Copyright 2002 Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Copyright 2002 The Record

The Record…10/25/2002

From LexisNexis

Velocitus Broadband, a data communications provider and subsidiary of an Idaho utility, now offers business and institutional users in Stockton, Calif. the choice of fixed wireless and traditional wired connections.

Velocitus has mounted antennas on the Sutter Building in downtown Stockton to offer service within an area as far as 10 miles distant, said Scott Galbraith, the Internet service provider's regional manager.

That service provides a new alternative for companies that otherwise may be unable to receive broadband data service, said Michael Locke, president of the San Joaquin Partnership, a regional economic development agency.

In at least one case, he said, "the kind of high-speed communication a company needed was not available in the physical location where they choose to locate, and Velocitus was able to meet their needs with their wireless system."

More generally, Locke added: "They obviously represent another resource in terms of communications. They also represent another competitor with other providers who are already here."

"There's plenty of room for competition," said Reid Cox, director of investor relations and business development for Pac-West Telcomm Inc., a Stockton-based provider of packaged voice and data communication services for businesses, as well as managed services for retail Internet service providers.

He welcomed the presence of Velocitus in combating the dominance of the former Bell Telephone subsidiaries.

"I think it's great, because it's our mission to provide more competition in California away from the incumbents," Cox said.

Galbraith said Velocitus wireless service can be scaled to match a customer's needs, with connection speeds from 256 kilobits per second to 200 megabits per second. Standard, dial-up telephone service runs at a maximum 56 kbps, by contrast.

Velocitus also offers traditional wired service, such as dedicated T1 and DSL connections.

Stockton, where service was launched in the past couple of weeks, is the second California market for Velocitus. It began service in Fresno earlier this year.

"It's Central California," Galbraith said. "That's where the growth is,… (and) competition is not as extreme as in Los Angeles or the Bay Area."

The flat geography, without hills to block the wireless signal, is also a plus for Velocitus.

Boise, Idaho-based Velocitus serves more than 30,000 residential and business customers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.

It is a subsidiary of IDACORP, created in 2000 with the purchase of Rocky Mountain Communications Inc. IDACORP is a holding company whose subsidiaries include Idaho Power, a regulated electric utility, and Ida-West Energy, which builds, acquires and operates electric power plants.