By JOHN THOMPSON
Coweta Editor

Coweta residents seeking a faster connection to the Internet will have a new choice starting Oct. 1.

Charter Communications announced this week that Charter Pipeline will soon be offering high-speed cable modem Internet access to more than 25,000 homes in Coweta County in just two weeks.

Regional director of sales for the Southeast Ron Pitcock said the modems will offer Internet access at 10 megabits per second, which is nearly 15 times faster than the typical Internet connection.

The launch of the service is the first for Charter Communications in Georgia and one of the first high-speed Internet services to launch in the state.

The service costs $24.95 per month, which is a bargain considering the system's speed, Pitcock said. For the monthly fee, a customer will receive three e-mail addresses, six megabytes of web space, a dial-up account for travelers and a help desk manned 24 hours a day.

"Our service people will answer everything from technical questions to how do I use my computer," Pitcock said.

Residents who want the high speed access will have to subscribe to Charter's basic cable package, have an Ethernet card, a cable modem and a cable outlet near the computer. Once a resident sees how fast the system is, he or she is sold, added Pitcock.

"A high graphics Web page that would take 20 minutes to download on a standard connection takes seconds on ours," Pitcock said.

The company also plans to get heavily involved in the community by offering free cable modems to the school and offering monthly seminars on how to use the Internet.

The company will launch a community-wide Netfest '98 in early October to introduce the service to the general public.

For more information on the service, phone Charter at 770-252-6995.

Charter's new Pipeline

Starts in 2 weeks.

Costs $24.95 a month.