Verizon pushing to expand DSL

Verizon is looking to expand its high-speed Internet service by adding an equipment cabinet and digital subscriber line (DSL) equipment to an existing installation on Houghton Street, near St. John the Baptist Church.

350 new lines

If the company's plans be approved, about 350 new lines would be able to use DSL services, according to Verizon spokewoman Beth Fastiggi.

"We likely won't start construction until after spring begins," Fastiggi said. "We're looking at a 2007 timeline to get the service operational."

"Although we don't want to promise anything we can't deliver, we hope to have service available by the end of summer," Fastiggi said. "We need to do a lot of testing (beforehand) to make sure it will work."

Fastiggi said the new service would primarily be available north of the Houghton Street location.

Fastiggi said the company is in the midst of a huge DSL expansion across the state of Vermont.

"We have an agreement, as part of a regulatory plan, to meet with certain milestones," Fastiggi said. "We worked very hard last year to get our number up to 60 percent of phone lines (with DSL

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AT&T to offer $20 'naked' DSL service

Cheaper high-speed Internet service is coming.

Within a few months, AT&T is expected to start charging $19.95 a month for "naked" DSL, meaning you don't have to buy any other AT&T (T) service, including phone, to get that rate. It currently charges $45 for a stand-alone broadband subscription.

AT&T also is developing $10 DSL for new subscribers who also buy AT&T-branded phone service.

AT&T plans to offer both services for at least 30 months. The clock starts as soon as the media giant starts selling them in any of the 22 states where it is the incumbent local phone company, including California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.

Why so cheap? Three words: Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC, which has broad regulatory control over the U.S. telecommunications industry, recently approved AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. To get needed votes from the FCC's two Democratic members, AT&T agreed, reluctantly, to offer these DSL bargains.

AT&T is required to roll out the $19.95 offer within one year and the $10 rate within six months. Gene Kimmelman, public policy director of Consumers Union, says he expects AT&T to move faster.

Under the terms of the FCC agreement, AT&T is required to offer naked DSL for $19.95 in markets that are at least 80% upgraded for broadband. That describes many of AT&T's biggest markets, says Kimmelman, who helped negotiate the settlement.

Under the deal, AT&T's cheap DSL products will clock in at 768 kilobits per second. While that's slower than the 1.5 to 3 megabits popular with many U.S. consumers, "it's more than good enough" for Internet telephony, Kimmelman says.

As such, he thinks the twin offers could help spur sales of Internet telephony across the USA. "This opens the door for consumers" to pick other local and long-distance providers," Kimmelman says.

For years, Kimmelman notes, consumers had to pay double, essentially, if they wanted to buy a high-speed broadband connection from one carrier and phone service from another. He says that let phone companies such as AT&T push broadband sales while preserving their core phone business, which still accounts for the bulk of profit.

While AT&T, for example, charges $45 for naked DSL, it sells a bundle that includes phone and DSL for just $28 a month.

Cable TV companies do the same thing. If purchased separately, Time Warner charges $45 a month for its high-speed cable modem service and $49.95 for digital phone. A bundle of both — plus TV service — costs $99.

Comcast's service is among the priciest: It charges almost $58 a month for stand-alone broadband.

Kimmelman, for one, thinks AT&T's new DSL pricing will help "discipline" broadband pricing. Once AT&T's $19.95 rate for naked DSL is broadly available, other broadband providers, including cable, "will be hard-pressed to keep hiding behind a higher price."

source: usatoday.com