Westelcom takes over faltering GiSCO

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 11, 2001 by Dickinson, Casey J

WATERTOWN - Westelcom, a Platts burgh- based Internet service provider, has taken over the management of Geographic Internet Services Co. (GiSCO) and placed GiSCO employees on the Westelcom payroll, pending its purchase of the assets of the fiveyear-old Internet company. Westelcom is a subsidiary of the Chazy and Westport Telephone Co.

The company is taking over management of GiSCO's assets on behalf of its public-sector creditors that are dissolving the company, says William Murray, general manager of Westelcom, Inc. GiSCo founder Paul Barton has joined Westelcom as an interim manager. Barton says he plans to remain with the new entity, as will 18 former GiSCO employees. The sale could close within the next month, says Murray. Westelcom could add five to 12 new jobs in Watertown over the next year.

The GiSCO name will remain as the company's Internet brand. "The GiSCO name has a high degree of customer respect and recognition in the North Country," says Murray.

GiSCO had planned broad growth, including a telephone company and high-speed DSL Internet service. However, the company was plagued by funding problems.

GiSCO began laying off employees in December after the company's telephone venture faltered. The layoffs continued into February as the company sought help from local development authorities in obtaining $1.5 million to go forward with its proposed telephone company.

Westelcom is launching its own telephone service in Plattsburgh, says Murray, and the company plans to put the GISCO project "back on track."

Money troubles led to an outage for GiSCO customers in late April. Logical Net, the company's Albany-based connection to the Internet, disconnected GiSCO for nonpayment, effectively cutting off its 9,006 subscribers from the Web. GISCO was able to restore service for its customers through an agreement with AppliedTheory in Syracuse. "We're also working with companies like Telergy and Verizon to put the redundancy back into our network," says Barton.

The Watertown Local Development Corp. and Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency responded to GiSCO's requests for assistance with $250,000 in loans, secured by GiSCO's newly wired downtown headquarters. The two agencies and the North Country Alliance had already loaned the company a total of $800,000. In late April, the boards of all three economic-development groups voted to allow Westelcom to assume GiSCO's debt, clearing the way for a sale of the company's assets. The groups chose Westelcom, says Murray, because of its commitment to retain jobs in Watertown.

Barton says ISP subscribers have remained with the company through the recent troubles. "I'm amazed at the loyalty we've seen from the community," says Barton.