GRAND RAPIDS ? Iserv, which began its business life as a dial-up Internet service provider, now wants to become a phone company.

The parent company, Iserv Technology Group, will use its Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Status it received as part of its acquisition of Holland-based EagleNet, to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to homes and business through AT&T Michigan.

This access will not be combined with major new infrastructure expansion that includes:

The completion of a major expansion project, including the construction of 15 central offices in West Michigan;

The new switching centers include three locations in Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Dutton, Hastings, Otsego, Plainwell, Richland, Kalamazoo, Portage, Oshtemo, two locations in Battle Creek and Marshall.

The lighting of 38 miles of new fiber optic cable in the Grand Rapids area;

The acquisition of MacNet in Holland, Northland Library Center in Alpena and I-Link International in Trenton.

Iserv President Victor Shepherd said the company is developing new products and marketing plans that will allow the company to market more aggressively its own direct data connectivity services in western and southwestern Michigan, as well as to better serve existing customers.

?We are going from just being an ISP to being a phone company,? Shepherd said. ?We?ve gone into AT&T Michigan?s central offices and leased a corner of the building to drive our digital broadband products. Now we can resell SBC product or our own.?

Shepherd said in the future, Iserv will offer a digital phone product, plus a one stop communications shop for both residential and business customers, including video service to rival satellite and cable TV service.

?We own the connectivity that connects the offices,? he said. ?We handle our own destiny now.?

Iserv now provides business and residential service to customers in 10 states, primarily surrounding the Great Lakes. Options range from dial-up Internet access to high speed connections from T-1 lines and above.

How many customers are in the Iserv portfolio remains a trade secret. Shepherd admitted the 60,000 plus number the company has been using is several years old. High speed connectivity has been growing at a 30 percent annual rate over those years, so making an educated guess and saying Iserv has broken the 100,000 customer barrier wouldn?t be disputed by Shepherd. And it?s only the beginning.

?Our goal is to grow our business in two ways,? Shepherd said. ?One by building new technologies and making new investment to be the best available options for our customers. The other is to find opportunities for us to acquire those organizations that don?t have the financial resources to take their companies to the next level.?

Iserv Technology Group has acquired 20 smaller ISPs in the past two years and is eager to buy more to keep Iserv a ?growing and thriving company.?

For more information, click on IservTechnologyGroup.Com