DSL Service Providers

4G - An Affordable New Wireless Solution Available Now

2010-06-20T02:31:00.000-04:00

Wireless seems to be all the rage these days. Most phone usage comes in the form of wireless cell phones. Most people like to have wireless networks at home. Internet connections are also starting to make the switch over to wireless. Previously, they could not keep up with wired connections in terms of transfer rates and even convenience. Now wireless internet solutions perform fast enough to be considered a broadband connection and are more versatile than the other options.

There are two main forms of such internet currently available: satellite internet and 4G internet. Satellite internet has been around for a little while and offers competitive rates and high speed service. Their target audience is mostly people that live outside the coverage area of cable and DSL. While satellite internet is offered almost everywhere, 4G on the other hand is currently only offered in some lucky cities. Naturally, it replaces the older 3G infrastructure that proved to be reliable but not quite fast enough for broadband usage. The new infrastructure is fast, reliable, and affordable.

It doesn't just stop there though. There is a feature that you can use that isn't offered by anyone else. A subscriber has the option of using a USB modem to connect to the internet. No longer do you have to connect solely with a regular modem like cable and DSL. The implications of this technology are astounding and are really what make this kind of connection such a good deal. Think about it for a moment. You will be able to access the internet from anywhere in the coverage area, and even if the connection is spotty it will often to revert to the slower but more widespread 3G network. Regardless, you can take your little USB modem and portable computing device anywhere in the city and have high speed broadband internet access. That means you can stream a high definition movie to your computer while relaxing at the park. You can refresh your knowledge of the previous lecture's material on the bus ride to school. You can video conference with friends and family as you're on the way to their house, breaking communication only when you want to. You can look up new restaurants while you're out and about with your friends. You can find a scenic spot anywhere in the city and read the news online. And the list goes on and on. You'll surely come up with new ways of using your connection.

Best of all is it's affordable. As if the feature set wasn't enough, 4G internet is priced about the same as cable and DSL. In fact, it might even be a bit cheaper because when you sign for it you won't have to pay any additional costs. The same can't be said of cable and DSL. They often make you sign up for cable TV and phone line service, respectively, before they start offering the good rates on internet. 4G doesn't do that because it only offers internet service. All this may sound too good to be true, but it's not. It's available now and very likely in your city.

Maybe it's time to see why wireless internet is the wave of the future. If you want to get connected to this affordable service, consider signing up for clear internet.

Internet Provider and Access Comparison

2009-07-31T19:10:00.002-04:00

With so many options of Internet to choose of, including the several ranks of prices for the Internet of high speed, let's analyze the diverse types of broadband solutions.

DSL

The DSL is a technology that offers the transmission on the wires of a network of local telephone. The DSL can be used in the same line that its service of telephone. The speeds of the DSL can extend from 128 Kbps to 3 Mbps and are slower than the access of the broadband of the cable. With 30 million subscribers on a national scale, the DSL is only second to send a cable in reach of the service of Internet.

Cable Internet

Internet from cable is a service provided by its company of local cable television. The suppliers will normally offer the packages that include the telephone, the Internet and the TV to make it easy so that the consumer rolls the packages that offer a type of discount. The access of Internet of the cable is also more expensive than a connection of the more reliable DSL. Comcast based in Chicago is the greater borrower of services of cable of the United States.

Internet Satellite

Satellite access of Internet based on satellites is generally its option past if a customer is needing a connection high speed. The clients will request the satellite generally if they reside in a remote area or don't have access to the services of the broadband of the DSL or cable. Another reason of less trustworthiness is that sudden inclement time can fall its connection to Internet by a period of extended time until the time clarifies.

The best way to find the best supplier of Internet for its needs in a good price is to make purchases around. The suppliers of services of the Internet of the DSL, the satellite and the cable are competing for their business, so they gain it!

Broadband users still not get advertised speed

2009-07-27T20:31:00.002-04:00

BBC has a story out today regarding a large survey done by telecoms regulator Ofcom.
In the survey nearly one quarter of UK broadband users on an 8 Megabit per second
(Mbps) connection actually receive less than 2 Mbps, it concluded.

The research study showed that less than 9% of high speed users received more than 6 Mbps.

You can read this story here

Broadband coverage map

2009-07-13T21:04:00.002-04:00

DSLone.net has changed their coverage page title to "Broadband". In a way to help visitors find high-speed internet in their respective state, www.dslone.net/coverage.php has made it easier to navigate your way to cheap prices for broadband service.

Now providing internet quotes in every state except Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico, finding your best deal for dsl, satellite or cable is as easy as filling out the short form. Within seconds you will receive a comparison in your area of providers who offer service to your home.

DSLone.net which has been around since 2005 is also looking for any suggestions to improve your experience when visiting the website. Please visit the contact page and offer any ideas you may have.

AT&T reports 10.5 million Wi-Fi connections so far this year

2009-04-23T22:49:00.000-04:00

AT&T says users connected to its Wi-Fi hot spots 10.5 million times in the first quarter of 2009, more than triple the number of times its users connected to Wi-Fi hot spots in Q1 2008.

AT&T attributes the large increase in demand to two factors: the proliferation of Wi-Fi capable devices and the expansion of the company’s Wi-Fi footprint. On the device side of things, AT&T has expanded its roster of popular Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, such as the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold, which accounted for more than 4 million connections to the company’s hot spots. The company is also offering complimentary access to any of its Wi-Fi hot spots to any user who signs up for qualifying broadband or 3G wireless plans, meaning that the number of AT&T customers with access to Wi-Fi has grown significantly.

In terms of Wi-Fi hot spots, the company aggressively expanded its Wi-Fi footprint last year when it began deploying its Wi-Fi services to 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide. AT&T also broadened the scope of its Wi-Fi business last year by purchasing Wayport, a network and applications management company that provides back-office management for Wi-Fi hot spots. In total, the Wayport acquisition and the Starbucks deal helped the company branched out its Wi-Fi footprint to roughly 20,000 locations in the United States and more than 80,000 locations around the world.

AT&T could see even more users connect to its hot spots if Apple adds the low-power 802.11n Wi-Fi standard to its iPod Touch and iPhone 3G devices. In addition to saving battery power when connecting to the Web, the 802.11n standard would also increase devices’ performance over Wi-Fi networks, as it supports dual bands and provides download speeds in the 30Mbps to 50Mbps range.

SOURCE

DSL providers who provide the best service

2009-01-07T20:58:00.002-05:00

I still prefer cable internet service over DSL but here it is.

My top 5 list of companies who provide the best dsl service:

1- Verizon - Back on top as Verizon is offering faster speeds.

2- Qwest - Reliable and very cheap prices, you can't go wrong with Qwest.

3- AT&T - Multiple packages and affordable pricing for the best of DSL Providers.

4- Bellsouth has fast access dsl and lot's of offers to choose from.

5- Earthlink - With price starting at $12.95 a month can you say cheap?

If you can't get cable or dsl, theirs always satellite internet!

NY Giants going to Superbowl

2008-01-20T23:39:00.000-05:00

I want to congratulate the New York Giants for their win over the Green bay Packers. This post is obviously off topic, but I want to give Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and the rest of the G-MEN a big thumbs up for a great win! Tom Brady and the rest of the New England Patriots is "all" that stands in the way from a Super bowl championship. This will not be easy!

The most watched television program of the year will be played in 2 weeks on February 3rd. The game is watched all over the world in over 40 countries. Some will also watch the game over the Internet on the NFL Network. So make sure your DSL Service, wireless or broadband connection is working so you don't miss what should be an exciting game!

Where is broadband or dsl available?

2008-01-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

DSL such as provided by Verizon may be available in one state or county and not the other. For example Qwest High-Speed Internet may be offered in cook county, Illinois and not in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The same goes for Satellite Internet and Cable Broadband services. There is a website that has made it easy to compare broadband providers in your location, search for availability and compare prices for Internet and choose the best deal. Not only does it save you money but it also gives you the opportunity to make the right selection. You can go to http://www.dslone.net and check for yourself.

If your located in these counties you can go directly to the page or use the homepage!

Miami Dade DSL | Cook County Broadband | Los Angeles Internet Service | Harris County DSL Internet | Broadband Queens

Dslreports has forums for many providers such as Verizon, Time Warner, Qwest, Earthlink and more. You can check them out as well and discuss any questions you may have

Biggest broadband provider is?

2008-01-05T23:22:00.000-05:00

Comcast is the largest provider of cable internet service in the united states. The company is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has over 24 million customers including television cable service.

Verizon, known for their dsl service has been making alot of noise lately with the popular fios internet. The service is not available in many locations as of yet but they are hoping to grow this product which stands for "fiber optic service" dramatically over the next several years.

Hughes Offers New Lower Pricing Making HughesNet High-Speed Internet Service More Affordable than Ever

2007-08-22T23:27:00.000-04:00

Effective immediately, consumers and small businesses who are located beyond the reach of DSL or cable, now can receive a fast broadband connection by using satellite technology. HughesNet(R), the number one high-speed Internet satellite service, has just introduced new promotional plans with no upfront fees for equipment or installation. Additionally, through September 30th, new subscribers will be eligible for a $100.00 mail-in rebate. These new plans make HughesNet broadband satellite Internet service more affordable than ever, enabling consumers in underserved areas to enjoy always-on broadband connections.

Hughes estimates that between 15 and 20 million households in the US are not reached by terrestrial broadband such as cable and DSL. For these consumers, satellite broadband is an ideal solution.

"With our competitive prices and speeds, HughesNet is the perfect solution for rural home or business users. Whether it's for schoolwork, a small home office or a farm, we offer every customer unable to get DSL or cable an affordable solution that meets their broadband needs," said Peter Gulla, vice president of marketing for North America at Hughes.

Two payment options are available. With the Upfront Purchase Plan, equipment and standard installation are only $299.99 after the $100 mail-in rebate with monthly fees starting at $59.99. With Option 2-the Promotional Plan-there is no upfront fee and one is eligible for the $100 mail-in rebate, with monthly fees starting at $79.99. Both payment options include equipment and standard installation and require a 24-month service commitment.

HughesNet is available anywhere to anyone who has an unobstructed view of the southern sky. In fact, more than 350,000 consumers and small businesses already use HughesNet satellite broadband for Internet connectivity. It is not dependent on the phone or cable companies rolling out broadband access lines to hard-to-reach or remote areas.

To take advantage of the new purchase plans, visit www.gethughesnet.com. Across the country, Hughes has more than 1,000 independent dealers capable of quickly and efficiently installing HughesNet. HughesNet is also available in more than 7,000 retail locations, including Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack and 20 top online sellers.

About Hughes Network Systems

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HughesNet encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from Hughes, bridging the best of satellite and terrestrial technologies. Hughes has shipped more than 1.2 million systems to customers in over 100 countries. Its broadband satellite products are based on the IPoS (IP over Satellite) global standard, approved by the TIA, ETSI, and ITU standards organizations.

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes maintains sales and support offices worldwide. Hughes is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. . For additional information, please visit www.hughes.com.

Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Hughes and HughesNet are registered trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC.

Cheap broadband? Try south-east Asia

2007-04-28T20:02:00.000-04:00

Newly published research from Point Topic says south-east Asia is the cheapest region in the world for broadband. The average monthly DSL rental price is just US$19 and that's less than half the cost of such connectivity in the rest of the Asia Pacific area and well below the price of broadband access everywhere else on earth as well.

Point Topic says the low price of broadband is mainly the result of what the company calls the "rather slow connection speed" of the DSL service offered by China Telecom. The average download speed in the south-east Asia region (and that includes the People's Republic of China) is 1,761kbps compared to the 7,738kbps for the greater Asia Pacific region overall.

Point Topic also found that western Europe and North America are close in terms of pricing. The average DSL service charge in Western Europe is $49.3 with a download speed of 4,172kbps, while the cost in North America is $48. The average price in eastern Europe is $39.8 for residential DSL services, that's about 19.2 per cent cheaper than the average charge in western Europe - but connectivity speed in eastern Europe is half of what it is in the west.

Looking elsewhere the report says, "With a relatively young and monopolistic market, where services are primarily being provided by the state-owned incumbents, the Latin and South American market has a relatively high service rental of $65.6 per month. Furthermore, due the under-developed broadband infrastructures, the average download speed of the service is much slower in Latin America than in any other region."

Then turning its attention to cable services, Point Topic reports that, "For cable modem services, the south-east Asia region has the cheapest residential cable modem service, priced at $15.8 per month."

Residential tariffs vary according to the speed of services and they can range from 192kbps to 2Mbps. The average downstream rate though is 656bps for residential grades and 480bps for business grades.

In summation Point Topic claims, "As a region leading FTTx deployment, the Asia Pacific has one of the lowest average price for residential FTTx services, priced at $37.8 and with download speeds of up to 100Mbps. Although eastern Europe has a still cheaper average price of $30.8 the services are primarily fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) where multiple users share a single fibre link. As a result the average service is slower at somewhere in the region of 40Mps."

Many things can put a kink in DSL service

2007-03-06T22:57:00.000-05:00

My Internet service goes out more often than my stepdaughter.

Both my DSL and voice telephone service arrive at my home over the same wire. But that's where the two part company. While my telephone service almost never fails, the DSL connection is a sometimes thing.

Don't feel cocky if you have cable. Before I had DSL, I used a cable modem, and it also went out on a regular basis.

There's no way your Internet service - at least for the immediate future - will be as dependable as your telephone. But I can help you ease many of the problems you are almost certain to encounter.

One problem I often see with both computers and networks is the devastation caused by fixing something that isn't broken. So keep in mind that your connection can slow down for all sorts of reasons beyond your control.

For instance, just as on Interstate 85, traffic can jam things up at a Web site. Too many people logging onto a site can bring speed to a crawl or put it out of business temporarily.

Your Internet provider also can have problems. If you go to the main Web page for your provider, you'll usually see a link to a page that offers reports on any network problems. Keep in mind that some problems hit only part of your service. For instance, an e-mail server at your provider can have problems even though the Web part is just fine.

You'll also find a telephone number to call if problems persist. The help you'll get depends on the provider. In some lucky cases, you'll get help tracing the problem - even if it's in your own system. But at other providers, you won't even get sympathy. If that's the case with your provider, it may be time to take your business elsewhere.

