Mountain View, Calif. -- ISP Channel, the high-speed
Internet-service provider owned by SoftNet Systems Inc., said it has signed service
agreements with Coaxial Communications and Cedar Communications and extended its existing
contract with SunTel Communications LLC (formerly Sun Country Cable).
ISP Channel also said Teleponce Cable TV, of Puerto Rico,
agreed to provide high-speed Internet access through cable modems to Teleponce's
125,000 homes passed in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In all, ISP Channel has signed affiliate
agreements with 25 cable operators.
Coaxial, of Columbus, Ohio, plans to launch ISP Channel
service to 72,500 homes in Amelia, Liberty and Hilliard, Ohio.
Pleasanton, Calif.-based SunTel signed a master agreement
to partner exclusively with ISP Channel in its existing 21,000 homes-passed service area
and in all future systems. Those markets include Groveland, Pine Mountain and Lake
Almanor, Calif., and a newly acquired property in Winnemucca, Nev.
Cedar Communications of Lakewood, Wash., adds 6,500 homes
passed to a growing Washington state cluster that now passes about 92,000 homes that also
includes Northland Communications systems. Northland is also an ISP affiliate. That
clustering allows ISP Channel to leverage its regional data center through shared data
communication infrastructure costs.
ISP Channel is one of several turnkey data providers that
offer to absorb capital and operating costs for cable affiliates in exchange for a cut of
revenues.
