AT&T Broadband

has closed its Fayetteville office, but company spokesman Reg Griffin

said he believes local customers will be pleased with the result.

"We plan

to open a new store in some proximity to both Peachtree City and Fayetteville,"

Griffin told The Citizen. "We're looking [for office space] in the

[Ga.] Highway 54 area," he said.

Once the new

office is open, the Peachtree City office also will be closed, Griffin

said, adding that the new office will "provide a much higher level

of service" than the old ones.

With one employee

each working in the Fayetteville and Peachtree City offices, he said,

the offices have had to be closed for lunch, and those workers were simply

taking orders for service, he added.

In the new

office, he said, "there will be kiosks with information on all the

various services, and technicians on hand to show people how to do things

like hook up their VCR to receive cable."

Fayette County

Administrator Chris Cofty said he has seen plans for the new office, and

he isn't impressed. "It's real nice," he said, "but I think

convenience is more important than the amenities." Customers in the

Peachtree City and north Fayette areas will now have to drive farther

for service, he said.

Meanwhile,

the company's upgrade of service to Fayette continues.

Griffin said

all of Peachtree City, unincorporated Fayette County and the city of Fayetteville

have been upgraded to broadband service, providing more channels than

before.

Peachtree City

customers also will have access to phone and Internet service through

their cable system "within two months," he said, something the

city insisted on in its franchise agreement with AT&T.

Those services

will come to the rest of Fayette, Griffin said, but he can't say when.

"It's our goal to have complete service to all of metro Atlanta by

some time in 2003," he said.

Until the new

office is opened, he said, Fayette customers can use the Peachtree City

cable store, 482 Ga. Highway 74 north, or the Jonesboro store in Arrowhead

shopping center, 6435 Tara Boulevard.

The company

also has now established a Web site specific to the Atlanta area, where

customers can get information or upgrades online at www.attbroadband.com/atlanta .

You can check

the availability of services in the area, download channel lineups, pay

a bill online or submit a question or comment. The site also includes

answers to frequently asked questions, directions to the company's eight

Broadband Service Centers and current promotional information for digital

video, high-speed Internet or local telephone services.

"We are

excited to be offering this new Internet site to our customers,"

said Griffin. "You can contact us online through the Internet any

time of the day or night."