To make things even more complicated, the Internet itself can slow down. If you'd like to check that, just head to www.InternetTrafficReport.com/ to get a traffic report. High traffic or equipment problems at one of the main server locations can slow down things for everyone.

But there are times when the problem is in your house, and there's a trick for that.

It's way too simple to seem like a big deal. But using it can restore Internet service more than half the time. It should be your first move when your computer can't connect using either DSL or cable.
All Durango Area Real Estate Listings

Simply turn the modem off. Let it sit that way for a few moments and then turn it on again. You'll be pleased at how often that works. Here's why: Your modem must be in sync with the modems at your Internet provider. Restarting the modem requires it to establish that synchronization. The nice thing about this fix is that, even if the problem isn't at your home, it does no harm at worst and can be a lifesaver at best.

Some problems aren't as obvious or as simple to fix.

Last week, for instance, my connection slowed to a crawl. I ignored the problem, figuring that it was a temporary glitch on my DSL provider's end.

But things got worse, and finally my computer couldn't connect at all. I tried unplugging the ethernet connectors both at my computer and at the router, thinking they might not be seated correctly. That didn't help.

So I traced the cable along the wall to the router and noticed that it had developed a kink. Since I often make changes in hardware and move the desks around to do it, I probably created the kink when I pulled the desk away from the wall to get working room.

Keep in mind that this wasn't a visible break in the cable, just a sharp bend. A bend like that can break one of the tiny wires inside the cable. But even when a wire isn't broken, a sharp bend can still create enough interference between the wires to slow or stop a connection. Replacing the cable fixed the problem.

But since I have a beagle that considers cables a chew toy, I also used wiring molding to cover the cable for most of its run. Besides protecting it from the dog, the portion of cable that is covered will never kink.

Source: durangoherald.com

Verizon pushing to expand DSL

2007-02-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

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

continued

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

2007-02-12T22:15:00.000-05:00

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

DSL Rules Broadband For Now

2007-01-17T00:16:00.000-05:00

By far, the most widely used broadband technology to access the Internet around the world today is DSL. Over 70% of broadband connections in Japan and Korea are DSL, while penetration in Europe is approximately 60%.

In the U.S., cable TV companies dominate broadband. But DSL isn't far behind, with about 46% of total connections. In fact, DSL growth is estimated at 15% to 20% annually, so it's expected to pass cable TV sometime this year as the dominant broadband technology in the U.S.

That says a lot, considering DSL uses the century-old #26 AWG twisted pair of the plain-old telephone system (POTS). Nevertheless, DSL is alive and well. In fact, it's expected not only to continue its growth in the U.S., but to become even better to meet the telcos' triple-play plans.

While growth figures for DSL are attractive, they don't tell the whole story. The Government Accountability Office report last year indicated that only 58% of U.S. households had any sort of Internet access, with 30% using dialup and 28% using broadband (cable, DSL, satellite). Another study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that 42% of U.S. citizens have access to a broadband connection, the majority of whom reside in cities and the suburbs.

Rural areas are really underserved, with only an estimated 25% having any kind of high-speed Internet connection. (Yet AT&T and Verizon—the two largest DSL providers—claim to offer DSL service to 80% of their subscribers). This shortage won't be easily resolved, as the telcos and cable TV companies usually don't think it's profitable to provision so few customers in such remote areas.

Together, these factors leave a huge opening for some reasonably priced satellite technology or other wireless option. Satellite broadband connections are already available in some areas where satellite TV service is available. But the opportunity is a reality for DSL providers because the wiring is there. All they need to do is enable the service.

Flavors Of DSL
All DSL systems are based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), which divides the high-speed bit stream into many slower parallel streams and modulates each on adjacent carriers. The telcos refer to OFDM (also known as multicarrier modulation) as discrete multitone or DMT. Several versions are being implemented, and ADSL is the most widely used by far.

A Fresh Example
Texas Instruments' UR8 residential gateway architecture chip set exemplifies the latest trends and features based on DSL (see the figure). Designed for home gateway boxes, the chips cover all the latest DSL offerings, including the newest VDSL2 standard.

Also, these chips feature a multimedia gateway processor, a programmable DSL physical layer (PHY), a high-performance DSP-based voice subsystem, and a rich set of local-area network (LAN) interfaces. A well-defined application program interface (API) reduces time-to-market by allowing hardware and software reuse across all DSL platforms.

This chip set lets residential gateway designers handle Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), as well as multiple methods for distributing broadband services within the home. Some of the home networking technologies supported include Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and standards offered by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), and the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA).

No one knows which home networking technology will dominate in the future. Most homes with a network rely on Wi-Fi because of the conveniences of wireless. But will existing or even future wireless technologies have the bandwidth to support the triple play of high-speed data, VoIP, and Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and video on demand (VOD)? That remains to be seen.

While IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi systems seem to have the potential, current access points have limitations because walls, ceilings, and other obstructions shorten range and create dead zones. High attenuation and multipath cause speed to back off dramatically for a reliable connection, making video transport more iffy.

That's why so many vendors are joining with the MoCA and HomePNA crowd to support wired technologies that will virtually guarantee quality video transmission. Some new wireless systems such as the 802.11n upgrade and TZero's version of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) may do the job. In any case, expect multiple home networking methods in the mix. Whatever works the best for the least money will win.

Continued

Naked DSL service? It's coming to AT&T customers

2007-01-05T02:26:00.000-05:00

A couple of notables for the web worker out of last Friday’s finalized merger of AT&T and BellSouth. First, it’s the beginning of the end of the orange splat as we know it, as the new AT&T promises to rebrand Cingular (and Yellowpages.com) under their umbrella. This rebranding will start early this year, according to the company.

Also included is an agreement by the new company to offer a naked DSL package that does not require any landline phone service. AT&T joins other DSL/phone providers like Qwest and Verizon in offering naked DSL, but AT&T’s version promises to be more widely available. And it’s cheaper…$19.95 per month for 768Kbps service. Not super-speedy by any stretch, but accessible and consistent and did I mention that it’s cheap?

With cable modem service currently at around $40-50 per month, naked DSL at under $20 per month might be very attractive for those who need an always-on connection that’s better than dial-up, but not necessarily blazing fast. Unbundling your phone from your internet

Continued

DSL Broadband can make life faster

2006-12-01T16:30:00.000-05:00

Your ready to start your business day, your done with breakfast and you turn on your computer and your Internet connection is as slow as a snail. It's true, DSL is much faster then a dial-up Internet connection, but is it all it's cracked up to be?

With many if not most companies relying heavily on their high speed Internet connection to conduct their business using e-mail, video conferencing, and now for voice Internet telephony applications, your bandwidth speed and reliability is as crucial as ever. What do you do? Get a Business DSL Line! There are many DSL companies offering service in your area, and these days there fighting to do business with your company. Be careful not to choose price over reliability.

Reliability becomes critical when customers or employees depend on your connection for immediate responses. If your customers use your connection to access your databases or your server or the Internet then reliability of your connection is absolutely important. A critical connection can be viewed much like a life line, without which your business would be negatively impacted. Your monthly savings of having a sub-par connection will not make up for the loss you will incur in productivity of your employees or loss of customers when your DSL broadband connection gets slowed down or even worse gets cut off.

The fastest way to get an unbiased quote and compare DSL quotes fast is by going to the Internet and shopping around for DSL service providers.

Many DSL access providers are now offering low start up fees for the first 6 to 12 months of your service. You can choose from multiple providers like Earthlink, Verizon and Bellsouth. Business DSL is now available in many areas and is being added to many more cities and towns daily. Broadband service usually runs between $19 and $79 per month, depending on the plan you choose (residential vs. commercial, 512K vs. 3M, etc.)

Do some research, find the best possible price and get business DSL to make your job and life easier. You don't want a slow Internet connection to get you slowed down!

Andy Mangano has a website which offers prices on T1
Line service & writes a blog on VOIP .

Verizon expands DSL service to Keyser, West Virginia

2006-11-10T13:38:00.000-05:00

Verizon has expanded its DSL service to Keyser, West Virginia, allowing the population of Keyser to receive broadband Internet speeds at dial-up prices.

Story Continued

When it comes to Internet `service,' I feel your pain

2006-11-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

Now I know how a private detective feels when he's been "made."

A few weeks back I wrote about the inoperative muddle that had become my home Internet service, a highly ironic position for a fellow with the title of Internet critic to find himself in.

The column was mostly about how quickly and thoroughly we, meaning those of us fortunate enough to be able to afford it, have come to depend on the Net, how going without it is like a portion of the brain going dark.

But it also mentioned the none-too-impressive efforts of AT&T, my putative service provider, to repair my problem. That side of the equation deserves fuller exploration, because, like every journalist I've ever met, I am confident that what happened to me is emblematic of a broader trend.

Considering that this mention occurred in a major metropolitan newspaper, it wasn't surprising that AT&T's publicist called early and often after the piece ran. He wanted, he said, to find out my home address so the company could fix the problem pronto, which is what it would do for any customer having issues with DSL service, he said.

I wanted to preserve my anonymity, I told him, so that I could experience service from AT&T, the leading phone-line-based Internet provider in the Chicago area, the same way it works for people who lack public platforms for their grievances. So I didn't tell him, although I knew that, even with my very common name, it wouldn't be rocket science to figure out which house on the company's list of current service outages was mine.

I'm surprised, really, that it took as long as it did. Once it did, the results were impressive. My service was (at last) restored by a technician who put little hospital slippers over his shoes before entering the house and who, upon calling in to his office to run some tests and being put on hold, said something like, "Whoa, this is going to a high level."

Continued

Verizon to eliminate DSL service fee

2006-09-26T23:19:00.000-04:00

Verizon Communications said it will drop plans to impose a new surcharge for its DSL-based internet services a week after announcing the new charge.

The telecommunications company's change of heart comes after the US Federal Communications Commission began investigating it and BellSouth Corp over possible violation of federal truth-in-billing laws.

Verizon announced the new surcharge just as the government's Universal Service Fund was being phased out and customers were set to receive lower bills.

The company had said the new charge would cover surcharges 'imposed by its affiliated operating telephone companies to cover costs associated with providing DSL service to customers who do not also subscribe to Verizon's traditional phone service.'

Verizon's decision follows BellSouth's announcement last week that it too would eliminate a DSL service fee it said was 'designed to recover a number of costs remaining from previous regulatory obligations and other network' expenses.

TDS believes faster DSL service will suit small businesses

2006-09-26T23:18:00.000-04:00

Not everyone is a fan of providing high-speed Internet service over anything but the most up-to-date technology - fiber to the premises.

The belief that leading-edge businesses won't continue to lead the pack with trailing-edge technology is pervasive, but TDS Telecom believes small and mid-sized businesses have a different calculation.

TDS has introduced its Symmetrical Dedicated Internet, a DSL product that provides business customers with equal upload and download speeds of up to 45 megabits per second (Mbps).

The Madison-based broadband company, which serves nearly 26,000 business customers in Wisconsin and more than 73,000 nationwide, is marketing the technology to businesses that want a faster option to existing DSL without having to commit to costlier data connections.

Dave Wittwer, chief operating officer for TDS, called the product more of a natural evolution of an existing product than a competitive response to other products. "It's more of an enhancement of what we typically provide," he said. "We want to offer services to get them the speed they need without having to leapfrog to the next level, which would be fiber."

According to TDS, the service will allow business customers to transfer larger files and use the additional bandwidth for Virtual Private Networks or for hosting content-rich Web sites.

There are distance limitations, however. TDS said it will guarantee broadband network speeds within the predetermined service range of three to 45 Mbps within 5,000 feet, and from three to 20 Mbps within 12,000 feet from a central office.

The 45 Mpbs compares to average speeds of six Mbps for existing DSL service, Wittwer said.

TDS' new service won qualified praise from James Carlini, an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and president of the business management firm Carlini & Associates. Carlini has been critical of phone companies for their unwillingness to invest in what he calls real broadband - fiber to the premises that offers one gigabit per second of broadband speed - but he said the TDS product is better than another well-publicized effort.

"If they can get 45 megabits per second, that's a heck of a lot better than Project Lightspeed," he said, referring to an AT&T product that offers up to six Mbps of broadband.

Carlini acknowledged that 45 Mbps of speed represents reasonably good service for small business, but he said business consumers can do better. "Most of the traditional phone companies don't want to make the investments that need to be made to provide a [fiber] broadband infrastructure that will serve business needs for the next 50 to 100 years," he said.

DSL internet package offers managed routing

2006-08-21T00:02:00.000-04:00

IP convergence vendor Switch IP, part of specialist communications provider Switch Communications, has announced its business class internet service – Switch Globalreach.

Switch IP said it is offering a one-stop shop for network installation, support and management to provide high-quality connectivity for LANs, WANs, VPNs and web connections from a single source.

Chris Gray, network architect for Switch IP, said, "We'll take a managed Cisco router to the customer site, oversee the full installation through the BT Wholesale line, broadband-enable it and handle all Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP4) routing into the internet and the other ISPs we deal with."

Gray added, "The market is very crowded and everyone's offering broadband internet, but customers can get caught out by the small print in contracts. For instance, there could be a fixed amount of download per month or you could be on a long contract term."

Switch IP was set up two years ago to focus on the IP convergence market and is primarily an IP virtual private network (VPN) service provider.

"With Globalreach we have tried to make a high-quality product using only one speed, ADSL Max, with 8Mbit/s downlink and 832kbit/s uplink," said Gray. He added that in practice downlink speeds might be slower for companies that are a long way from an

Continued

DSL Service

So Should You Get ADSL or Cable?

2006-08-21T00:01:00.000-04:00

If you’re considering broadband, the chances are that you have two options: ADSL or cable (there’s also satellite, but it’s only really worthwhile when the other two are unavailable). Given that, then, you’re probably interested in just what the difference is, and which one is better. Read on.

The main difference between ADSL and cable is that ADSL uses your existing phone lines, while cable uses dedicated cables laid by a cable company – the same ones you can use to receive cable television transmissions.

