When the president of BellSouth Mississippi recently announced a bold $10-million plan to take high-speed Internet service to every corner of the state by year’s end, Southwest Mississippi could count itself among the beneficiaries.

The first company to take advantage of tax incentives offered through the 2003 Mississippi Broadband Technology Act, BellSouth will get sales tax exemptions at rates varying from 50 to 100 percent and investment tax credits of 5 percent to 15 percent over a 10-year period.

John McCullough, president of BellSouth Mississippi, made the announcement in late June with Gov. Ronnie Musgrove by his side, an indication of the importance both to the company and the state.

&uot;It definitely is a win-win situation,&uot; said Andrew Ketchings of Natchez, state representative and now a candidate for state treasurer. &uot;BellSouth gets the tax credit. They add a new line. It’s good for the company, and everything will be faster for those who use the new service.&uot;

Ketchings, also a former interim director of the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority, said Mississippi needs all the new opportunities in technology it can get. &uot;In a state like Mississippi, we need to do anything we can do to compete, to bring the state better in line with other states. Companies pay attention to this kind of thing.&uot;

Natchez is the site of one of BellSouth’s DSL locations today. Places in Southwest Mississippi on the schedule between now and the end of 2003 include Roxie, Gloster, Centreville and Liberty, for example.

The BellSouth technology will be available both as a retail and wholesale product, said Michael Walker, a regional manager in the Jackson office. Thus, small Internet service providers could take advantage of the technology along with individual users.

Expanding the network in six months instead of three years will be an extraordinary task, Walker said. &uot;But we won’t have to add additional personnel. A lot of it will be done through software.&uot;

Still, the investment of time and money is a big commitment for the company and should make a difference in economic development activities for the state.

&uot;DSL (digital subscriber line) service is 50 times faster than ordinary dial-up networks,&uot; Walker said. &uot;Users who have huge data files to download can do it must faster with the broadband technology.&uot;

BellSouth’s broadband service features a wire that allows the customer to use the same path for telephone and Internet but employing different frequencies for the two uses. &uot;The thing that separates the DSL is the dedicated path. You can use the telephone while using the Internet.&uot;

Cable providers of Internet service have become one of DSL providers’ biggest rivals. Cable also is fast compared to dial-up service. However, cable service slows if numbers of customers using it increases at any given time, Walker said.

Some other digital-subscriber-line service exists in Southwest Mississippi. Adding the BellSouth product will give more subscriber opportunity. The BellSouth DSL service will be $45.95 per month for individual customers and $79.95 for small businesses.

&uot;There are multiple providers of broadband,&uot; Walker said. &uot;Where the customer gets the service depends on what the customer needs. Different speeds and other factors serve different needs.&uot;

The first company to take advantage of tax incentives offered through the 2003 Mississippi Broadband Technology Act, BellSouth will get sales tax exemptions at rates varying from 50 to 100 percent and investment tax credits of 5 percent to 15 percent over a 10-year period.

John McCullough, president of BellSouth Mississippi, made the announcement in late June with Gov. Ronnie Musgrove by his side, an indication of the importance both to the company and the state.

&uot;It definitely is a win-win situation,&uot; said Andrew Ketchings of Natchez, state representative and now a candidate for state treasurer. &uot;BellSouth gets the tax credit. They add a new line. It’s good for the company, and everything will be faster for those who use the new service.&uot;

Ketchings, also a former interim director of the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority, said Mississippi needs all the new opportunities in technology it can get. &uot;In a state like Mississippi, we need to do anything we can do to compete, to bring the state better in line with other states. Companies pay attention to this kind of thing.&uot;

Natchez is the site of one of BellSouth’s DSL locations today. Places in Southwest Mississippi on the schedule between now and the end of 2003 include Roxie, Gloster, Centreville and Liberty, for example.

The BellSouth technology will be available both as a retail and wholesale product, said Michael Walker, a regional manager in the Jackson office. Thus, small Internet service providers could take advantage of the technology along with individual users.

Expanding the network in six months instead of three years will be an extraordinary task, Walker said. &uot;But we won’t have to add additional personnel. A lot of it will be done through software.&uot;

Still, the investment of time and money is a big commitment for the company and should make a difference in economic development activities for the state.

&uot;DSL (digital subscriber line) service is 50 times faster than ordinary dial-up networks,&uot; Walker said. &uot;Users who have huge data files to download can do it must faster with the broadband technology.&uot;

BellSouth’s broadband service features a wire that allows the customer to use the same path for telephone and Internet but employing different frequencies for the two uses. &uot;The thing that separates the DSL is the dedicated path. You can use the telephone while using the Internet.&uot;

Cable providers of Internet service have become one of DSL providers’ biggest rivals. Cable also is fast compared to dial-up service. However, cable service slows if the numbers of customers using it increases at any given time, Walker said.

Some other digital-subscriber-line service exists in Southwest Mississippi. Adding the BellSouth product will give more subscriber opportunity.

The BellSouth DSL service will be $45.95 per month for individual customers and $79.95 for small businesses.

&uot;There are multiple providers of broadband,&uot; Walker said.

&uot;Where the customer gets the service depends on what the customer needs. Different speeds and other factors serve different needs.&uot;