Bell South jumped on the dialup Internet access bandwagon last week, launching its BellSouth.net service for residential and small business customers in New Orleans and Atlanta.

The telco will offer Internet access in two packages: unlimited use for $19.95 a month, or 10 hours of access for $9.95, and $1 per hour after that. As the Internet continues to gain popularity, industry experts have expressed concern that increased call times due to Internet traffic could lead to network failures. However, BellSouth's Internet protocol (IP) network is designed to handle the sort of network activity that an unlimited access offering will generate, said Bill Price, vice president of operations for BellSouth.net.

"We're well positioned to handle the kind of traffic that we expect and then some," he said. "As we add customers, we can continue to grow our network."

Vendors involved with the BellSouth.net IP network include Cisco Systems for routers, Cascade Communications for frame relay switches, Hewlett-Packard for its OpenView network manager, and Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems for servers. BellSouth is also using WorldCom Gridnet to carry the calls from its point of connection to the Internet network access point.

BellSouth.net opted not to create any original content for the service and chose instead to create navigational tools to help its customers find useful sites on the Internet, said John Robinson, president of BellSouth.net.

"Our position is that the more content the better, but producing content is not a core skill at BellSouth," Robinson said.

The BellSouth.net service includes a customized navigator from Netscape designed to help users get to local sites, Robinson said.

BellSouth.net will roll out service to eight more regions in early October, including Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville and Memphis, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Jacksonville, Orlando and the Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach area in Florida.