Putting all the scientific stuff aside, ADSL and cable have clear upsides and downsides. With ADSL, you’re using a line for something it ultimately wasn’t meant for, and there is a top speed that you can’t go over (what it is depends on the quality of the physical line). If you’re a long way from a telephone exchange, you may find your connection very slow. Generally, however, ADSL is very cheap, and the healthy competition in the market means it’s getting cheaper all the time.

Cable, on the other hand, is devoted to what it does, with no telephone legacy to support. It can offer higher transfer speeds, even if you’re far away from the exchange. Can you guess the downside? It’s expensive.

So should you get ADSL or cable? Well, really, the answer largely depends on where you live. First, check how far you are from the telephone exchange – if it’s a long way, you shouldn’t even consider DSL. Then check what the prices are like at the cable provider in your area, as some are much more reasonable than others.

Ultimately, you have to decide what’s best for you based on local factors, but there are some websites out there to help you make the decision – dslreports.com, for example, is very good. Don’t commit to a connection until you’ve searched the web to see what its customers say.

John Gibb is the owner of adsl tips and guides
For more information on adsl check out http://www.adsl-guidance1k.info

Internet service: Cable vs. DSL vs. dial-up

2006-08-08T21:17:00.000-04:00

If you spend much time online, you're probably using a broadband Internet connection to your home or you are thinking seriously about getting one. Broadband offers near-instantaneous connections and swifter downloads than slower, albeit cheaper, dial-up Internet service.
But if broadband service is becoming almost a utility, it isn't yet as predictable and uniform in performance as that term suggests. In a survey of nearly 26,000 Consumer Reports subscribers--our largest-ever survey on Internet service providers (ISPs) and the first to rate broadband--we found differences in satisfaction with broadband service.

Here are the highlights of our findings:

There's no best broadband type. Availability of broadband is growing, with virtually all cable-TV companies now offering broadband Internet service and telephone companies wiring more neighborhoods for digital subscriber line (DSL) service. The highest-scoring cable and DSL providers offered comparable, fairly high levels of satisfaction--while the least satisfactory of each received equally ho-hum Ratings overall.

But the two provider types differed in what made their best ISPs score so high. Subscribers to the better-rated cable-broadband providers were more satisfied than most DSL subscribers with the speed of their service, and with its reliability and tech support. But subscribers to the least pricey of the DSL providers were far more satisfied with their monthly bills (around $30) than were subscribers to cable broadband, who paid about $35 to $45 a month.

There's no question as to the worst provider in our survey. It's DirecWay, the satellite-TV broadband provider, which offers relatively low satisfaction at a very high price--$600 and up for equipment and installation, and $57 a month thereafter for service.

Continued

Residents want DSL Service

2006-08-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

A group of residents tired of dial-up Internet connection off north Upper Truckee Road is enlisting county Supervisor Norma Santiago in its campaign for DSL service.

Patti Handal, a resident of Mountain View Estates near north Upper Truckee Road and a veterinarian, is pushing for high-speed Internet service to help upload videos, reports and be involved in veterinarian chat rooms.

For Bob and Jeri Jones, a deaf couple, having DSL means access to technology that would enable them more efficient communication with those who can hear via a videophone.

Handal wants Santiago, who represents Lake Tahoe's South Shore on the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, to include the areas without DSL when the supervisors hold closed-door negotiations with AT&T officials about bringing the service to burgeoning West Slope neighborhoods.

"We're trying to make it a package deal so we all get it," Handal said.

An enthusiastic Santiago said addressing the high-speed Internet access issue was one of the first topics she addressed when first elected.

"I am so grateful for the citizens group to bring forth what they're doing in this regard because it's providing us more evidence to AT&T for the need that we have for these particular high-speed services," she said.

A petition has been circulating in four neighborhoods that Handal has identified as not having DSL: Mountain View Estates, Angora Highlands, the far end of South Upper Truckee Road and Echo View Estates.

The meeting with county supervisors and AT&T officials is scheduled for Aug. 21. Handal is trying to get as many signatures as she can by Aug. 17.

Source: www.nevadaappeal.com

The Scoop on DSL

2006-08-02T03:06:00.000-04:00

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a common form of broadband access to the Internet. With varying speeds of connection, DSL is much more convenient and easy to use than traditional dial-up modem service. This article provides the fundamentals of what DSL is, how it operates, why it's popular, and why you may or may not be able to order the service where you work and live.

What is DSL?

DSL is a constant connection to the Internet that works over your existing telephone line. DSL doesn't require a separate line or use a dial-up modem. DSL allows users to use the Internet and make phone calls at the same time. What really sets it apart, however, is the speed. While most modems today connect at 56 kbps, DSL is capable of much greater connection speeds. These speeds can vary, but even the slower DSL offerings have much greater speeds than dial-up modem connections.

Who offers the service?

DSL is offered either by the incumbent local telephone company or a competitor telephone company, who in many cases leases the existing loops (wires going from the telephone company's central office to your house or business) from the incumbent phone company.

How does DSL work?

Think of the telephone line to your house. That line—called a local loop—connects
your telephone to the telephone company's local switch. When you make a call,
the voice signal is carried over the line, switched in the central office to
the party you are calling, and your connection is completed. Because a dial-up
connection also uses the telephone line, it also uses this loop. The signal
must be switched by the telephone company to the ISP service, and go through
a modem bank to complete your Internet connection. The result: a delayed connection
to the Internet. To compensate for their phones lines being tied up, many people
put in a second phone line just for the modem. However, modem connection speed
is relatively slow—probably 56k at best—likely much slower.

DSL changes the way you connect. By attaching a DSL modem to your computer
and using a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexor (DSLAM) provided by the
service provider (at the telephone company's switching office), your online
activities bypass the local switch. This eliminates switching connections, the
dial-up modem at your house, and the modem bank at the ISP, resulting in a much
quicker connection speed. Because you aren't using the local switch, you're
always connected to the Internet.

Why don't I need a second line anymore? And why don't my online activities
interfere with my voice communication?

Again think of that local loop going from your house to the telephone switch.
What DSL does, essentially, is to separate the data traffic (your online activities)
from voice communication. Data traffic travels on a high frequency going from
your computer over the local loop. But instead of getting switched, the DSLAM
directs the high frequency traffic directly to the Internet. Voice communication,
on the other hand, gets routed over the low frequency portion of the local loop
and goes through the telephone company switch. It's almost like having two lines
in one—high frequency for data traffic and low frequency for voice traffic—thus
eliminating the need for a second line.

How fast is DSL?

The speed depends on the service offered by the service provider, the equipment
used, and the offering you choose. Some common forms of DSL are—

Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), the most common offering, has a higher download speed than upload speed;

Integrated DSL (IDSL), with a bit speed of 128kbps;

Symmetric DSL (SDSL) and High Bit Rate DSL (HDSL), with a bit speed of 1.5mbps; and

Very High Bit Rate DSL (VDSL), with very high download speeds, in the 20mbps range.

Prices vary with each offering.

This sounds too good; there must be some drawbacks.

There are drawbacks. Because the high frequency data speeds are fast, local
loops need to be reliable and data needs to flow uninterrupted. Technical limitations
dictate that customers must be within a certain distance from the telephone
switch to order DSL service. The most common limitation used by most regional
Bell companies is 18,000 feet (about three miles) from the local switch. These
limitations will change as technology improves.

So, if you're within three miles of a switch and the telephone company or competitive provider offers DSL service from that central office, you can probably order the service.

Some technical problems can also complicate the deployment of DSL services.

DSL services function on existing copper wires. Sometimes devices are added
to the wires to boost voice signals over long loops. If too many of these
devices are already on the lines, high-speed DSL service will not work well
with large data transmissions.
If too many customers are "tapped" into an existing deployed copper wire
line, DSL functionality simply will not work.

There are also some situations where DSL will not work because the local loop path is not entirely copper.

Do all telephone companies offer the service?

No. Providing DSL services likely involves additional investment by the phone
company. To upgrade to DSL the incumbent phone company or a competitive local
exchange carrier will need to install DSLAMs in all central offices where they
plan to offer the service. In addition, the outside plant may require expensive
upgrades for the service to work properly. As a result, the incumbent phone
company or a competitive local exchange carrier may offer DSL, but not necessarily
in all service locations. And, not surprisingly, DSL is often not offered in
the most rural areas.

If my telephone company is not offering the service where I want it, what
can I do?

You should first get others to request the service, too. If enough people want
DSL the phone company may start offering it, because they can make a profit
selling the service. A competitive local exchange carrier that doesn't have
major investments in infrastructure may also be able to offer services—provided
they can make a profit on selling their services and using existing infrastructure.

You should also ask the local phone company when they are scheduled to offer
DSL in your area. They may tell you; they may not. Some companies consider this
information to be proprietary and are not willing to share it. If that happens
you can contact your public service commission to see if they can obtain the
information.

Asking questions may give you an idea about when to expect DSL services to be deployed, but it won't convince the phone company to deploy services faster. Keep in mind: the more people who ask for the service, the sooner it will become available.

Are other issues affecting the availability of this technology?

Yes. Federal Communications Commission regulations involving competition rules are affecting the willingness of local phone companies to deploy new technology that will enhance high-speed data communication. If an incumbent local phone company deploys new technologies on infrastructure in its network, competitive local service carriers can sometimes be allowed to come into the market and under cut the local phone company's rates of service. The industry is working to resolve these problems.

Verizon to Extend DSL Service in Rural West Virginia

2006-07-26T00:37:00.000-04:00

Despite all the hype surrounding Verizon’s FiOS ultra-speed broadband technology, the telecom giant is still working to extend even basic DSL service to customers in many rural and remote regions.

As of now, much of rural West Virginia still aren’t able to access the internet at broadband speed, due to the fact that 15 of Verizon’s 142 switching centers in the state haven’t yet been equipped with DSL technology.

The company has promised to correct this deficiency by the end of December, by spending $5 million to upgrade the remaining switching centers, and bring DSL service to 38,000 phone lines in under served areas.

AT&T expands DSL service

2006-07-16T21:21:00.000-04:00

New Washington residents will soon be able to receive DSL Internet service.

Officials from AT&T joined Clark County Commissioners Thursday to make the announcement.

The company’s High Speed to the Heartland initiative — which will be completed by early next year — will essentially bring digital subscriber line service to every central office in Indiana operated by AT&T. It’s a part of a $250 million plan the company announced earlier this year, which seeks to deliver next-generation broadband, video and voice services to its Indiana customers.

All of this, according to AT&T Indiana president George Fleetwood, is a product of a new telecommunications law the Indiana legislature passed in March — formally titled HB 1279.

AT&T along with other telecommunications, business and labor organization worked hard to lobby for the bill, Fleetwood said.

“I think it’s a really good thing for Hoosiers.”

The bill received bipartisan support. It came at the urging of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who during his State of the State address, called on the General Assembly to follow suit with at least 14 other state legislatures and update communications law.

The other 14 state updated their telecom laws in 2005. Indiana did so in 2006.

“Our new telecom law, the best in the country, is already producing results for Hoosiers: More choices for consumers and brighter economic prospects for our small towns,” Daniels said in a press release.

AT&T Indiana provides DSL to 46 rural communities. It hopes to increase that number to 79 by next year.

Commissioner Ed Meyer said he was pleased with the investment in Clark County.

“Residents of Sellersburg and Charlestown already enjoy access to DSL service,” he said. “Soon, residents in New Washington will also have this option available to them.”

Source: www.news-tribune.net

Don't Confuse Cable Broadband with DSL

2006-07-16T21:20:00.000-04:00

Last year, a co-worker of mine called his cable company to order DSL. Yesterday, when I went to see my podiatrist, we began discussing broadband options. I told him that I had DSL at home. He said he had a broadband service with Comcast that he believed to be DSL. Obviously, my co-worker and my podiatrist, even though both are intelligent men, did not understand the difference between cable broadband and DSL.

Both cable broadband service and DSL provide speeds many times faster than dial-up, ranging from 700 kbps all the way to 10,000 kbps (10 mbps). Dial-up is capped at 56 kbps. In addition, both of these types of broadband services provide "always on" or instant Internet connections, without the need to dial up and without tying up a phone line. In most areas, cable connections are a little faster than DSL, but speeds vary from area to area and from provider to provider. However, there are some major differences between cable and DSL.

Cable broadband service is provided by your local cable company. It comes into your house via the same cable that delivers cable TV. To get connected to cable broadband service, a technician from the cable company generally must come out to your house for an installation process in which a broadband connection is split off from the TV connection. The broadband connection is then plugged into a cable modem which is then plugged into your computer or router.

With cable, it doesn't matter how close you live to cable company's office or plant. If it's available in your area, it's available at the same maximum speed to everyone, regardless of where they live within that area. What usually does matter, however, is how many others in your neighborhood are also subscribing, as you are sharing the bandwidth with them. When a lot of them are logged on at the same time that you are, you could notice a significant speed reduction.

DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, is provided by a phone company. In general, no professional installation is needed for DSL. When you order it, your phone company turns your service on from its office and sends you a DSL modem and some filters. DSL uses a different partition of your existing phone line's bandwidth (than what is used for voice), so no extra line is needed. To get connected, you plug one end of a DSL modem into a regular phone jack and the other end into your computer or router. The filters are used to eliminate potential DSL static from phone jacks in which phones are used. These filters fit easily into the phone jacks and then the phone connections are plugged into the filters.

Unlike cable, with DSL it makes a big difference how close you live to the phone company's office. If you live too far away, you won't even qualify for the service at all. Even if you live close enough to qualify, you still might be so far out that you can only get speeds near the lower end of the range that the phone company advertises. However, you have direct line to the phone company and do not share your bandwidth with your neighbors, so it doesn't matter how many of them are also DSL subscribers or how many of them are logged on at a given time.

Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and blogger from Hopewell, VA. On his blog - http://commenterry.blogs.com - he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.

Trying to gain DSL access proves taxing

2006-07-16T21:18:00.000-04:00

The Observer finds himself yet again in one of life's Bermuda Triangles. This time it's Internet hell. What did I do in a previous life to deserve this?

