             But with technical support from
                                                                                                                          of the Federal Communications            The housing stock Isn't much             their grand.son, the Internet now
                                                                                                                          Commission. In a speech In Octo-         changed From when It was built for       helps the couple sell far beyond the
                                                                                                                          ber encouraged -communlty-ln-            slioe-fMctory workers a half-cen-        hounds of Kutztown through
                                           888-231-2998                                                                                                                                                     Tvww.hexslgn.com." On this site
                                                                                                                          dusfy partnerships" to expand            tury «>;o. And the occasional nnrse
                                                                                                                          Internet delivery.                       and buggy clip-tops past carrying        recently, they had received an e-
                                                                                                                              This is an exceptional way of        one of the Mennonlte families who        mail from Saudi Arabia and were
                                                                                                                          attracting business,' bald Dennis        live In the countryside that William     preparing shipments to Canada
                                                                                                                          M. Cicnelll, owner of a computer         Penn bought from the Lennl Lc-           and Scotland.
                                                                                                                          network company In Kutztown.             napes tnbe in the mid- 1000s.              •My husband is still from hot
                                                Before you spend more for less,                                           Because of the town's relative Iso-          Many shop owners and resi-           dogs-for-5-cents." said Charlotte
                                                                                                                          lation, he pays about $900 a month       dents along the business corridor        Schuster. 81. "But you don't draw
                                                                                                                          for a high-speed T-1 connection for      had only vaguely heard of the proj-      people locally. Last year, we picked
                                                                                                                          his company, which designs Web           ect as of last week — even as a          up so much business from the
                                                Reward yourself with an affordable                                        sites for small businesses, among        Georgia contractor spliced fiber-        Internet."

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Rural Broadband

  • 1. "It's a consumer-owned system. It helps support our parks, our pools, our police. The money stags in the community." Keith A. Hill.boroug'i manager, holding filaments like those in Kutztown's Internet link About 5,000 call ft homo: Main Street in Kutztown Is about to be served by the Pennsylvania town's very own bypass to the information superhighway. Shooflgpie, and broadband, too cover them. As politicians In Washington dicker over how to soon oder Its own high-speed bridge the so-called •digital di- s|Kt*i Interm* service, Internet service to every resl- vide." these towns built their wlil likely be less than people In superhighway. stall Us own system. Maryland pay If they can even 'Some of these towns were too where they live. Kutztown. on large Incumbent providers; the the edRe ot Pennsylvania Dutch rale of return Isn't there for By ANDREW RATXER country. Is [he latest of 100 cities them." sold Ron I.unt. director and towns across the country of telecommunications services that have Installed their own for the American Public Power KUTZTOWN. Pa. — This high-speed systems for Internet Association, a trade group of town midway between Reading usirra. municipal Utility companies In and Allentown has about 5.000 Some of the places simply Washington. "And I don't see the residents, an annual Amish fes- have the wealth or know-how to large Incumbent providers up- tival renowned for Its apple but- do so. such as Palo A;to In Call- loading the systems with the en- ter and shoofly pl«. a Mam fomla'i Silicon Valley or the trenchment and stock prices the Street adorned with hex signs Hoston suburb of Brain tree. But way they are." and gingerbread facades, a Kutziown. like many of the more One of the four regional Bell neighborhood park with a wiire store when? the vendinc for one of the lam if providers Jor. nationwide upgrade of lU machine sells candy for 15 cents. such as Verizon Corp. to dis- system {See Broadband, -i-
