Cable Access Success Story

Teaming up with local utility authority proves a winning strategy for independent Ohio ISP, GO Concepts.

by Judy Mottl [September 2, 1999]

It's popular wisdom that rural communities are short-changed or left in the dust when it comes to Internet access. But pop-wiz often falls shy of the mark. One Ohio ISP is offering cream-of-the-crop service in the hinterlands-the likes of which some densely populated metro areas would die for.

GO Concepts Inc., a two-year-old independent ISP in Lebanon, Ohio is delivering high-speed cable Internet service to much of southwestern Ohio through a unique partnership with the City of Lebanon's Telecommunications Bureau.

It all came about when the city's Division of Electric—an agency created in 1970 to provide power to the entire city—decided to automate meter reading for its 13,700 citizens and built a state-of-the-art $7.1 million Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) telecommunications network. The network also supports the City's own cable TV system. .

Bundled services: a new model?
The high quality infrastructure provided by the HFC network allowed the city to expand its utility services to include cable TV and Internet connectivity, which in turn pull in more revenues for the city. Internet service charges are included in customer's monthly utility bill, along with all the other municipal charges such as water and sewage.

Following a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, the City chose GO Concepts to administer the cable Internet service. The HFC service was launched in the first week of July, and the response has been tremendous, says John Gambill, GO Concepts president and founder.

"We've got about 100 customers online already, and several hundred more are signed up and waiting to be hooked in. We expect about 1,500 by the end of the year," says Gambill, who initially opened his ISP in 1997 as a Web site design firm. GO Concept's subscriber base is about 2,000 and reflects a mix of both residential and business clients.

Growth potential for the City's Internet service is enormous as Lebanon's Warren County boasts 60,000 homes and approximately 150,000 residents.

Peaceful coexistence
Since service is delivered over the same coaxial cable used for the city's cable TV, there's no need for a phone line, explains Gambill. And, best of all, since the cable TV signal and Internet signal use different frequency ranges, users can use the TV, Internet and the phone at the same time. The cable Internet access provides speed of 10 Mbps downstream and 4 Mbps upstream.

"It's a no-brainer. It's incredibly fast and very economical," says Gambill. Residential customers pay $29.95 per month, while businesses pay $39.95. Users need an Ethernet card and can lease the special cable modem required for an additional $5 a month. There is a $50 basic setup fee and outlet installation costs $40.

Strength through diversification
The cable Internet access is the newest service for GO Concepts, the largest ISP in Warren County, serving Cincinnati, Dayton and Middletown, and Springfield, Ohio. The ISP offers 56K and ISDN dialup, dedicated access, Web site hosting and design services, online computer training, and network design and installation. It's also reviewing a filtering software package since many community groups have inquired about the service.

It's breadth of services and technology expertise is the main reason it won the City contract, says Gambill.

Going up against the big boys
GO Concepts was both excited and a bit surprised when it was awarded the City partnership contract. After all there was some serious competition in the RFP and Time Warner Cable been in town since the early 1980s, but only recently began offering high-speed Internet service.

"I think they liked the fact that we just didn't offer a business plan for administering the service. We also provided a network infrastructure design and the technology expertise to make it happen," he says.

In response, Time Warner Cable is racing to catch up to the new kid in town. Pushing its RoadRunner cable Internet service, the national ISP has even lowered prices to increase its user base. Time Warner's service cost current cable TV customers $39.95 per month (which includes the modem lease fee), and $49.95 for non-cable customers.

Winning hearts and minds
"They've been very, very aggressive in marketing and trying to win customers," says Gambill, adding that GO Concept's success is predicated on its ties to the community and the fact that he and his partners are life long residents.

Gambill, and two young partners, started the ISP business "on a shoestring," he says. "We used the MCI method-friends and family to get going," Gambill says with a laugh. While he handles the business strategy and marketing end, his partners handle the technology efforts and the cohesive effort has helped the business "grow into a good-sized company."

"We have no intention of selling, though we've gotten three offers in the past three months. We're committed to this business, we grew up here and we are part of the community. We want to provide the best service we can," the 29-year-old adds.

—End