I'm shopping for a provider because my friends upstairs, the ones with the wireless access I've been sharing, are moving. The gall. They leave the Observer with an appalling pair of options: Comcast, the muscle - bound monolith that charges nosebleed fees, or dial-up service, which allows me to complete my shopping run at Roche Brothers before the screen changes. (Forget satellites.)

I always thought the digital highway was supposed to be teeming with players desperate to give me superior service for a relative song. So why do I feel like a stag at the prom?

I don't live in Roosterville, by the way, so we can dispense with the argument that I'm stuck because I exist like an anchorite in the tall grass. I live in Jamaica Plain, a densely populated urban neighborhood of Boston.

Blame first goes to Verizon, which with my swollen phone bills kept sending me endless come-ons for DSL service at $14.95 for the first year. High-speed for $30. Both are slower than what Comcast provides, but cheaper, too. Regular DSL is fine for me. I have no plans to download the Lord of The Rings trilogy.

A Comcast sales representative tells me I'll pay $45.95 a month for its high-speed service, with rented modem, on top of my existing Comcast cable TV. Were I to sign up for its Internet service alone without the TV, she adds, I'd pay $57 a month. Gracious.

The Comcast defense has always been grounded on the value option -- you get a lot for your hard-earned simoleons. ``We're creating choice," says Comcast spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman.

The service, she says, comes with 50 new bells and whistles, almost none of which I want but must pay for anyway. It's all or nothing, so remind me where the choice is here?

Exhibit A is Rhapsody Radio, which lets me download over a million songs free. I don't want to download a million songs. Hell, I don't want to download one. So Comcast: How about canning Rhapsody and cutting my bill? Now that is choice.

Back to Verizon. I try to sign up for its el cheapo DSL offer only to learn I can't get DSL at all. I later reach a Verizon PR guy named Clifford Lee about my predicament. Lee eventually e-mails me that because I live over 15,000 feet from the nearest Verizon switching center, the signal is too weak for service. In short, tough noogies.

I also ask him where the other DSL holes are in Boston. He won't identify them but writes that about 80 percent of the city can get DSL service. Then I ask him when I can expect DSL. He responds he can't give me that information due to the competition. ``We try not to provide our competitors with a road map of our future technology deployment." Read never.

Continued

DSL Service Surges Past 150 Million Worldwide Subscribers

2006-07-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

Worldwide DSL subscriptions surged past the 150 million mark in the twelve months to 31 March 2006, according to the latest data produced for the international DSL Forum by industry analyst Point Topic.

This growth of 39% in the year means that more than 43 million business and residential users selected DSL (digital subscriber line) for broadband access, with 11.5 million new subscribers signing up to DSL in the first quarter of 2006.

“DSL continues to grow with the subscriber demand for broadband residential and business services”, said Michael Brusca, chairman and president of the DSL Forum.

“This is driven by the global demand for multiple applications – including new video and voice services. The DSL Forum has been providing the tools to help service providers build the networks that employ effective management and provisioning of value-added broadband services, which has resulted in increased take and customer satisfaction.”

At the end of the first quarter of 2006, there were 22 countries with more than one million DSL subscribers – seven nations reached the figure in the twelve months to 31 March 2006.

China added almost ten million new subscribers in the 12 months to March 2006 – three million in the first quarter of 2006 alone – and is now close to the 30 million DSL subscriber mark. Both Germany (up 3.8 million) and France (up three million) now have more than 10 million DSL subscribers.

Of the established nations, with more than one million DSL subscribers as at 31 March 2006, India topped the percentage growth ranking, increasing its subscriber base by more than 700% in twelve months. Significant subscriber increases were also made in Turkey (190% increase), Mexico (99%) and Australia (84.6%).

Pakistan growth (484%) led the way in countries with less than one million DSL subscribers, with Morocco, Greece and Bulgaria all experiencing DSL growth of more than 200%.

Regionally, the European Union (EU) reinforced its position as the world’s leading DSL region. The EU added more than 17 million new DSL subscribers in the period to reach 52.8 million – at a growth of 48% – extending its global share of the DSL subscriber market to almost 35%.

Of the emerging DSL regions, a significant subscriber increase was seen in the Middle East and Africa, which more than doubled its subscriber base to reach 3.45 million – led by Turkey (up 1.84 million) and Israel (up 830,000).

Latin America reached a total of seven million DSL subscribers by 31 March 2006, and now makes up 5% of global DSL subscriptions. Brazil and Mexico accounted for 74% of the region’s total growth, adding 1.2 million and 909,000 new DSL subscribers respectively.

In North America, the USA added 5.6 million new DSL subscribers, at a growth of almost 34% – far outstripping the growth of cable modem access in the same period (up 21.9%). DSL also extended its market share in Canada, now accounting for 49% of the country’s broadband connectivity.

Fourteen established DSL nations have now achieved a market penetration of more than 20% of telephone lines delivering DSL broadband services to homes and businesses – the DSL Forum’s first stage target for a global broadband DSL mass market.

“This amazing sustained growth of DSL around the world reflects how broadband DSL is becoming essential to the average family, student and business”, continued Michael Brusca.

Source: www.mybroadband.co.za

RCN Selects Motive's Technology to Enhance Broadband Service

2006-07-04T23:26:00.000-04:00

RCN has selected Motive’s service activation and self-service technology to enhance the company’s high-speed Internet service.

To support more than 400,000 customers spread across six regions, RCN will use Motive’s Fully Automated Service Technology (FAST) to proactively identify and troubleshoot issues and help the user resolve problems without the assistance of telephone tech support.

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This will reduce installation time, provide consistent and quality installation, and decrease RCN’s operational costs. It will also enable secure wireless device configuration on the installation of select devices.

“RCN chose Motive’s technology because of its extensive experience deploying high-speed Internet management solutions,” said Mark Chinn, RCN’s vice president of product management and pricing, in a press release.

He continued: “The ability to offer RCN customers faster, more convenient installation and support options is critical for our high customer satisfaction goals and future growth. Motive is the right choice to take us through the next generation of our Internet business.”

Motive is also providing the foundation for the successful rollout of RCN’s future services such as advanced home networking.

Provided: www.news.tmcnet.com

The changing internet

2006-07-04T23:24:00.000-04:00

You've probably heard a bit about the ongoing net neutrality debate; it's not over, but the concept of net neutrality took a blow yesterday when a Senate committee rejected a proposal to include language requiring it in a telecommunications bill.

So what's this all about?

I'm not going to try to explain the entire arguments for and against net neutrality. But here's a brief explanation and some links.

There's an old and established idea in telecommunications called "common carriage" that's formed our sense of how telecom services work: the idea that telecoms are providing a highway (to use the most obvious analogy) on which traffic travels - phone calls and now data. They build the highway, we pay them to use it (by placing a call or by transmitting data). We can pay to have a simple low-tech access "ramp" (such as POTS, or "plain old telephone service"), or we can pay for more: from DSL to a T1. Once our traffic enters that highway, it's all handled the same way.

Network operators (the big telecoms like AT&T and Verizon and cable operators like Time Warner and Comcast) would like to change that. They would like to be able to offer premium services - so, for example, if Google wants to make a deal with them, they can have their traffic travel on newer, faster networks while my data keeps plugging along on slower routes.

At first glance, this doesn't seem like a crazy idea - if a company is willing to pay for their own special "fast lane," why shouldn't they be able to? That's a free market at work, right?

The problem is that we are talking about a market that's controlled by an oligopoly of a handful of network providers, with extremely high entry costs that make it essentially impossible for anyone else to enter it.

If you haven't been following the debate closely, here are some places where you can get both sides of the argument:

Vint Cerf, one of the people who helped design and build the internet

Contined

DSL service closing the gap with cable

2006-06-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

As a greater number of Americans buy into high-speed Internet connections at home, causing an explosion in the broadband marketplace, DSL is finally catching up with cable.

According to the latest numbers available from Forrester Research Inc., an independent technology and market research company, of the 73 million U.S. households with Internet access in 2004, 31 million, or 42 percent, were equipped with broadband.

Another 17 million new broadband customers were projected to be added by the end of 2006, though the exact numbers have not been released by Forrester, and more than 50 percent of all online homes today are using a high-speed connection.

Cable broadband, which has traditionally outmatched DSL in the marketplace, is still in the lead. But over the past four years, more new customers are signing on with the phone companies. And in the past two years, the DSL gains have accelerated.

In 2002, for example, 67 percent of broadband users were using cable, compared to just 31 percent for DSL. The remaining two percent were split between satellite and fixed wireless. By 2005, however, 58 percent of broadband households were using cable, compared to 41 percent using DSL -- narrowing the difference by 19 percentage points over four years.

"The gap is definitely closing," said E. Van Cullens, president and CEO of Westell Technologies Inc, an Aurora-based modem maker whose products are used by Verizon Communications Inc. for DSL service.

Charles S. Golvin, a principal analyst with Forrester who authored the study, said the drive behind DSL's rise in the marketplace is simple.

"I'll give you three reasons," he said in an interview. "Price, price and price."

Over the past two years, DSL prices have dropped significantly while cable prices have remained high. Verizon, the largest provider of DSL, offers monthly service for as low as $12.95 a month for the first year. BellSouth Corp., which recently announced a merger with AT&T Inc., offers DSL for as cheap as $25 and as much as $47 a month. Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable Internet provider, sells monthly service for about $35 a month.

"They are pricing this service , very aggressively," Golvin said of the telephone companies.

Joe Chandler, director of media relations for BellSouth Corp., second in DSL, said the drop in DSL's prices "is symptomatic of a competitive marketplace. The more competition in any market, be it an airline or broadband, you have to compete on speed, quality and price."

The cheaper prices have fed into what Golvin calls a "technology adoption cycle." In the cycle, high income households adopt a new technology before low income households. Therefore price becomes increasingly important as a technology becomes more popular.

"Two years ago, those who did not have broadband, were people who were much more price sensitive." He argues that the drop in price has helped bring new, lower income customers into the high-speed fold.

The difference in pricing has led to a difference in marketing strategy.

Over the past 18 to 24 months, telephone companies have used the low prices as their major selling point while cable companies have advertisements touting performance.

Pat Keenan, vice president of communications for Comcast in the greater Chicago region, said her company does not highlight the price of its service when marketing to potential customers. "We talk about speed consistently and we talk about features," she said.

The difference between DSL and cable service depend on whose answering the question?there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Keenan argues that Comcast's cable broadband is a more powerful and faster connection.

Chandler says BellSouth and other telecom companies provide a more reliable and secure way to surf online.

The actual difference is that DSL uses a dedicated phone line to connect a household to the network, while cable uses a "bus network," which is one connection shared by several users.

Phillip J. Remek, a Florida-based senior equity analyst who tracks Comcast for Guzman & Co., argued that the bus system is faster and better than DSL's dedicated line, and thus worth the extra cost. "Cable has been able to compete on speed, not price," he said. "Cable keeps offering faster download speed and pricing has been pretty stable? People are willing to pay up for faster Internet."

"DSL is a very limited type of broadband," Remek added. "We're heading toward a world where you download music, movies, interactive gaming?and people want some power in their connection to handle those things. After a while, you get tired of waiting for the downloads."

Source: http://nwitimes.com

Wal-Mart on track to sell Verizon DSL internet service

2006-06-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

With Wal-Mart recently getting onboard with Verizon Wireless to sell contract (postpaid) wireless plans and service inside its stores -- along with Verizon competitor Cingular Wireless -- it's now going to sell you DSL service too. Customers in more than 500 stores across 24 states will be able to see if DSL connectivity is available in their area and even place an order for service directly inside Wal-Mart.

Hmm, this is smelling more and more like a recent post I had questioning if Wal-Mart is just becoming a reseller of products and services without adding much to the value chain. Not that this is a bad thing -- because Wal-Mart takes a cut of all this in the end. If that helps fuel growth and keep shoppers in stores for more purchases, WMT investors should be pleased.

Verizon appears to be directly attacking cable companies while extolling the usually-cheaper DSL broadband internet service virtues to all Wal-Mart customers who will listen. Verizon 1, Comcast 0. For now, that is.

Source: http://www.bloggingstocks.com

DSL gains momentum

2006-06-05T00:29:00.000-04:00

Although major telecoms in the United States are planning significant fiber rollouts this year, it’s interesting to note that DSL continues to gain strength in the market, thanks mainly to a series of convenient strategic alliances.

Yahoo partnered up last year with AT&T (then SBC) to offer consumers discount DSL broadband service. The price point is so attractive (as little as $12.95 monthly for the first year) that AT&T now is able to tout itself as the largest DSL provider in the US. AT&T also provides the DSL service as part of a more general triple-play service package. Verizon also has partnered with Yahoo in offering DSL service.

Just last week, AOL and Covad Communications expanded an existing partnership and announced that consumers can access AOL’s service with Covad's ADSL 6.0 high-speed broadband access product for about $40 monthly. AOL clearly wants to gravitate its dial-up customer base into the new broadband frontier.

"This announcement signals a promising new direction in our longstanding strategic partnership with AOL," said Charles Hoffman, Covad president and CEO in making the announcement. "We view ADSL 6.0 as the first of many innovative Covad products that will help AOL capture consumers' growing interest in moving to broadband."

With demand for broadband continuing to rise, there seems little doubt that DSL has a bright future, both as a bridge technology until high-speed fiber is employed and in its upcoming ADSL version that promises much faster speeds.

Streaming video, online gaming, music and video downloads and other popular applications and creating the growing need for high-speed broadband, industry researchers say. Parks Associates, an industry and consumer research firm, notes that by deploying Covad's ADSL 6.0, AOL is better positioning itself to take advantage of the growing desire for broadband services.

Like the Yahoo service (which now comes in several tiers with different pricing levels), the AOL service features comparatively fast speeds (up to 6Mbps download and up to 768K upstream); plug-and-play installation; and access to customer service by phone, e-mail or instant message.

All well and good, but with broadband installations of all kinds booming in North America, it will be a challenge for DSL to keep up with competition from cable companies, satellite and even BPL, not to mention the impending fiber boom.

Still, with the broadband landscape still

Continued

DSL Service

BellSouth Introduces New Broadband Applications for Small Businesses

2006-06-05T00:27:00.000-04:00

In another move to maximize business continuity for customers, BellSouth (NYSE: BLS - News) announced today the launch of data file backup and remote access applications for small businesses.

