Unique telecommunications characteristics:

• Nearly all of Wichita's business areas are equipped with fiber optic and are hosted by three competing networks (Cox Business Services, SBC and TelCove).
• A ranking by Intel in 2003 put Wichita in the top 15% of the most "unwired" metro areas in the nation.
• All services are available in Wichita - from traditional switched and centrex-based dial tone services to self-healing SONET networks, frame relay and Advanced Intelligence Networks.
• In 2001, Yahoo Internet Life ranked Wichita 40th among U.S. cities in web usage (the only city on the list with a population under one-half million).
• It typically takes only one to two weeks for business broadband installation, with all types of access available, including dial-up telephone modems to high-speed cable modems, DSL, wireless broadband and satellite.
• Five competing long distance landline carriers are stationed in Wichita - AT&T, Gabriel Communications, MCI, Sprint and Wiltel, with one long distance point-of-presence (Sprint PCS).
   

Large commercial-industrial rates are generally in the 4.5-6.0 cent per kwh range. It is not necessary to qualify for economic development incentives to obtain such a rate. Providing more specific rate estimates requires information such as total kwh consumption, load factor (8 vs. 24 hour per day operation for example) and determination of equipment ownership (rate often lower if customer owns transformers, etc.).