FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office of the Governor
August 14, 2002
Contact:  Jean-Marie Lawson, Center for Information Technology Enterprise, Inc.,
(270) 535-3146, or Terri Giltner, Office of the Governor, (502) 564-2611  

Research Exposes Internet Fast Lane in Kentucky

The Governor’s Office for the New Economy released preliminary maps today depicting the current status of Kentucky’s information superhighway.  Established by Governor Paul Patton earlier this year, the connectkentucky Steering Committee has the job of planning and building the information superhighway of the future in Kentucky. 

“In order to attract the jobs and economic development of the future and build a quality of life for all Kentuckians, we must ensure that affordable high speed Internet highways are available throughout the Commonwealth,” said Governor Patton. 

The maps released today show that Kentucky’s primary backbone traverses the State from Cincinnati to Louisville going through Bowling Green to Nashville and finally Atlanta.  The 90 mile region surrounding Northern Kentucky and including Lexington and Louisville is on par with other major areas of the country including the 90 mile radius around Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Columbus, Ohio; and Lansing/Ann Arbor/Jackson, Michigan. 

The data for these maps was provided by AT&T, BellSouth, Broadwing, Espire, Excite@Home, Fiber Network Solutions, Genuity, Global Crossing, ICG Communications, Intermedia, Internet Commerce & Communications, Level 3, McLeod USA, PSINet, Qwest, Savvis, Sprint and Williams Communications.     

These maps are open for public comment and can be viewed on the connectkentucky website at www.connectkentucky.org.  Additional information regarding business, consumer, and local government use of the Internet throughout the state will be released sometime later this month. 

Also announced today, Alltel will join the connectkentucky Steering Committee along with representatives from Ashland Inc., Bank One, Belcan, BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell, CSX, Humana, Nortel, Qwest, Scotty’s Development, Toyota, USEC and Yum! Brands. 

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