At BellSouth, we consider ourselves partners with our small business customers as they face the numerous and various challenges in today's business environment," said Joey Schultz, vice president of marketing - BellSouth Retail Markets. "With these new applications, customers will see immediate and significant progress in their efforts to safeguard their businesses against those challenges, whether they be natural disasters, competitive threats or operational efficiencies."

Online Backup from BellSouth allows small business customers to choose the data files they wish to protect and send them securely to a remote server where they are encrypted and automatically updated daily. In the event of a PC failure, customers can visit a designated BellSouth Web site to choose the files they need restored. Online Backup packages begin at $19.95 per month per user and vary depending on the amount of data that is stored.

BellSouth® PC 2 Go(SM) Remote Access offers customers a simple, seamless way to remotely access any PC. Customers simply download the PC 2 Go software on a business or home PC, which becomes the host computer. Customers can then access files or work in programs stored on that host computer from anywhere with Internet connectivity through a BellSouth portal. PC 2 Go is available to BellSouth business broadband customers for $12.95 per month per PC.

BellSouth Online Backup and PC 2 Go are the latest of a host of premium business broadband services and applications that BellSouth has introduced in the past year. BellSouth has specifically focused on security applications, most recently with the introduction of BellSouth® Secure Mail, which allows business customers to enclose, encrypt and deliver confidential information over the Internet. In addition, BellSouth® Premium Internet

Story Continued

DSL Internet

Business DSL

AT&T Launches Rural Satellite Service

2006-06-05T00:25:00.000-04:00

AT&T has announced the availability of its new satellite-based broadband Internet access service, delivering a new service option to millions of rural homes and businesses where DSL and cable services are not offered.

The new service, called AT&T High Speed Internet Access, powered by WildBlue, is available to customers in many rural and remote areas across the company's traditional 13-state local residential service area, including parts of the Franklin County area.

The new offering furthers AT&T's goal to expand the reach of broadband Internet access and the services it enables to 100 percent of homes and businesses in its local service territory.

"Broadband access to the Internet is no longer a luxury, it is a vital need for most households and businesses today," said Jim Callaway, senior executive vice president, AT&T Business Development.

"Satellite technology provides a viable broadband option for areas that cannot be effectively served by DSL or cable, enabling AT&T to offer services in areas that have had few or no options previously," he said. "Our efforts to expand the reach of broadband will enable many of our rural customers to take full advantage of online business, educational and communications tools for the very first time."

AT&T is already the nation's largest provider of DSL broadband, with 7.4 million DSL lines in service and DSL service options available to nearly four out of five customer locations within the company's 13-state area.

Continued

DSL Broadband

AOL to Resell Covad’s DSL Service

2006-06-05T00:23:00.000-04:00

AOL has taken another step into the broadband internet market, by signing a deal to offer DSL service in partnership with Covad Communications.

The new service will start at $39.95/month, and run on Covad’s ADSL 6.0 access system, which caps bandwidth at 6 Mbps for downloads, and 768 kbps upstream.

“We view ADSL 6.0 as the first of many innovative Covad products that will help AOL capture consumers’ growing interest in moving to broadband,” said Covad President & CEO Charles Hoffman, in a statement.

AOL now offers a

Source

DSL Sevice Provider

Vodafone to Bundle DSL Service with Mobile Phone Offerings

2006-06-05T00:22:00.000-04:00

Facing challenges in Europe’s largely saturated mobile phone markets, Vodafone revealed earlier this week that it plans to expand beyond just wireless, and into the high-profit broadband internet business.

This move will, in many ways, make Vodafone look like a traditional telecom carrier, but wireless service will still be the core of the company’s offering.

The new business model doesn’t involve entering the broadband market directly as a service provider, but rather reselling DSL services as part of a fixed-mobile bundle called Mobile Plus.

“We have no desire to buy any fixed-line companies, because there is plenty of capacity available,” said the company’s CEO, Arun Sarin. “We will resell broadband service and package it with our products. We are looking

Source

DSL Access

UTL launches DSL service

2006-05-22T23:03:00.000-04:00

Ugandan fixed line incumbent Uganda Telecom (UTL) has announced the launch of an ADSL service offering speeds of between 64kbps and 256kbps. UTL is reported to have invested USD1 million in the upgrade; coverage is currently limited to 25 towns, although a further 16 are slated for roll out in the near future. Prices for the service start at USD90 per month rising to USD300 for the fastest service.

Source

Residents to pressure Verizon for DSL access

2006-05-07T00:16:00.000-04:00

A drive through the Susquehanna Twp. neighborhoods just north of Harrisburg offers a mix of large stately homes, small ranchers and well-kept townhouses tucked along tree-shaded streets.

With good roads, public water and sewer, a convenient commute to the downtown of the state capital, the neighborhood lacks little.

But for some who live there, Susquehanna's 1st Ward is lacking the utility of the 21st century -- high-speed broadband Internet access through the phone line.

While Pennsylvania regulations call for the telephone companies to offer broadband everywhere in the state by 2015, residents led by the ward's elected commissioner are banding together to try to fast-track the process.

Under what's known as Act 183, if either 50 customers in a "service area" or 25 percent of the customers -- whichever is less -- sign a petition committing to be telephone broadband, or DSL, customers for a year, the company must make the service available within 12 months.

It's called the Bona Fide Retail Request Program, and Ira Shapiro, the 1st Ward's commissioner, is hoping to use it to get Verizon to install the equipment needed to deliver the service to his residents.

"We are in an era where the Internet has become an essential tool for children and their homework and it's important for people to just make contact," Shapiro said. "There is just no end to the uses that people can make of being able to have access to reasonably priced, at a reasonable speed, Internet."

Without DSL service, the only option other than

Continued

DSL Service

DSL Access

2006-04-30T22:45:00.000-04:00

The intensity of competition between cable operators and phone companies went up a notch as Comcast reported a big boost in the number of new subscribers who switched to its cable-broadband service from DSL.

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable television operator, said Thursday when it reported first-quarter 2006 earnings that it increased high-speed broadband subscribers by 437,000. Of these subscribers, about 34 percent came from competitors selling DSL (digital subscriber line) service, compared with about 23 percent of customers a year ago, Steve Burke, chief operating officer of Comcast, said during a conference call with analysts and investors.

"We now get as many customers coming from DSL as we get from AOL narrowband," he said.

Burke suggested that customers are switching to Comcast because they are more interested in high-speed service than in price.

Over the last year, phone companies have slashed prices in an effort to win customers. AT&T dropped the price on its introductory DSL offer to $12.99, and Verizon Communications is offering its 768Kbps service for $17.99. The strategy has worked as phone companies are closing the gap between the total number of DSL subscribers and cable modem subscribers in the country.

Meanwhile, Comcast and other cable companies have held the line on pricing, and instead have increased speeds of their service.

"As the RBOCs (regional Bell operating companies) cut prices we keep focused on speed superiority and reliability," Burke said. "As consumers engage in richer Internet experiences

Continued

Company provides T1 Prices in cook county, Illinois

2006-04-29T12:44:00.000-04:00

AT&T launches faster DSL service

2006-04-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

AT&T, the former SBC Communications, is launching consumer DSL service at twice its current fastest offering in an effort to boost its competitive position against cable companies.

Starting today, AT&T is selling a Digital Subscriber Line with download speeds of up to 6 megabytes per second for $29.99 per month for the first year. On Monday, it also will be available online for $27.99. After 12 months, the price rises to $39.99 for both ordering options.

As with all DSL, availability is dependent on the distance from the customer's home to AT&T's network. The 6 mbps service is available at distances up to 6,500 feet from a central office, about half the range of the 1.5 mbps service.

AT&T's 3 mbps service for home users is $17.99 per month for the first year, $29.99 per month after that.

Charter's fastest cable Internet offering is 3 mbps for $42.99 bundled with other services, $54.99 alone. Charter also offers service at 384 kilobytes per second for $35.99 per month bundled, $45.99 by itself.

AT&T previously has offered 6 mbps DSL to businesses. That service now will cost $54.99 per month.

Like other phone companies, AT&T is in fierce competition with cable companies for broadband customers, and has boosted its growth rate by cutting prices. The company is the country's largest provider of DSL lines, with 7.4 million lines in service at the end of March.

Cable operators have responded by utilizing the technical advantages of their lines and raising their maximum download speeds, often to 8 mbps or more.

BellSouth Corp., the phone company that has agreed to be acquired by AT&T, introduced 6 mbps service in November for $46.95 per month.

AT&T also has started a multibillion dollar project to draw optical fiber into neighborhoods, which makes DSL speeds

Continued

Understanding DSL Internet Service

2006-04-25T23:16:00.000-04:00

DSL or Digital Subscriber Line is a type of broadband Internet connection. This type of broadband Internet requires you to have a phone line. Unlike dial up, you can actually use the phone while you are connected to the internet.

What are the benefits of a DSL Internet connection? DSL allows you to have faster internet connection than a dial up. It can offer faster access to information, faster downloads and much more.

Here are some of the benefits you can get from a broadband DSL Internet service.

Unlike dial ups, DSL allows a subscriber to make and receive phone calls while having an active internet connection. Dial up internet does not allow this, if someone calls you, your phone line will be busy. A DSL line also keeps your computer online as long as your computer is turned on.

With DSL you can talk to your friends, family or business associates with a web cam in real time. You can easily connect a microphone, web cam on your computer, and start using these accessories right away. This may be possible in some dial up, but since it has low speed, the data sent and received will usually be delayed or choppy.

Since you can actually use your voice in the internet in real time, you no longer need to call families and friends using expensive long distance calls from your traditional phone.

DSL also enables you to use VoIP technology. This technology virtually replaces your traditional phone with the internet. VoIP has free features your traditional phone company consider as additional features and chargeable.

Video Conferencing
Caller ID
Call Forwarding
Call Transfer
Call Waiting
Ringtones
Voice Mails
Free Long Distance Calls

These are just examples that VoIP offers and a lot more features are available.

Since you can conduct video conferencing, you no longer have to travel to meet with your business associates, therefore, saving you from travel expenses.

Another benefit from DSL internet is that you can play audio and video streams in the internet smoothly and without interruptions. You can now play your favorite internet radio stations while you surf the web or play your favorite music videos in the internet.

Playing online games that requires high-speed internet is now possible with the DSL internet. You can use your own PC or gaming consoles such as the PS2 or Xbox to play with other people from around the world and create an online community with adventure games.

Students can also improve their studies by using the DSL connection. Since DSL provides high-speed internet connection, students can now research more webpage that are required for their studies.

In dial ups, low speed internet connection restricts a student’s research to just a few webpage. This is because in dial up, loading webpage is too slow that a student will just stick to one or two websites to save time and money to do their research.

Online businesses can update their websites much faster in DSL than in dial up. Updating website for online businesses is crucial to inform their customers about the products they are selling.

Today, there are many DSL service providers in the market; choosing one is up to you. Research about the companies that provides this service before you buy their service and you can be sure about the quality of the DSL connection.

Ask your friends and family first who have this technology in their homes or businesses can also help you choose which DSL provider you want to work with.

Bob Hett has extensively covered the Internet Service Provider industry as an analyst and has researched the various companies for factors based on price, reliability, support and overall quality.

Learn more at DSL Internet Service

EarthLink and Covad Announce Additional Markets for Innovative Bundle of Voice Services and High-Speed Internet

2006-04-14T23:51:00.000-04:00

Covad , a leading national provider of integrated voice and data communications, and EarthLink , the nation's next generation Internet service provider, today announced expanded Voice over IP (VoIP) market availability that will give EarthLink the ability to offer customers low-cost phone services bundled with high-speed Internet access in eight additional cities. EarthLink has agreed to provide Covad with $50 million in debt and equity financing to fund additional network build-outs that will bring Covad's line-powered voice access to Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. Already, EarthLink provides DSL and Home Phone Service in Dallas, TX, San Francisco and San Jose, CA, and Seattle, WA.

Made possible through Covad's line-powered voice access, EarthLink DSL and Home Phone Service provides an alternative to the local phone companies. Customers can sign up for a bundle of local and long distance phone service and high-speed Internet access using their existing phones, wiring and computer equipment. Like traditional phone service, EarthLink's voice services will operate during a power outage, support enhanced 911 calling and offer custom calling features.

"With our Internet voice initiatives, we are reshaping our position in the marketplace and redefining what it means to be an ISP," said Garry Betty, EarthLink's president and chief executive officer. "EarthLink DSL and Home Phone Service strengthens our role as a 'Total Communications Company' by delivering one of the industry's most comprehensive portfolios of voice and data products to meet our subscribers' growing communications needs."

"This agreement demonstrates the success of our strategy to target the residential market through strategic partnerships," said Charles Hoffman, president and CEO of Covad Communications. "By strengthening our relationship, Covad and EarthLink are better able to provide a consumer VoIP service that far exceeds the competition in both voice quality and features."

Covad's line-powered voice access marries the "last mile" of traditional telephone copper wiring with EarthLink's advanced VoIP features by taking advantage of the next-generation Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) technology that will enable Covad to offer higher-speed broadband access (ADSL 2+, G.SHDSL) and new business-class services such as metro Ethernet and bonded T1.

EarthLink customers will enjoy high quality service because their calls will be delivered over Covad's and EarthLink's managed national networks rather

Continued

DSL Service

Verizon's DSL ads highlight the need for speed

2006-04-14T23:49:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK — It's hard to imagine with all the buzz about high-speed broadband and the new media forms it enables, such as video on the Web, that about 32% of home computers still access the Internet via an old-fashioned, pokey, dial-up modem.
That's shrinking fast, though. The number of active broadband users at home was 95.5 million as of February, up 28% from a year earlier, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. And everyone from phone companies to cable operators is battling hard to capture the holdouts.

But crafting a sales pitch is not proving easy.

"It's a really splintered market," says Jon Gibs, senior director of media, Nielsen/Net Ratings. "People tend to shop on different factors: price or convenience."

Convenience-minded customers are likely to sign up with their current cable TV carrier or phone company for high-speed Internet service. That puts Verizon Broadband in a good spot. Nearly 65% of Verizon phone customers have plans that could bundle DSL broadband with their voice line.

