
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993                   TAG: 9312210082
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NEW COMPANY TO INCLUDE ROANOKE IN COMPUTER-ACCESS NETWORK

A new Norfolk-based company said Monday it plans to offer Virginians computer access to a wide range of local information and to InterNet, a global computer network with more than 15 million users.

The company, InfiNet, is a joint venture of Landmark Communications Inc. of Norfolk, parent company of the Roanoke Times & World-News, and Wyvern Technologies, a new Tidewater enterprise.

Subscribers will be able to send electronic mail, access bulletin boards, read news headlines and tie into databases at colleges, universities, newspapers, television and radio stations and other information sources across Virginia.

One of the first services available through InfiNet will be the PBS Learning Link, an educational component of PBS Online, which offers electronic mail, conferencing, searchable databases and files related to programming of the Public Broadcasting System.

Local databases will provide the centerpiece of InfiNet.

"InfiNet is intended for the entire community," said Gordon Borrell, InfiNet vice president. "Unlike conventional online systems - Prodigy, America Online and CompuServe - we'll have a system defined by the users themselves."

The basic $10 monthly subscriber fee covers the first 10 hours of use each month. The charge for up to 30 hours of use will be $20.

The service is up and running and has about 400 customers in the Tidewater area, Borrell said. During the first half of next year, InfiNet will offer local access numbers in other areas of the state, including Roanoke and Richmond, he said. - Staff report

by CNB