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July 18, 2005 Charleston, WV -- iTown Communications today initiated its "West Virginia First," an advanced broadband project for communities across West Virginia. Through the project, a fiber-optic Local Community Public-Use Network (LCPN) will directly connect to homes, businesses, schools, government offices, and other institutions in participating communities. iTown says its LCPN is purposely designed as an open network so that many different retail service providers can connect to deliver video, Internet, telephone, security, and other services, thereby bringing competition and choice to the region's consumers. The project's initial phase focuses on the state's Beckley-Bluefield and Wood County areas.
According to a press release, the project involves a public-private partnership among iTown, the state West Virginia's Development Office, and participating local communities. iTown is providing technical expertise as the project's overall manager, and is planning, building, and operating the LCPN. According to the company, through the project, local communities will obtain an advanced broadband infrastructure that encourages lower prices and a broader range of service offerings. The company says the advanced capabilities of its LCPN allow communities to compete effectively for jobs in the new economy, while allowing the community to keep a larger portion of dollars spent by residences and businesses on communications services.
"Broadband is to a 21st century community what electricity, water and paved roads were to a community at the start of 20th century. It is an essential infrastructure," remarks iTown's president and CEO, Keith Montgomery. "With technologies available today, there is no reason for only urban America to receive the advantages of advanced broadband. The West Virginia First Project is a model that can be adapted beyond the borders of West Virginia."
Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, iTown says it was especially established to address emerging communications infrastructure issues faced by communities with populations of 5,000 to 125,000. The company says its enterprise model and patent-pending designs for ultra-high capacity broadband networks provides an economic platform for America's smaller communities for deploying advanced broadband infrastructure and communications services.
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