That packaged appeal — plus aggressive pricing vs. the cable offerings — helped Verizon boost its broadband subscriptions by 47% in 2005 over 2004. It closed out 2005 with 1.7 million net DSL additions to bring its total to 5.1 million, making Verizon the top DSL provider in the category.

But Verizon has been using a humorous ad campaign to try to win over even more of the broadband holdouts.

One recent ad shows a singing diva on a computer screen. Her performance is interrupted and mangled by slow dial-up. She storms off the stage and tells the viewer "You can't handle me with your slow bandwidth."

In another ad an animated cat sweetly sings, "Here's wishing you a Happy-Cat birthday." But when his image fades out he breaks into a gruff voice and lectures the user on slow dial-up.

"We created the ads specifically to address the large majority of marketplace laggards out there hesitating about making the leap," says Patricia Foster, director of consumer strategy and performance assurance.

The trick was making what's essentially a demonstration entertaining. Ad agency Draft, N.Y. came up with the characters to present the product in a light-hearted manner.

"We wanted to highlight the benefit of moving to a broadband connection and we wanted to do it in a humorous, product-demonstration way," Foster says.

The ads did not, however, get a lot of laughs from consumers surveyed by Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly consumer poll.

Of those familiar with the ads, just 9% like them "a lot," compared with the Ad Track average of 21%. The ads were a bigger hit with consumers 30 to 39, of whom 20% like the ads "a lot."

That's OK with Foster, as that age group heavily reflects a key target: families with children

Continued

New DSL service offered in Dayton area

2006-04-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

Cincinnati Bell Inc. is expanding its high-speed DSL Internet service to the greater Dayton market, the telecommunications company said Wednesday.

The service, ZoomTown, became available Tuesday to Cincinnati Bell customers in the area. It will allow business and residential consumers to bundle high-speed Internet along with home phone and wireless phone services.

The company will charge $10 for an introductory six month period when purchased along with local and long-distance phone service. After that the regular monthly charge for the DSL service will be $29.99 if purchased with phone and wireless services or $34.99 if bought with

Continued

Internet access a utility, not a luxury

2006-03-21T06:55:00.000-05:00

Not too many years ago, high-speed Internet access was considered almost a luxury by the public and government alike.

It has since gained widespread acceptance as a necessary utility with the power to educate, entertain, advance and drive commerce. Students require access, businesses find it hard to compete without the service, and many of the essential tools for government rely on the net.

Now, tiny Orland, in Steuben County, is on the verge of becoming a wireless Internet hub due to a pioneering partnership with Fort Wayne-based Internet service provider, Indiana Data Center.

Town officials recently signed a 10-year lease agreement with Indiana Data Center that will permit the provider to install antennas on the town’s water tower in exchange for several free accounts for government offices.

Residents will be able to contract with Indiana Data Center for wireless service at a nominal monthly fee.

The demand for Internet access has sparked creative and innovative efforts to bring it to places unreachable by conventional means. Just as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s creation of the Rural Electric Administration in the 1930’s helped to transform America’s technology landscape, similar public and private initiatives today are bringing high-speed Internet access to Americans living outside urban areas.

The issues presented by both eras are strikingly similar. Although nearly 90 percent of urban residents had electricity by the 1930s, only 10 percent of rural Americans did. Private utility companies, who supplied electric power to most of the nation's consumers, argued that it was too expensive to string electric lines to isolated rural farmsteads.

Continued

T-Com to introduce 16 Mbps DSL service in May

2006-03-21T06:52:00.000-05:00

Story Starts Here

DSL Service

AOL Teams Up With BellSouth for DSL Service

2006-01-29T20:11:00.000-05:00

America Online is teaming up with BellSouth to offer access to the AOL network and services through BellSouth digital subscriber line (DSL) service.

The monthly cost will be $29.95.

AOL also said it would work with Time Warner Cable for cable Internet access, as well as Verizon and other DSL suppliers. The cost could be as low as $25.90, AOL said.

"We are taking advantage of the improving economics of broadband access to create an offering that combines the AOL service with the speed of broadband at a competitive price,” said Jonathan Miller, chairman and chief executive officer of America Online. “In so doing, we're building a better experience for our members, bringing new subscribers to our network partners, and enhancing the lifetime member value of our customer relationships."

Source

AT&T renames high-speed Internet service

2006-01-18T14:22:00.000-05:00

AT&T Inc. announced a new name for its high-speed Digital Subscriber Line service and cut the monthly price to boost its Internet customer base.

San Antonio-based AT&T (NYSE: T), already the nation's largest provider of DSL with 6.5 million subscribers, is offering new residential customers the ability to order the new AT&T Yahoo! High-Speed Internet for $14.99 a month. It was formerly called SBC Yahoo! DSL. SBC Communications Inc. and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) first launched SBC Yahoo! DSL in September 2002.

This is one of the lowest prices the company has ever offered for new customers. AT&T first introduced the service at $14.95 on June 1, 2005, when it was still SBC.

Continued

Petition asks Verizon to offer DSL service

2006-01-15T17:43:00.000-05:00

Woolwich man hopes to get enough signatures to show demand for that type of Internet connection.

WOOLWICH — Steve McKay says he's doing the work Verizon should be doing. Though he's not getting paid for it, he's not complaining.

"I figure it's basic economics," McKay said. "We show them there is a demand, they supply us with the product."

In McKay's case the "us" is the residents of Woolwich, the "product" is DSL service. McKay has created a Web site with a link for signing up residents who are interested in receiving DSL service from Verizon.

"My strategy is simple," McKay said. "I want to get at least 20 or 30 signatures that I can take to Verizon and say, 'Here you are, a list of people who are ready to sign up for service." McKay hopes the show of demand will be enough to trigger the supplier to proceed.

Phone calls seeking comment from Verizon were not returned by press time.

DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It is a high-speed connection that uses the same wires as a regular telephone line to provide Internet service to homes and businesses.

Because Woolwich is wired for cable television access, cable subscribers can already receive Internet service via the cable company. But McKay said DSL is faster, and would be available to those residents who don't subscribe to cable.

Article Continued

BellSouth Introduces New Pricing For DSL Service

2006-01-11T00:26:00.000-05:00

BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) today
announced that beginning today, it will reduce the monthly price of
residential FastAccess DSL Xtreme, which features downstream connection speeds
of up to 3Mbps, by $5, to $37.95 per month. In addition, new residential
customers who purchase FastAccess DSL Ultra, FastAccess DSL Xtreme and
FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0 can receive a special offer of a $50 Visa(R) gift
card.

"BellSouth is committed to the needs of every customer," said Kim
Whitehead, vice president, consumer marketing -- BellSouth. "That's why we
offer the widest range of high-speed Internet options in the marketplace. And
now, customers who need more speed can sign up for FastAccess DSL Xtreme for
one of the most competitive prices in our market for similar products."

Continued

Pay-as-you-go broadband

2006-01-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

A broadband provider in England is launching a pay as you go service later this year. The company called BE is launching the product called CEBe lite with prices starting at under £15 per month.

Read More

DSL Service

Verizon DSL Service

2005-12-29T00:51:00.000-05:00

Looking for DSL? Verizon has just lowered there monthly DSL rates to $14.95. That a pretty good price! All packages include:

Choice of online services: Yahoo! and MSN
24/7 live technical support
30-day money-back guarantee
9 e-mail accounts
10 MB of Web space
Self-install kit

Do you qualify? You can find out by going to shopfordsl .

Covad and Verizon Making Up

2005-12-28T16:25:00.000-05:00

The two companies announced on Wednesday that they've agreed to a settlement that resolves all pending litigation and other legal quarrels between the two sides. For more on this story: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-covad-verizon-mci-litigation-case-pending-antitrust-voip-/2005/dec/1244290.htm

The History of High Speed Internet Access

2005-12-18T02:51:00.000-05:00

High speed internet access, also known as broadband internet, is a high data-transmission rate internet connection. High speed internet has revolutionized the way that people utilize the internet. Before broadband internet, people spent more time downloading content than enjoying it.

The fastest that dial-up internet access can deliver downloaded files is at the rate of 56 kilobits per second. High speed internet, on the other hand, typically transmits at nine times the speed of a conventional dial-up modem. There are also broadband service packages that can transmit up to 20 Megabits per second.

Broadband internet access refers to DSL (digital subscriber line) and cable modem access. DSL is the most commonly used high speed internet, with cable running a close second in terms of popularity. There is also satellite internet access, but there is a high latency problem caused by the distance the signal must travel to and from the satellite. Currently there is also a new service called power-line internet that is being tested. This internet service may eventually allow high speed internet data to travel along standard high-voltage power lines. However, this data transmission system has several issues that will need to be resolved before the feasibility of power-line internet is determined.

High speed internet access became an extremely rapidly developing market in many regions in 2000. Studies found that broadband internet usage in the United States grew more than 24% between 2000 and 2003. One of the challenges of this age of broadband is the ability to provide high speed service to customers located in rural areas. This is because in urban areas service providers are easily able to recover the cost the new equipment required to offer broadband. For this reason, many rural inhabitants still use dial-up or ISDN, which typically delivers data at up to 128 kilobits per second.

In some markets, especially those outside of the United States, there are some internet service providers that are taking advantage of the current lack of industry definition as to what constitutes as broadband internet. Currently, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has defined high speed internet access as 256 kilobits per second in at least one direction (upload or download), though average consumer broadband speeds far exceed this rate of data transfer. Thus, some internet service providers take advantage of lacking industry standards and market lower bitrate connections as high speed.

With the innovation of high speed internet it has become possible for users to download and watch videos and music files in just minutes, if not immediately. Anyone that’s used dial-up to download these larger types of files knows the frustration of waiting hours for a download that may never even complete. Without broadband internet access, the popularity and convenience of peer-to-peer file sharing would not have been possible.

As the rate of data transmission increases, the market expects that streaming video and streaming audio services will become increasingly popular. Interestingly, video encoding formats such as MPEG-4 are making top quality video streams accessible at even lower bandwidth rates. Innovations in video formats are converging with the increasing end user bandwidth speeds to provide unprecedented video access over the internet.

As data formatting innovations combine with increasing access of high speed internet to users around the world, we will continue to see improvement in the delivery of various media types as well as improved connectivity and communication, in general, between people all around the world.

To find out more information about this topic, please visit High Speed Internet

Charlotte Alice represents UK Dropshipper and Online Web Publisher

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charlotte_Alice

Broadband Internet - Why Purchase Service Online?

2005-12-14T17:51:00.000-05:00

You've made the decision to purchase broadband internet access for your home or office. What's your next step? Do you contact your local provider directly and sign up? This is certainly and option, but one that may not be in your best interest.

Contacting one local provider may not be your best option because it limits your choices. It limits the specials available to you. You see, the competition for your business is fierce. There can be a number of vendor choices each offering the same or different access methods and specials. There's cable access, DSL access, satellite access. Each comes with it's own pro's and con's.

You might live in an area where all three-access methods (not counting dial-up) are available. You may live in an area where only 2 or even 1 vendor is available. How do you know? Which do you choose?

The simple way is to contact the one vendor you know of, but there is another way. Use an online-brokered service.

These services should be FREE to you and provide information as well as quotes from multiple vendors within your area. There are many services available on the internet for you to access this information. Of course we'd like you to use our service, free of charge, but any service you find should provide you with the following.

Information - It's critical that you be provided with the information you need to make informed decisions.

Quotes for service - You should be allowed free access to quoting software that will search out and report back all the available vendors within your area. This quote should be free to you as well as identify who the vendor is, what type of service it is, detailed technical information about the service, price, contract length and what specials are available to you.

Lastly, there should be something in it for you as well. When searching for these types of services, don't forget to see what's in it for you! For one, our service offers rebates in addition to the vendor specials. Ok, we're biased here because we believe our service is the best, but other sites probably offer the same incentives. Also look for another level of support. You can go directly to the vendor of your choice with questions about modems, routers, email accounts, etc. and then wait until someone from their support group gets back to you. If you've purchased your broadband service using a brokered service on the internet, you should be able to contact them as well. An additional level of service is another incentive to purchasing your service online.

If you contact a single vendor chances are you're not going to receive unbiased information. A broker does provide unbiased information because they are not tied to a single provider. Having access to multiple providers with multiple access types allows the flexibility to search out and find the 'appropriate' service and the best price and provides value for using the service.

In closing, find a service that is FREE for you to use and provides the information, quotes for service and provides value to you in the way of cash rebates, information and another level of support.

Enjoy your broadband internet experience.

FullService Broadband Provider offers unbiased and informative information on broadband technology. Business, residential, VoIP and more. Our free service is made possible through Try Right Technology, Inc.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Weaver

SBC DSL: A Good Choice for High Speed Internet

2005-12-13T20:50:00.000-05:00

What is the best way for me to go about getting high speed internet in my house? I searched on line and through the yellow pages, only to find that there are an uncountable number of high speed internet options out there. However, as I sifted through all of the consumer sites and user reviews, I found that SBC DSL may, indeed, be the best bet for bringing high speed internet to my home office.

According to many a review, SBC DSL is the most reliable DSL service out there. They also happen to be the largest in many major metropolitan areas in the country, or at least those serviced by Southwestern Bell. SBC DSL has a spectacular reputation among consumers for having technologically advanced products, great customer service, and good competitive prices on their service. The only drawback I could find is that several SBC DSL customers found setting up a home network to be difficult. However, by simply converting to wireless internet, you can solve that problem and still have your SBC DSL connection all over your home.

A big advantage of SBC DSL is that in most cases you can get a free modem and setup. Setup can be one of the more frustrating parts of getting high speed internet, especially if you are not technically savvy. Many companies charge a setup fee, so that savings alone can make SBC DSL attractive to you. Installation can be difficult, and there is charge for that. However, if you do it yourself they waive the fee and you will still have access to the very knowledgeable and helpful SBC DSL customer service representatives.

