High-end service for the masses

Aiming at simplifying the slew of features in its Custom Choice service, Cincinnati Bell has entered an agreement to market SoloPoint's S-310 caller ID and voice mail manager.

Custom Choice, introduced in late March, offers customers a line and up to 20 different services, including voice mail, call forwarding and caller ID, for a flat rate of $34.95 a month.

The agreement with SoloPoint is part of the company's plan to bring advanced services to the masses. "We are taking it to a much bigger scale, beyond people who are used to these products," said John Rhoads, market manager for Cincinnati Bell.

SoloPoint's product should take the fear out of using these high-end features by giving customers an interface that allows them to turn features on and off without having to remember a series of codes.

"There are a lot of people out there who aren't familiar with these services, and it takes a lot of hand-holding to get them to use them," said Monica Gerhardt, market manager for Cincinnati Bell.

With the S-310, customers also can screen a call after it is dropped into voice mail, which is an important function for many home users, Gerhardt said.

Many other companies have had programs in which they sold or gave away equipment, but it was usually low-end devices and did not offer the same type of service management. "Cincinnati Bell is realizing that they need high-end customer premises equipment to compensate for the services so customers can actually use the services," said Don Nanneman, vice president of marketing for SoloPoint.

Frontier Communications selected NorthPoint Communications as its preferred provider of digital subscriber line service. The strategic alliance will combine NorthPoint's national DSL reach with Frontier's Optronics network.

Hyperion Communications agreed to buy the remaining interests of fiber optic networks providing service to Baton Rouge, La.; Little Rock, Ark.; and Jackson, Miss., from Entergy Corp. The company will now own more than 275 route-miles of fiber.

Industar Digital PCS, an independent wireless carrier, launched services in Milwaukee. It is the first C block carrier to deploy time division multiple access technology.

I-Link activated its V-Link network in the Tampa, Fla., metro area. Customers in the 813 area code now have local access to the company's 4.9 cents-per-minute long-distance offering over the enhanced IP services network.