  • 2. Page 4c. Sunday. March 10.2002: The Sun BUSINESS Town builds its own information bypass I Broadband, from Page lc last fall. Uncertainty about govern- Small towns, high-speed links ment regulations made It IOD nsky Some towns that created their own broadband to invest in distant areas that are difficult to serve, said Its chief ex- Internet systems: _ „ ecutive. V O Gta>f°w' Ky" Regarded as the Erst. While most midsize and large ";• municipal Internet service, with cities are served by the two majcr ,--y> r amonjr the cheapest subscription fees forms of broadband Internet con- " ; y1' In the country nections — digital .subscriber lines typically from phone companies - 0 LaGrang-e. G*.: Fr«s Internet service and cable modem service from ca- to cable subscribers. ble television providers - less man 0 percent of towns with fewer than ^ Klulmmee, Ha^ Offers free computer 10.000 residents have both serv- traJnlnc and users' croups In Er.Elish ices, according to a government and Spanish for bilingual clientele study. Kutztown resiileiilj, have hud ./jl Kutztown, Pa^ Completing; fiber-optic one option to date — cable-modem broadband service from the local speed Internet to residents, one-third cable TV company. Service Elec- of whom are scudents at a nearby tric Cable TV Inc. state university. Somewhere a buyer: BUI Schuster Counts on the Web to attract distant buyers to painted milk Trie roster o( towns and cities jugs. Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs and other products of the workshop that he and his wife run. building tneir own Internet net- O Eaiton, Udj Town's utility company works is spread across the country. provided first high-speed Internet The lone one In Maryland is connections available on the government competing with the other things The cost Is about optic cables in a trailer a fewblocks Eastun. although its network Is Eastern Shore private sector?' But I don't look at twice as expensive as In more away. Local concerns were mos:ly less ambitious than Kuutown'n. It that way. It's a consumer-owned densely populated AUcntown and how much it would cost — the About 500 -i Eastor.'s 5.000 ca- (ft North AlUeborough, Maw,: Connects system. It helps support our parks, Reading, each about 20 miles away town hasn't set a rate yet, but ble TV and electric customers be- r 1.500 school computers to Internet our pools, our police. The money In apposite directions, he said. pledges tnat it will be 10 percent to gan receiving always-on. broad- SOURCE: Aniericwi Public through municipal system stays In the community" This part of the county Isn't al- 20 percent less than prices else- ;• - i AiiucUlkm Kulztown said It wrote to Veri- ways ready to accept change." Cl- band service through the town sys- where — and whether they'd he tem last summer. The monthly fee. zon Corp. beginning a few years chelli said. A poster of Camden forced to subscribe. They won't, of- about $40. Is roughly what pnvate ago asking It to bnng digital sub- Yards above his desk is a reminder ficials said. providers offer, although private scriber line service to town, but re- of Ills boyhood in Sparrows Point But even before the coming service Isn't available In many cor- ceived no reply. It also unsuccess- before his father was transferred to broadband project, the Internet ners of the Delmarva Peninsula. fully solicited Service Electric, the Bethlehem Stcci Corp.'s main age has already brought change When £aston Utilities Intro- local cable television provider, to plant 30 miles east of nere. He re- here. duced an earlier cable-modem became a partner In the town's fi- mains a big fan of the Orioles — Bruce A. Haver. 52, runs one of connection in 1998. It was the first ber-optic system by leasing lines or and of the technology focus at Bor- the naif-dozen or so antique shops area on the Eastern Shore to offer providing local TV production ough Hall In town. There used to be more of broadband service, said BUI Rus- "We were like everyone else. We Said Clchelli. These guys are them, but they closed as dealing sell, cable and communications wanted DSL." said Frank P. Ca- really thinking way ahead. Oh. antiques and collectibles over the manager for Easton Utilities ruso. Kutziown's director of Infor- man ~ Glasgow. •:>-, which has been mation technology. "We're still on Kutztown officials say their Internet gained popularity in re- the waiting list." new Si.C million system will do cent years described as UIR most wired town in that state, launched the first more than pipe the Internet Into 'Kind of a scary thing* municipal Internee service In the $300 biniou tab possible homes and businesses faster. With late 1980s LaGrunge, Qa.. pro- UnK Koewlng. a^v.iir. 1 vice the network linked to electric and •People keep telling me about It, vides ll free to subscribers of Its ca- president for Internet and technol- water meters, the town will be able but I haven't gotten my feet wet ble TV system. A county in eastern ogy policy for Veruon in Washing- to collect in leu than two hours tne I've got to Jump In tnere. I've got to Washington state witn Its own ton. D.C.. said the cost of upgrad- data that a meter reader now see what happens with this Inter- high-speed network Is so Isolated ing the nation's telecommunica- spends 10 days collecting. Resi- net. It's kind of a scary thing —12 homes per square mile — that tions infrastructure forbroadband dents would receive one bill lor all though." said Baver. who hasn't its project has been referred :o as service could cost $300 billion. government services, from inter- begun trading his century-old •fiberto the trailer." That investment is very unlikely as net subscription to trash pickup. lamps