Gatespeed Joins SkyWeb Alliance

The SkyWeb Alliance, a coalition of fixed wireless ISPs in California, has added Gatespeed Broadband Inc. as its newest member, and the first from the San Francisco Bay area.

NextWeb Inc. started the SkyWeb Alliance. Adding Gatespeed to its roster expands NextWebs ability to sell services in the South Bay and Santa Cruz regions.

Also as part of the deal, NextWeb and Gatespeed will offer each other capacity on their respective networks at wholesale rates and develop joint marketing and sales efforts for fixed-wireless services.

Gatespeed has offered high speed Internet service since 1999 in the Bay Area, and by joining the SkyWeb Alliance we immediately increase our geographic coverage area and will soon leverage the improved performance of WiMAX, said Dan Arra, CEO of Gatespeed.

Gatespeed was a co-founder with NextWeb of the Broadband Access Network Coordination (BANC) group in the Bay Area, the nations first cooperative organization that coordinates unlicensed-band fixed wireless services. Similar groups now have formed in Los Angeles and San Diego.

The SkyWeb Alliance program has proven to be very successful in promoting customer growth, said Graham Barnes, CEO of NextWeb. The program has evolved from a marketing and sales alliance program to an initiative that has had a great impact on our business. As pre-WiMAX strengthens its position as a true alternative to cable and DSL for high-speed Internet service, indirect sales are increasingly important to our continued success.

Other members of the SkyWeb Alliance include San Diego-based service providers RedWire and SkyRiver Communications, as well as Color Broadband and NextPhase Wireless in the Los Angeles area and West Coast Communications in the California Central Valley area.

Gatespeed Broadband Inc. www.gatespeed.com
NextWeb Inc. www.nextweb.net
SkyWeb Alliance www.skyweballiance.com