ST. FRANCIS ? On days when his home dial-up Internet service lumbered along like a turtle crossing a patch of fresh asphalt, Craig Button longed for the Ferrari-like speeds of broadband Internet access he used when he lived in Pennsylvania.

He and other residents of this northwest Kansas community of 1,500 now have their wish.

Two months ago, the city launched its own high-speed Internet service as a city utility, just like electricity, water, sewer and trash pick-up service. About 60 customers have signed up, and city officials are shooting for 200.

“I just came back to St. Francis, and I’ve been all over the country,” J.R. Landenberger, city superintendent, said. “The No. 1 thing I see in small towns is a lack of services. Here it’s not a matter of choosing services, it’s not even having one to choose from.”

Landenberger spearheaded an effort beginning a year ago to get broadband service via high-speed T1 phone lines from Southwestern Bell. Some businesspeople in the community had tried earlier to get open market service providers :quot; dial-up providers, the cable TV company and phone companies, to provide high-speed access.

“None of them had us on any kind of a reasonable target time that we would be considered,” said Kelly Frewen, owner of Frewen Insurance Agency.

“The city investigated and found out there’s more than one way to skin a cat. I’m very glad they did,” he said. “Slowly but surely, fast Internet creeps into everybody’s life.”

The city is offering three different levels of high-speed Internet access at different prices. The least expensive service starts at $29.95 a month, for 128K downloads and 56K uploads. Depending on location, the service is between five and 10 times faster than dial-up, Landenberger said.

The next level is $39.95 for 512K downloads and 128K uploads. The premiere level service features 768K downloads and 256K uploads for $49.95 monthly.

Customers pay a $100 installation fee, and the city retains ownership of the equipment used to make the connection. Landenberger said so far, the premier service had been the most popular with customers.

“Surprisingly, they’re on the high side of it,” he said. “There’s no more than a half-dozen on the lowest one. I was actually pleasantly surprised by that. It supports the network a lot better the faster they go.”

Research, homework

Button, his wife and 14-year-old daughter moved to St. Francis from Lockhaven, Pa., about two hours north of Harrisburg. Button is director of nursing for Cheyenne County Hospital and a student pursuing a master’s degree in nursing.

He relies on the fast Internet connection for research and homework.

His wife and daughter also are online regularly, which is why he made the decision to get the premier service package.

Between having a teenager “and two techno-nerd adults,” he said, their use of the Internet is probably higher than most.

Having broadband service also does away with having a separate line for dial-up service, a fact his daughter enjoys since she now gets to use that line as her own.

“I’m very satisfied with (the service),” Button said.

The city plans soon to have wireless Internet service, through the T1 lines, available to its police cars, so that officers can run driver’s license checks and obtain other information online from laptop computers, Landenberger said.

Frewen said high-speed Internet had made a difference in his business. Dial-up was sufficient for e-mail use, but broadband lets him send pictures and download large files. It also lets him access information on policies and claims easier, he said.

“I can see why many businesses say it’s going to improve communication and correspondence, because it’s definitely the way to go,” Frewen said. “Things that used to take many, many minutes now get done in seconds.”