and other Items online. These systems are often Web bargain on the way: These Kutztown homes await long aa federal policy requires the If the town signs up a competi- To this point, he's been content cheaper than commercial provid- high-speed Internet service at rates well beluw market prices. regional Bells to share Uieir lines, tive phone company to offer serv- to sell his goods from a tiny shop ers. According to Lunt of the ho said. Meanwhile, towns building ice on its volcc-ovcr-lntcrnct sys- with an Ivory-colored, pressed tin power association, public system the "last mile" of the Web do a dis- tem, town residents will need only celling — as delicate and intricate rates average J33 a month, at least times raster than digital sub- of glass. service, he argued. to mouse-click four digits on their as the handmade quilts at the 20 percent less than market prices. scriber lines and 225 times faster Kutztown anticipates strong "One problem with local gov- computer to reach a neighbor by summertime Pennsylvania Ger- Cheaper doesn't mean lesser. than the dial-up modems in most demand For such service because ernment doing it on a patchwork telephone rather than dial the man Festival though. KutKtown's fiber-optic homes with Internet access. half oi Its dwellings are rented out basis Is that It undermines our In- whole 10-digit number — oddly Down the street, BUI and Char- system will be able to download Several factors encouraged to Internet-sawy s'.udents who at- centive to invest and huild an inte- reminiscent of a long-ago era of lotte Schuster didn't know mucn niea In an eye blink — 10 times Kutztown's push Into cyberspace. tend the nearby state university. grated network." Hoewlng said, 'It town operators manning plug-In more about Kutztown's fledgling faster than cable modems. 20 The town has Its own electric Also, the town manager is a civil could be « problem If many Iccal switchboards, Dber-opllc Initiative, although generator - and resells energy to engineer by training, so he wasn't governments :rled to do this. They The system would also be able they're already hip-deep in e-com- local energy companies — so it felt Intimidated by the technical chal- don't have the economic chal- to ring every home In the borough merce. that it already had the equipment lenge. lenges we nave. It's unfair competi- within five minutes In case of an The couple create and sell Penn- and know-how to maintain an "It Is feasible for certain com- tion," evacuation or other emergency, sylvania Dutch hex signs on every- Ethernet system, which transmit* munities.' said Keith A. Hill. Kutz- In fact. 11 slates. Including Vir- Hill said thing from milk |ugs to wooden voice, data ano pictures In the town's borough manager since ginia, now bar or restrict munici- Kutztown Isn't foreign soil for saws 'If you ain't Dutch, you ain't form of light through tiny strands 1690. Tou nave people ask, 'Is the palities from offering the service. forward-thinking. Just outside much.' crowed one sign In their Private companies have also sued town Is the headquarters ofRodale workshop lull of vibrant geometric some public providers. Inc , publisher of magazines such designs. annapolisvolvo.com They don't want that market to go away and lose it all together." as i'i,-,-.-r,iti>n and known for Its founder's environmental run- A decade ago. the Schusters' art said Carol Helberger. an energy stousness. attracted some international buy- and telecommunications consult- Bui the town of 1,5 square miles ers, but mostly by happenstance. ant In Philadelphia. -Qut the cities nevertheless appears an unlikely Bill Schuster, BO. recalled Japa- and towns are saying. 'You're not place for such an experiment. nese tourists years ago walking doing anything for me now. Tills is Its quaint Mam Street could be past his handiwork displayed out- about economic development.'" the set of a Frank Capra movie — side Ms home and buying a couple Although typically ccol to gov- allowing for the occasional tattoo of hundred dollars' worth on the ernment Intervention In technol- parlor and a fancy mlcrobrewery spur ofthc moment. ogy. Michael K Powell chairman popular with the college crowd. But with technical support from of the Federal Communications The housing stock Isn't much their grand.son, the Internet now Commission. In a speech In Octo- changed From when It was built for helps the couple sell far beyond the ber encouraged -communlty-ln- slioe-fMctory workers a half-cen- hounds of Kutztown through 888-231-2998 Tvww.hexslgn.com." On this site dusfy partnerships" to expand tury «>;o. And the occasional nnrse Internet delivery. and buggy clip-tops past carrying recently, they had received an e- This is an exceptional way of one of the Mennonlte families who mail from Saudi Arabia and were attracting business,' bald Dennis live In the countryside that William preparing shipments to Canada M. Cicnelll, owner of a computer Penn bought from the Lennl Lc- and Scotland. network company In Kutztown. napes tnbe in the mid- 1000s. •My husband is still from hot Before you spend more for less, Because of the town's relative Iso- Many shop owners and resi- dogs-for-5-cents." said Charlotte lation, he pays about $900 a month dents along the business corridor Schuster. 81. "But you don't draw for a high-speed T-1 connection for had only vaguely heard of the proj- people locally. Last year, we picked his company, which designs Web ect as of last week — even as a up so much business from the Reward yourself with an affordable sites for small businesses, among Georgia contractor spliced fiber- Internet."