Technology-related companies wouldn't even consider Southwest Florida as a prospective location if it didn't have the appropriate technological infrastructure. But according to those in the industry, it does, and companies already in the region, such as FindWhat.com, are proof.

"FindWhat couldn't exist here unless they had a lot of bandwidth, industry-standard bandwidth," says Marc Farron, president of Strategic Technology Solutions in Fort Myers.

Until recently, businesses using high-speed connections relied largely on T-1 lines, which can carry more than 1.5 million bits per second. But that is changing with the installation of T-3 technology in Southwest Florida.

Fort Myers-based T3 Communications this spring began going on line with its T-3 infrastructure, which brings the region up to speed with major metro areas. "We're finally getting on the same page as Miami and Tampa," says Steve Ward, president and chief executive officer of T3 Communications. A T-3 carries up to 44.7 million bits per second.

The company strung a connection between Southwest Florida and the Network Access Point in Miami, a high-speed exchange point-one of the country's five core "Internet onramps," Ward says. Before, Internet service providers (ISP) would buy a chunk of T-1 bandwidth, which often would be routed to West Palm Beach, Tampa and then south to our region, he says. Along the way, ISPs would oversell capacity, so users would wind up getting slower connections, Ward says. "There isn't enough [bandwidth] coming in to provide the [Internet] access companies need," he says.

That won't happen with the T-3 product the company is selling, Ward adds.

T3 Communications placed its own equipment inside Sprint central offices and will use the telephone company's wires to connect with customers. Under the Telecommunication Act of 1996, incumbent phone service providers such as Sprint must share their lines with other providers, Ward says. T3 intends to sell its service to other ISPs. The connection is geared toward medium-sized businesses and starts at $150 a month.

Still, many companies rely on T-1s, with good results.

Naples-based Allen Systems Group has T-1 Internet connections, uses fiber optics, and relies on voice-over Internet protocol (IP) for telephone contact with its offices worldwide, as well as for videoconferencing for customer demonstrations, says Tom Romnios, ASG's vice president of global human resources.

In the local marketplace, it's important that broadband connectivity is survivable, says Gabrielle Runza-Marvin, vice president of RGB Internet Systems in Naples. That means, for instance, if a line fails, another automatically takes its place to keep a system operating, sort of a redundancy measure. There are other examples of survivability, as well. "There are multiple SONET (Synchro-nous Optical Network) rings deployed in both Lee and Collier counties, with two deployed in Charlotte." Additional fiber deployment will expand the availability of broadband services and survivable broadband services. Both Collier and Lee County have a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) with Ethernet switches; these provide business with private broadband services from five megahertz to one gigahertz.

"Collier County has an ordinance offering tax relief to businesses that deploy fiber to their sites; this incentive assists in offsetting the cost for deployment,"Runza-Marvin says. "An ordinance like this would assist businesses in Lee County and Charlotte."

-Jill Tyrer and

Phil Borchmann