V.Cities Signs Agreement with NorthPoint

V.Cities (http://www.vcities.cc), a broadband service integrator, has announced a strategic wholesale agreement with NorthPoint DSL ( http://www.northpointdsl.com). Under the terms of this agreement, NorthPoint DSL customers will be connected to V.Cities' broadband network. Assuming that V.Cities strikes agreements with content providers, this will allow NorthPoint DSL customers to receive content that has not transversed the crowded web.

V.Cities' network is now operational in San Diego; Denver; Washington D.C.; Miami, Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; Atlanta; Chicago; Boston; Baltimore; Detroit; Philadelphia; and Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas; and Seattle. According to the company, full deployment is slated for the second quarter of 2001. To speed the service on their network, V.Cities is using Lucent NX64000 terabit routers, and are locating them geographically close to the customer.

According to Russ Medina, CEO of V.Cities, the company is currently marketing its services to DSL providers, CLACs, and BLACs. V.Cities' network is currently capable of supporting VPNs, and is especially suited for the delivery of content that is of specific interest to only one city. NorthPoint's DSL network allows V.Cities to enhance its competitive position to provide service on a national basis, and expands Northpoint's DSL services without more infrastructure spending on its part.

In a related note, NorthPoint DSL announced today that they are marketing their services on the retail level in cooperation with Radio Shack and Microsoft. Customers will be able to sample broadband access in the stores at the Microsoft Internet Center, and they will be also have the option to order DSL service at a promotional price.