LEBANON — A local businessman is protesting city officials' apparent decision to pass on his company in favor of an out-of-town firm that submitted a higher bid for Internet-related technology.

        “The evidence is overwhelming,” Go Concepts president John Gambill Jr. said. “Ours is by far the best and the lowest.”

        Go Concepts has provided bandwidth since the city began offering high-speed Internet service in early 1999. But the city is negotiating with Cincinnati Bell, a subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Broadwing. The contract could come to City Council on Thursday. Lebanon has its own high-speed Internet service — part of its telecommunications network — and it needs bandwidth to link its custom ers to e-mail addresses and Web pages outside the city.

        “It's the highway that we use to get from our network in Lebanon to the outside world,” said Jim Baldwin, the city's telecommunications chief.

        Bids received by the city indicate Go Concepts would charge $8,500 per month, compared with $9,000 for Cincinnati Bell. Also, Bell would charge setup costs of $2,500 to $4,000; the Lebanon firm would not.

        As the city buys increased bandwidth, Bell's prices would rise less than Go's — up to $1,000 a month less at three times the bandwidth.

        However, Mr. Gambill said, Go Concepts would guarantee price reductions of up to 14 percent annually; Bell would review prices annually but guarantee only a 12 percent cut after four years.

        Mr. Baldwin said Lebanon has not had problems with Go Concept's bandwidth service but referred questions about the bid selection to City Attorney Mark Yurick. Mr. Yurick said the decision was City Manager James Patrick's, who could not be reached Friday.

        Mr. Gambill said Mr. Patrick has long stonewalled Go Concepts on discussions over bandwidth and other services the company provides to Lebanon.

        “We're of the opinion that decision was made long before the contract was bid,” he said. “... It appears, based on other things that have happened, that there's something driving him to not want to work with us.”

        Not only is Go Concept's price less, Mr. Gambill said, but its technology is better. The firm is offering duplex service that allows information to travel in both directions at the same time. Cincinnati Bell's bandwidth would not, he said.

        Responding to Mr. Gambill's charge, Mr. Yurick said: “I do not see any conclusive evidence to that effect.”

        Bell officials could not be reached for comment.

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