Many high speed and DSL internet companies will not be willing to give you a firm date as to when you can get your connection taken care of. That is another way that SBC DSL is different. Once you place an order you are given an installation date, which is as a general rule about six business days out from when you call. Such convenience and up front commitment from a company makes it easier for you to arrange your schedule around setup and installation plenty of time in advance without fear that you will have to make more last minute changes to your busy schedule.

There are a ton of high speed internet options out there today. There are cable internet, DSL companies, wireless internet over cell phone signals, and even high speed dial up connections. Each one tells you that it is the best for converting your office or home to high speed internet connection. Which, though, is the best? That is hard to say definitively as prices and services vary by area, but the one with the best reputation around is SBC DSL. By offering friendly representatives, good competitive pricing, and commitment to service, SBC DSL is a model high speed internet service. They will allow you to go to high speed without the worry of setup, installation, and whether or not you will be able to get in touch with someone the next time you have a problem with the service. That peace of mind is as valuable as anything else.

If you would like the latest information on high speed internet, or find more of my personal articles like the one you just read, visit my computing site.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Luck

What is Exactly is Broadband?

2005-12-12T01:17:00.000-05:00

These days, "broadband" is a word that is thrown around easily in telecommunications and internet lingo, but the average consumer may not have a clear understanding of how broadband is defined. It's easy to understand why; the technology industry defines it in different ways as well.

So how is broadband defined? The online Webster's dictionary defines broadband as "A class of communication channel capable of supporting a wide range of frequencies, typically from audio up to video frequencies. A broadband channel can carry multiple signals by dividing the total capacity into multiple, independent bandwidth channels, where each channel operates only on a specific range of frequencies." Let's take a look at each part of the definition.

The first part of understanding broadband defined in straightforward terms is to think about the phrase a "class of communication channel."

So, we can gather that it is different from the normal class of communication channel that we use - our regular phone lines. Phone lines, also called baseband lines, normally carry 29.6kbps of analog data when used for voice communications. But with the advent of the internet, people began to demand faster data transmission. A regular, baseband phone line can carry up to 56kbps of data with the help of a high-speed modem, but without additional technology, that is its maximum capacity.

That wasn't nearly fast enough to keep up with the average person's demand for and dependency on the internet. Which brings us to the next portion of broadband defined; a broadband connection is capable of carrying a wider range and type of frequencies, meaning different types of data. Not only that, it can carry it faster.

If you imagine your connection to the internet as a tunnel that links your computer to the internet, a regular phone line can allow only a small amount of data to pass through at a time. In comparison, a broadband is a wider (or broader) tunnel, allowing a greater amount of information to pass through your connection at one time. With broadband service, you can download different types of frequencies as well, such as audio and video files.

The FCC's (Federal Communications Commission) has broadband defined in their publications as any internet connection with a download speed that is greater than 200 kbps. However, some companies don't consider a connection to be broadband unless it runs at a minimum of 256kbps.

Also, many companies only consider a connection to officially be broadband if it is always connected. In other words, if you don't have to "dial-up" to make the connection.

Usually, the connection is made with either DSL technology, which runs over your existing analog telephone wire, or by a cable connection, which runs over the same coaxial cable that your cable television service does. So broadband defined, while somewhat debated by industry professionals, does include some agreed-upon points.

It allows you to use the internet to its potential by permitting you to download a wider range of data types. And because the download speed with a broadband connection is faster than a regular, baseband connection, it is also called high-speed internet service. So you'll also be able to use the internet faster and more efficiently.

Van Theodorou will help you slash your telecom expenses by 43% and assist or even become your telecom department at no cost to you. For a free analysis or phone consultation go his site at business long distance

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Van_Theodorou

Get on the Broadband-Wagon

2005-12-10T01:48:00.000-05:00

'Broadband' is the general term used to refer to high-speed information transmission over networks, and nowadays is used increasingly to mean a fast Internet connection.

The term has more to do with the electrical waveform (‘signal’) being transmitted. The signal can come to you through a variety of physical arrangements: a DSL line, a T1 line, a TV cable, a wireless link and even your utility power line.

Which physical arrangement is best for you depends a great deal on what is available in your geographical area and the price of each arrangement. You should do a comparison of speeds and costs and choose what is optimal for you. Just be sure you do not choose an ISDN line (because it is getting obsolete) or power line (because the technology is not mature, and it will be some years before the bugs are ironed out).

Live in a large city and want free wireless broadband Internet? Your wish is or will be granted! Almighty Google is busy fixing antennae to lampposts in major cities so that your computer can access the Internet much in the same way your mobile phone accesses your cellular network: almost anywhere in any city. Not only will you get driving directions to that restaurant you are going to, the maitre d’ will appear on a small screen and take your order as you drive.

~ Broadband’s Bag of Goodies ~

Broadband has brought a slew of valuable capabilities to the Internet:

1. Good Video

First of all, you can download smooth, non-jerky video. Consequently an increasing number of sites are including rich graphics, Flash and video to enhance the appeal of their messages. You can now download feature films from over 200,000 Web TV stations and watch them as they stream into your computer (“stream them”). No more trips to the video library and no more renting DVDs!

You can share your screen and talk with co-workers located at far-flung locations (or just relax and play Xbox or PS2 games with them). You can interact with them from the convenience of your home computer, and the need for a physical office can be dispensed with. This implies less travel in your car, less gasoline consumption and less pollution of the atmosphere by engine exhaust gases.

You can search online video archives with specialized search engines. This means you can download video that matches your chosen phrases. Examples would be “Nick Lachey singing ‘My Everything’ to Jessica Simpson”, “Oprah visiting Katrina victims” or “how to toss a thin pizza shell”. There is no longer a need to wait for your subject to be broadcast.

2. Cheap Long Distance

Broadband has enabled miracle of low-cost long-distance Internet telephony. This application is based on the renowned technology, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). You can now speak to your loved ones or business associates in most other parts of the world for 2 cents a minute!

No more waiting for late nights or weekends to get those “free minutes”… you can afford to call anytime. Additionally, the sound clarity is several times better than that of a conventional phone call… voices are loud and clear with little or no background noise.

This means you can stay in touch more often. You can get news faster and offer advice without delay. For instance, a timely observation about a certain medical treatment could very well save the life of the person at the other end!

3. Always On

With Broadband, you are always connected to the Internet. No more dialing up and waiting to connect. The dialing time is freed up for you to use for other things.

In most cases, you get a telephone connection with the broadband connection, so you can simultaneously speak on the phone and surf the Internet. Your phone line will not be busy when you surf so that people can reach you even if you are online.

One important user of this constant connectivity is security. You can have inexpensive webcams mounted in various locations of your home or office and connect them to the Internet. Since your broadband connection is always ‘live’, you can monitor your house from anywhere, anytime. No more worrying when away from your desk or living room!

~ Conclusion ~

The day is not far when dial-up connections will be a rarity. If you have not yet upgraded to broadband, start working at doing so NOW. You will definitely not regret it.

John J Stockwell is an engineer with considerable experience in Internet technologies. Get even more information n broadband from his website at
http://broadband-aa.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_J_Stockwell

Disgusted With Dial-Up? - Compare DSL Service Providers, Cable and Satellite Internet To See If One

2005-12-03T11:24:00.000-05:00

Do you find yourself waiting around for your Internet pages to load or digital photo files and other attachments to transfer?

Do your friends and family complain that they can never get through on the phone line because you or your kids are always online.Chances are you are still using dial up Internet service.Perhaps it’s time to consider an alternative method.

The main three types of high speed access include DSL, cable and satellite Internet. At the current time, DSL service providers and cable are not available in all areas. Some parts of the country do not have access to either option. Good satellite Internet reception is dependant on an unobstructed line of sight to the south. So where you live can make a big difference in which high speed Internet service you choose.

Here are some overviews of each service and comparisons for those fortunate to have more than one option available:

DSL Service Providers

DSL, which stands for Digital Subscriber Line, describes a technology that taps into unused frequencies on copper telephone lines to transmit information at much higher speeds. There is no dialup and accessing services. So access is immediate. With DSL, you can send both voice and high speed data over the same line. The bandwidth, or data transfer capacity, or DSL ranges from 128 Kbps to 1.544 Mbps downstream to your computer. Upstream transfer from your computer is usually limited to 128 Kbps. Bandwidth is dedicated so you don’t have to share with other users, but DSL is also more effective the closer you are to service provider's facilities. If your local area has plenty of cable bandwidth available it may be a better option for those located greater distances from a DSL provider. Average monthly charges for DSL services are around $55-$65.

Verizon is one of the leading providers of high speed DSL service, with a large coverage area. With Verizon DSL you get a monthly package for $34.95 that includes unlimited access with a personalized home page, 9 e-mail accounts, and 10 megabytes of web space. For those customers with multiple computers in the home, there is a home networking option available. You can connect multiple home computers and laptops to a single high-speed DSL Internet connection at no additional monthly cost.

Earthlink DSL is another option. Their basic package, which includes the same features as Verizon’s offer also includes a free dial-up service which allows you to enjoy 20 hours of Internet access per month when you're away from home. This package typically costs $39.99 per month. Earthlink also offers cable and satellite Internet.

As noted, DSL uses copper telephone wires. Rural areas and some cities do not have these wires available for large volume use, which means that DSL is not yet an option in those areas, even if Verizon, Earthlink or another provider offers services there.

Cable

If you have cable TV available in your area, chances are that you have access to Internet through your cable provider. This service uses the same wires as your cable TV programming and depending on the provider and the area, there may be a good deal of bandwidth available or a more limited amount. Because users share bandwidth, this could be an issue for those living in areas with limited amounts available for Internet use. It is a good question to ask your cable provider before signing up. Your choice for cable Internet is typically limited to only those providers who offer cable TV in your area. On average, cable Internet does tend to be a bit faster than DSL. Service is often slightly less expensive than DSL, averaging around $45 per month.

Satellite

If you do not have DSL or cable Internet available in your area, satellite Internet may provide a viable option. Its speed is comparable to other high speed Internet services, its always on, and you have the option of adding satellite TV service. However, it requires that you have a clear view of the southern sky from your home anywhere in the continental United States in order to receive good reception from the satellites. The service is typically a good deal more expensive than the other two high speed options discussed, averaging around $100 per month with installation fees of up to $400.

Some people confuse satellite Internet with what’s known as WiFi. WiFi Internet services are actually provided by access nodes located in high traffic areas such as airports and hotel or through Internet cafes. If you have a laptop equipped with WiFi receiver, you can access services from within about 1000 feet of the node. There is typically a fee to use this service. It is a good idea for travelers but does not meet the need for home Internet use because it required the access node.

Although there are several satellite Internet providers, they all use similar technology. DirecTV is a popular provider because they are also a top satellite TV company. DirecTV satellite Internet service is delivered through a wholly owned subsidiary, DIRECWAY. DirecTV satellite Internet costs $99.99 per month and requires customers to purchase a satellite dish and modem. Installation is typically available from the distributor.

Comparisons

Consult a comparison chart such as the High Speed Internet Guide which should give you a fair idea of the speed and costs involved. However, it is important to note that the data transfer rates you can get from either DSL or Cable will depend entirely on whatever local providers are in your area.

About the Author:

C.J. Gustafson is a successful freelance writer for 1st-Dish-TV.net, a
consumer guide for free
satellite TV systems. She has spent hours of time researching cable,
DSL service
providers, and
high speed satellite Internet service providers for her home office. She
dreams one day attaching the satellite dish to her RV and spending the winters
writing from wherever it's warmest that week

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=C.J._Gustafson

For Lightning-Fast Speed, What You Need is Comcast Internet

2005-12-01T11:29:00.000-05:00

Just 10 years ago, the Internet was a novelty, a rarity and a luxury that most Americans were aware of but did not participate in. Now, 75 percent of Americans have Internet access at home, and many of them are using Comcast Internet.

With so many choices out there, how do you find what kind of Internet service is right for you? Simple: Choose the fastest, most reliable and most affordable. And that's Comcast Internet.

Until a few years ago, the standard for Internet access was dialup. Today, that method of connecting to the Internet is no longer favored, as many Internet customers have high-speed access, either cable or DSL. Nearly all businesses and offices with Internet access use broadband of some kind. And Comcast cable Internet is leading the way.

Comcast cable Internet offers broadband service that is faster than most DSL services -- about 6 Mbps ("6 Megs") of download speed -- so fast you'll barely notice anything is happening. (Most DSL services only go as high as 1.5 Mbps.) When Comcast Internet says "high speed Internet," they mean it!

With Comcast Internet access that fast, you have all the speed you need to watch videos, download songs, play online computer games and take advantage of everything else the Internet has to offer.

But look what else comcast high speed internet

gets you: As a Comcast Internet customer, you'll have access to exclusive features like Video Mail, PhotoShow, and a variety of music, entertainment, sports and financial news at Comcast.net. The Comcast Internet home page makes you part of a vast community of fellow Comcast Internet users.

Another advantage of Comcast high speed cable Internet is that you have customer service available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If there’s a problem with your cable Internet, there will always be someone on hand to help you solve it. This is important especially to businesses, where a large portion (or sometimes all!) of their business is conducted over the Internet, thus making reliable high speed Internet a necessity.

You can also get Comcast Internet in conjunction with other Comcast services, such as Comcast digital cable. Customers often get a price break if they order a "package" of services -- cable Internet and cable TV, for example. Comcast digital cable TV has a digital video recorder (DVR) option that allows you to record your favorite programs digitally and watch them later, at your convenience. With high speed Internet and digital cable with DVR, all your news and entertainment needs are taken care of through Comcast.

Comcast Internet is one of many Internet service providers, yes. But none are used as often, or praised as widely, as Comcast is for its high speed broadband Internet services. When you want to use the Internet, you want to use it quickly, efficiently and without it costing an arm and a leg. Comcast Internet gives you all that and more, making it one of the leaders in today’s broadband Internet marketplace.

Christopher M. Luck has an extensive background in working exclusively with Comcast and is now offering his free personal internet tricks to the public. If you are at all interested in Christopher's advice, tips, or secrets, you can visit his comcast blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Luck

SBC Yahoo DSL

2005-12-01T02:33:00.000-05:00

So you want SBC Yahoo DSL but you're looking for a bit more information? Make sure you know the company to which people are referring when they try to answer your questions. SBC is actually a group of several companies and they have as many differences as do completely separate companies.

