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Defining The Business Value Of Technology
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May 10, 1999 Small Business Gets The Shaft Small businesses and remote offices looking for an inexpensive way to get Internet access, audioconferencing, and virtual private network connectivity to other corporate sites may need to look no further than their building's elevator shaft. Allied Riser Corp. provides high-speed connections to the Internet by running fiber-optic cabling up "risers"--vertical utility shafts that house buildings' electrical and telecom wiring. "We run a four-inch steel conduit from basement to penthouse and pull about 48 strands of fiber through it," says David Crawford, Allied Riser's CEO in Chicago. "In certain older buildings where riser capacity is in short supply, I've seen entire elevator shafts taken out of service and used as telecommunications conduits." Allied Riser offers 10-Mbps Internet access services for about $55 per month--roughly the same price digital subscriber line service providers charge for about one-tenth the bandwidth. The company also offers secure VPN connections to corporate networks, video streaming services, and IP-based audio conferencing services. Later this year, the company plans to bundle local and long-distance telephone services with its IP services. Allied Riser offers services in "35 million square feet of office space in 43 separate buildings" in 16 cities, according to Crawford, who says those figures should triple by year's end. -- Brian Riggs |
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