New fiber-optic technology now available for businesses in Charleston

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Business owners in the Charleston and South Charleston areas now have the access to fiber-optic technology.

Alpha Technologies is a small, veteran-owned business that works to provide efficient internet services to local businesses. Four years ago they announced a project that would bring a 35-mile fiber-optic ring into downtown Charleston. The ring, which is Alpha Connect, is designed to provide cloud services, an alternative internet provider and greater bandwidth.

Through their data center, Alpha Technologies is able to secure businesses information physically at their facility, as a back-up for the business.

“When businesses want to move into the area, technology is hindering to their ability to move here so our goal is to provide them fast connectivity,” said Douglas Tate, CEO and president of Alpha Technologies. “The ability to move in and just connect to a cable that provides their service, internet, their email, all of those services wrapped up in one bill, one connection.”

Aside from being CEO, Tate is also a disabled veteran who wanted to change the game for those looking for jobs someday in the mountain state.

“At nine years I got hurt and took a medical discharge so now I’m just 100% a disabled veteran,” he said. “So my goal is to not ride that, but take that and leverage it to bring more federal jobs in.”

Bridge Valley Community and Technical College is one of Alpha Technologies' customers:

“Through this pandemic, being able to remotely connect in (to our) VPN, employees can remotely connect into our network through their home securely and encrypted so (Alpha Connect) hosts that for us there, as well,” said Adam Ferrell, IT director at Bridge Valley.

Tate said this phase of the fiber is in Charleston and South Charleston, but they are looking to eventually expand into the western and southern half of West Virginia.

Copyright 2020 WSAZ. All rights reserved.