In the business of electronic communications, being on the cutting edge means having a distinct advantage over the competition. Jacksonville, Fla., is the site of only the seventh Tier One Network Access Point (NAP) in the United States, and as such will

help launch a host of new capabilities within the telecommunications industry.

In order for electronic messages to get from point A to point B, they have to be switched, sometimes once, sometimes multiple times, en route. The switching mechanisms come in five forms: local, regional, national, continental, and intercontinental.

NAPs serve as the switching mechanisms for high-volume continental and intercontinental communications. They find the best routes within the system for voice, data, and video transmissions. They're like the on and off ramps of the telecommunications global superhighways.

Driving the production of NAP facilities is the Internet. Internet carriers contract with fiber companies to transmit information over their lines.

When Carlyle Realty Group West (CRG West) decided to build a new NAP facility in the United States, it began searching for a site that had bundles of long-haul fiber, very competitive electricity rates, a reliable telecommunications infrastructure, abundant electricity, and a pro-growth local government that was willing to build the necessary service facilities. Jacksonville fit the bill.

To accommodate the new NAP facility, Jacksonville is investing $8 million in two substation facilities, plus several million dollars in a distribution facility and high-voltage lines. The city is also building a special purpose conduit and chilled water facility, and helping CRG run fiber-optic cable underground.

Though the NAP facility will not require a huge work force - fewer than 100 people - the Community College of Jacksonville has a certified Cisco training program that graduates just the type of specialized workers needed at the site.

"We're positioning the Jacksonville NAP to be a gateway to the Sunbelt," said Park Beeler, president of the Trinity Partnership, which is a managing member of the new Jacksonville International Technology Center, where the new NAP will be located. "So we want to create more efficient routing systems for voice, data, and video to travel from East to West and West to East.

"Jacksonville sits astride the fiber-optic backbone from New York City down the Eastern seaboard and from the Eastern Seaboard to the Western Seaboard."

By attracting the Tier One NAP, Jacksonville has positioned itself for significant future growth in the high-tech, telecommunications, and information technology industries. Generally, the closer one is to a Tier One NAP, the fewer switches are required as messages travel from point A to point B. The fewer switches that are required, the less expensive and more reliable and efficient the transmission.

Jacksonville's Tier One NAP will be ready in March 2003 and will occupy 15 percent of the land area in the Jacksonville International Technology Center. Developers are building a telecommunications infrastructure designed to accommodate both the NAP and companies within the semiconductor, high-tech, telecommunications, and information technology industries that they hope to attract.

"If you have the telecommunications infrastructure, which a NAP promotes, in your area, then you have easy access to that superhighway," said Scott Granacher, of the Jacksonville Electric Authority. "People look at that and say, 'Oh, I can communicate more easily and for less money.'"

Ann Morris is a freelance writer from Leawood, Kan.