NextWeb To Offer Fixed-Wireless VoIP

California-based fixed-wireless Internet service provider NextWeb announced a plan to resell Voice over IP services from Level 3.

The Fremont, Calif.-based NextWeb, which claims to have 2,000 customers for its bleeding-edge services (which the company markets to small- and medium-sized businesses as a replacement for DSL or T-1 Internet access) said in an announcement today that it will use Level 3's services to offer a wide range of voice options, including hosted IP PBX services as well as the usual range of VoIP features including conference calling, integrated voice and data messaging, and call-forwarding and "call following" options.

NextWeb did not give specific pricing for its planned VoIP offerings. However, Eric Warren, director of marketing and business development, said the company's services are competitively priced versus traditional Internet access services. (NextWeb, Warren said, touts its 2 Mbps T-1 replacement Internet service as providing "30 percent more bandwidth at 40 percent of the cost.") According to Warren, NextWeb has no plans to offer consumer Internet access or VoIP services.

NextWeb, Warren said, uses a "pre-WiMAX" variety of wireless technology to deliver its services to business customers in more than 175 cities throughout California, including much of the Silicon Valley area as well as parts of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Orange County. The privately held NextWeb, founded in 1999, has raised $8 million in venture funding, according to the company Web site.