Greetings,

This is Jeff from Zoomlynx (Also known as "Bob").

When Ed and I started this company, we did so mainly because of the dissatisfaction we had with our former provider, which also happened to be my former employer, a national ISP that seemed to be too big for what we considered "personalized service".

We thought we could provide better service, at a better price, and I feel that we have fulfilled that goal. Hopefully, our customers feel the same way.

In the last three and a half years, we have seen a lot of changes in the Internet business. Higher speed connections are more available and affordable, the features of the V.92 protocol are more in demand, and unfortunately, viruses and SPAM are at an all-time high.

While we strive to retain the local, "home town", mom and pop type of service, technology is overtaking our abilities to continue to provide you with competitive service.

Personally, between vehicle problems, health problems, and house problems, I have been extremely busy. Being one person who basically does everything but the billing here (Ed does that), makes it hard keep up with things.

Some of our servers are in need of updates, reconfigurations, and email filtering. These generally can take a week or two of uninterrupted and devoted time per system. Keeping up with the day to day business prohibits me from accomplishing these types of necessary upgrades.

While we are pleased to provide the most personal service to all of the customers that we can, technological advances are passing us by.

We are too small of a company to be able to offer high speed services as well.

All of these factors have caused us to consider our alternatives. How can we continue to remain a home-town company, and yet offer the advanced features that have become available?

Of all of the options that we have considered, we have chosen to become a part of another local company, but please,

Don't Panic!

The company we have decided to become a part of is the only other truly local Internet provider around. They are Innernet, Inc. located right here in downtown Chambersburg.

As with any growing pain, there are advantages and disadvantages. Again, please don't panic. The advantages will outweigh the disadvantages.

Here are some options you will be gaining:

The availability of high speed connections. This includes DSL and wireless, which are less expensive than you may think, especially for anyone with a separate phone line for their computer.

Spam filtering to limit, and in many cases eliminate junk mail.

Email virus scanning. While most of you have onboard virus scanners, the nuisance of receiving these emails will vanish.

The availability of paying your bill online.

V.92 compatibility. This has been a difficult problem for us. There is no software available for our present equipment to support the V.92 protocol. V.92 allows for faster upload speeds, and allows for incoming calls to be received while on the Internet.

Increased availability of Tech Support and Customer Services. (This has been a difficult area for me to maintain by myself.)

Your email addresses will remain the same!

On the flip side of the coin, we will have to integrate to Innernet's pricing structure. Innernet's pricing structure is two dollars more a month.

Five years ago, the standard rate for Internet service was $19.95 a month. Innernet, Inc. was able to reduce that price to $18.00 a month.

Being as small as we are, we were able to slash the standard price of $19.95 a little further and offer service at $15.95 a month. This barely affords us any profit. Presently, we are loosing money on a monthly basis for all customers that pay by the year. We make a slight profit at the monthly and quarterly rates.

Filtering systems usually cost the provider (us) a "per-customer" charge. The need for such filters has become greater within the last year, and in order to implement such filtering, we would have had to raise our prices anyway.

We had been considering such a price increase. Our increase would have been close to $18.00 a month as well, if not that same figure.

Some non-local providers have tried to offer service cheaper, but end up overloading their phone lines and their systems, and not providing the same quality of service. (You get what you pay for.)

The increase will not take place until after the 25th of April, and will not affect paid accounts until the end of their next billing cycle.

Any customer that would like to switch to automated credit card billing will also receive a free month of service.

Now, some of our present customers have been former Innernet customers, and some of these customers have had negative feelings towards their former provider.

All ISP's have problems. Lord knows, we have. Off the record, I hear many stories from many of you who have had bad experiences elsewhere, not just from Innernet.

Being the biggest competitor to us, I have kept tabs on the quality of service that Innernet has provided over the years. I saw problems happening there when they switched to fiber optics, and when they upgraded their email systems. These were state-of-the-art upgrades, desirous of any ISP, and once the problems fizzled out, I have not heard of problems with their service.

It's as if they replaced the old, rusted iron pipes with new, stainless steel ones. There was a little rust in the lines when they did the upgrades, but the end result is smooth sailing. The resulting system is a system that we, being as small as we are, can only envy.

So I'm asking you personally, if you have had some negative experience with Innernet, don't give up the ship. Both Innernet and Zoomlynx are desirous of maintaining your satisfaction, while increasing your available services.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for the patience, understanding, and dedication you have had for us, and for me personally. Many of us know each other on a first name basis, and I will try to make all of this as seamless as possible.

Please visit our web site, and the transition FAQ page for more details. If you would like to give me a call, please try to do so in the afternoon.

http://www.zoomlynx.com/transition.html

Macintosh users, please give me a call or an email and let me know that you use a Mac.

Thank you,
-Jeff