SBC traces its roots to the original Bell Company. It then broke off into the Southwestern Bell Company. Just a few years ago, SBC acquired Ameritech which offers service in the mid west. It also acquired Pacific Bell on the West coast and a few locations on the east. The behemoth of a company offers a service called SBC Yahoo DSL however the service is provided by the underlying companies which still operate much like separate companies.

Recently SBC Yahoo DSL was introduced which was simply a branding initiative. The underlying service is SBC DSL. When signing up for the service, your experience may be quite different depending on which region you are in. When reading message boards or consumer group's comments on SBC Yahoo DSL, just make sure you know which region the person is talking about and don't take their comments too seriously if they're not in your region. Once again, these divisions are as different as separate companies because not too long ago they were separate companies. Also remember when reading chat boards and consumer groups that DSL service is highly dependant on your distance from the phone company so complaint people have about bandwidth may not apply to you as they could be farther from the phone company than you and therefore have a weaker signal.

How do I find a DSL Provider?

2005-12-01T02:30:00.000-05:00

In addition to limiting your search a broker will also help you identify important facts about your new service. Remember to look at the extra charges like equipment and installation. Sometimes these charges are waived and sometimes they are not. Also be careful to note the commitment. Is it 1 year or two years that you're committing to? Many companies will offer bigger discounts but lock you in to a longer contract. Don't get caught! Make sure you know what you're getting into by going to a broker and comparing DSL Providers side by side.

A DSL Speed Test is a great way to find out what kind of speed you're really getting. Is your connection really slow or is it just the fast that you're working with an old, slow, or over tasked computer? Simply find the DSL Speed Test by performing a search on Google and you'll quickly be on your way to finding out what you're really getting. You'll have to shut down your programs that are accessing the net and then perform the test which takes 30 seconds or so. It's very important to shut down programs accessing the net because these will impair the test and will cause your connection to appear slower than it actually is since some of it is being used.

One last "gotcha" is the introductory price. DSL Providers may claim to give you service for $20 or $25 per month but it's likely an introductory price that lasts only a few months. If you're willing to sign on for the term, just make sure you know what you're paying when the introduction ends.

Verizon DSL

2005-12-01T02:23:00.000-05:00

Most of us have been taught that by cutting out the middle man we can save money, but is that all you save? When it comes to internet access and phone service working with the Incumbents or Baby Bells is a mixed bag. Certainly there are competitive companies that can give you the same or better phone service than the Baby Bells which suffer from years of a monopolistic market but is it the same for internet service?

DSL service is actually quite different than phone service. Besides the obvious difference of one being data and one being voice, competitive carriers generally use their own equipment which is kept at the phone company's facilities. In this case, asking your phone company to make changes to your service is dependant on your phone company and depending on how smoothly they run their operations you could have a very pleasant experience. Internet service, however is different. Many baby bells resell their service which is then sold under a different name. You may be buying internet access and not realize that you're really buying Verizon DSL under another name.

In cases where companies purchase Verizon DSL and resell it under their own name, many of the advantages of changing carriers disappear. If the carrier does not own their equipment they will need to contact the provider to make any changes and as they are not the provider you have added another layer of complexity to any request you may have. Is it really worth the $5 or $10 you're saving by going with a competitor? Often times it's not. Think about cutting out the middle man when looking for internet service. If you know the company is simply reselling Verizon DSL, why not just go with the source?

Bellsouth DSL

2005-12-01T02:22:00.000-05:00

Most of us have been taught that by cutting out the middle man we can save money, but is that all you save? When it comes to internet access and phone service working with the incumbents or Baby Bells is a mixed bag. Certainly there are competitive companies that can give you the same or better phone service than the Baby Bells which suffer from years of a monopolistic market but is it the same for internet service?

DSL service is actually quite different than phone service. Besides the obvious difference of one being data and one being voice, competitive carriers generally use their own equipment which is kept at the phone company's facilities. In this case, asking your phone company to make changes to your service is dependant on your phone company and depending on how smoothly they run their operations you could have a very pleasant experience. Internet service, however is different. Many baby bells resell their service which is then sold under a different name. You may be buying internet access and not realize that you're really buying BellSouth DSL under another name.

In cases where companies purchase Bellsouth DSL and resell it under their own name, many of the advantages of changing carriers disappear. If the carrier does not own their equipment they will need to contact the provider to make any changes and as they are not the provider you have added another layer of complexity to any request you may have. Is it really worth the $5 or $10 you're saving by going with a competitor? Often times it's not. Think about cutting out the middle man when looking for internet service. If you know the company is simply reselling BellSouth DSL, why not just go with the source?

Qwest DSL

2005-12-01T01:59:00.000-05:00

Most of us have been taught that by cutting out the middle man we can save money, but is that all you save? When it comes to internet access and phone service working with the incumbents or Baby Bells is a mixed bag. Certainly there are competitive companies that can give you the same or better phone service than the Baby Bells which suffer from years of a monopolistic market but is it the same for internet service?

DSL service is actually quite different than phone service. Besides the obvious difference of one being data and one being voice, competitive carriers generally use their own equipment which is kept at the phone company's facilities. In this case, asking your phone company to make changes to your service is dependant on your phone company and depending on how smoothly they run their operations you could have a very pleasant experience. Internet service however is different. Many baby bells resell their service which is then sold under a different name. You may be buying internet access and not realize that you're really buying Qwest DSL under another name.

In cases where companies purchase Qwest DSL and resell it under their own name, many of the advantages of changing carriers disappear. If the carrier does not own their equipment they will need to contact the provider to make any changes and as they are not the provider you have added another layer of complexity to any request you may have. Is it really worth the $5 or $10 you're saving by going with a competitor? Often times it's not. Think about cutting out the middle man when looking for internet service. If you know the company is simply reselling Qwest DSL, why not just go with the source?

DSL Service

2005-12-01T01:58:00.000-05:00

DSL Service offers residential customers high speed internet access for a very reasonable rate. Many people don't realize that DSL speeds of 1.5Mbps are the same as T1 speeds which top out at 1.5Mbps. What's the difference? To start with…the price. DSL costs $35 per month on average where a full T1 usually costs $400 or $500 if you're in a metro location and up to $1,000 per month if you're in a rural location. Why the high cost for T1 service without the extra speed? A T1 gives reliable service and is not shared with other subscribers or oversubscribed the way DSL is. Because it is not a shared service it carries a high cost.

DSL service offers a slightly less reliable service for a fraction of the cost. If you already have DSL Service you may have noticed that it's fast at some times and slower at other times. This is because it's oversubscribed. Oversubscription means that many people are pulling from the same resource. During the afternoon when people are at work there may be plenty of bandwidth to have, but in the evening when everyone is looking up the news, going through e-mail, or shopping online, access tends to be strained. Many people pulling from the same limited resource will find that there's only so much to go around. What does this mean to you? Slow speeds occasionally in peak traffic hours.

Most residential users' biggest concern is price and that's why DSL Service is so popular among them. A few slow periods are a small price to pay for a 90% discount if you're using the service at home.

Earthlink DSL

2005-12-01T01:57:00.000-05:00

The first non-AOL internet provider I ever had was Earthlink. Their stock rose with the rest of the brand new ISPs of the late 1900's. The sky was truly the limit.

However, as the internet buble burst in 2000, many companies who provided internet access with equipment purchased with investor dollars were left holding the back with huge networks and no one to fill them. Earthlink DSL was different - they saw the need to diversify into high-speed internet access and other cusotmer-friendly value-adds, like Spam Blocker and Adult Controls.

Fast-forward to 2004, where we see Earthlink becomming the leader in DSL - and - Satellite internet access. The demand for high-speed access has never been greater - and by virtue of their carefull planning and listening the collective voice of their customers, Earthlink has vaulted itself into the lead in the race for number one residential high-speed access provider.

In particular, EarthLink made significant inroads in the broadband arena by signing an expanded Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) agreement with Verizon, launching DSL service in Qwest's territories, and teaming up with Progress Energy to conduct a limited Broadband over Power Line (BPL) trial in North Carolina. EarthLink was also encouraged by the March 31, 2004 decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit not to revisit its earlier ruling that cable modem service contains a telecommunications service. If upheld, this decision will help open cable broadband networks to competition, thus enabling EarthLink to offer high speed service over additional cable networks.

Sprint DSL

2005-12-01T01:56:00.000-05:00

Ever since we were young, most of us have been taught that by cutting out the middle man we can save money, but is that all you save? When it comes to internet access and phone service working with the incumbents or Baby Bells is a mixed bag. Certainly there are competitive companies that can give you the same or better phone service than the Baby Bells which suffer from years of a monopolistic market but is it the same for internet service?

In actuality, DSL service is actually quite different than phone service. Besides the obvious difference of one being data and one being voice, competitive carriers generally use their own equipment which is kept at the phone company's facilities. In this case, asking your phone company to make changes to your service is dependant on your phone company and depending on how smoothly they run their operations you could have a very pleasant experience. Internet service, however is different. Many baby bells resell their service which is then sold under a different name. You may be buying internet access and not realize that you're really buying Sprint DSL under another name.

In cases where companies purchase Sprint DSL and resell it under their own name, many of the advantages of changing carriers disappear. If the carrier does not own their equipment they will need to contact the provider to make any changes and as they are not the provider you have added another layer of complexity to any request you may have. Is it really worth the $5 or $10 you're saving by going with a competitor? Often times it's not. Think about cutting out the middle man when looking for internet service. If you know the company is simply reselling Sprint DSL, why not just go with the source?

MSN DSL Service

2005-11-30T02:35:00.000-05:00

How does the largest software giant in the word increase revenue? That is the billion-dollar question facing planners at Microsoft. As the market leader in operating system software with a market share of 95%, it becomes difficult to generate revenue while almost every PC on this planet is already running some version of Windows. The answer? High-speed internet access (MSN DSL) and video games (XBOX).

Wether by luck or by plan, Microsoft was able to hold off on their plans to become and ISP until -after- the dot-com crash, allowing Microsoft to purchase network capacity for pennies on the dollar. Coupled with Mircosoft's unequalled ability to repeat sell to their customers, MSN DSL was quick to pick up it's first batch of customers.

Since the initial launch in 2002, MSN DSL has built out it's portal to rival that of AOL, complete with it's own version of Instant Messanger, Spam-Filetered Email, and Parental Controls. Leave it to Microsoft to dominate any computer-related field it sets in its sights.

Internet Speed

2005-11-28T17:40:00.000-05:00

I've been fascinated over the years by the rapid advances in technology. None more than Internet Speed . The Internet is defined: a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange .

Speed is defined: the act or state of moving swiftly . When you combine these two, you get Internet speed. High Speed Internet!

Over the last few years the Internet has seen major advancements in the ability of the average Internet user to achieve speeds that could of never been imagined in the days of dial up Internet. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reports that in the United States there are 39 million, or 13 percent of Americans, connecting via broadband in the U.S., the highest number to date. That number is expected to grow to 61.5 million by 2008.

In Europe the numbers were even better, broadband households in Europe increased by nearly 65% last year, a rate twice as fast as the US. The highest growth was in France, until recently an Internet laggard.

With Broadband provider prices continuing to decrease and subscribership continuing to grow, you can bet that Internet speed will continue to amaze.

Gio Mangano is the owner of http://www.bandwidtht1.com which offers Instant quotes on T1 Line and business DSL.

The Truth About Internet Access Providers

2005-11-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

There are dozens of internet access providers out there today. Many of these internet access providers have different means of accessing the internet. All internet access providers have varying rates as well. If you are not knowledgeable about the differences in internet access providers, then let this be your guide to the truth about internet access providers.

First you need to know the different ways internet access providers use for you to connect to the internet. This can be through dial up modems, DSL, and broadband or cable modems. Dial up is the slowest form of internet access. It uses a modem that connects to your phone line. This means you need a dedicated phone line just for your computer in order to use this type of internet access. DSL is faster than dial up. DSL uses your existing phone line to create a three channel data delivery system in order for you to access the internet. Broadband is the fastest way to connect to the internet. Broadband uses a high speed cable modem and fiber optic cable network. You do not need a phone line for this type of internet access.

Different internet access providers have different means for accessing the internet. America Online, People PC, and Earthlink all utilize dial up for internet access. Qwest and Verizon are both internet access providers that use DSL for internet access. The most sought after internet access providers are those of which utilize the broadband technology or cable technology. The main company that provides this is Comcast. Comcast only uses broadband for its internet access.

When choosing between internet access providers, be sure to decide how much you want to spend. Dial up is the cheapest of the internet access providers; however it is the slowest method of internet access. Broadband is the most expensive method for using the internet, but it is the fastest way to access the internet and it is rarely interrupted (which can happen with dial up and DSL internet services).

Your internet access provider should give you unlimited internet access, free email accounts, and free technical support. If the internet access providers do not give you this, then you should definitely choose a different internet access provider. Also, keep in mind that many internet access providers have specials and discounts available to new subscribers to their service.

This is all of the necessary information you need to know when choosing your internet access provider. Shop around and some research to see which company suits your needs, as well as which
company offers you the best rates. With some patience, you should be able to find the right internet
access provider for you.

About the Author: Vincent Vega offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning the Internet.

Get the information you are seeking now by visiting http://www.internetservicecenter.info

Source: www.isnare.com

High Speed Internet - Using A DSL Line

2005-11-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

DSL And High Speed Internet

There are many ways you can access High Speed Internet using the Web. One way to do this is through a cable modem. Another way to do this is via a digital subscriber line, otherwise known as a DSL connection. A DSL connection is one of the fastest ways to connect to the Internet, and uses the same technology your phone does to connect to the Web (only it's a lot faster).

Of course not everyone can take advantage of DSL technology. Service is sometimes limited to specific locations so you'll have to see if DSL is available in your area prior to taking advantage of a DSL connection.

How DSL Works

How does DSL work? It carries digital rather than analog data (analog data is carried by phone lines) over a telephone line without interference. Most DSL providers provide asymmetrical DSL service . This means that the available frequencies that data can be transmitted across in a line are divided so that most of the time the end user will have access to much faster connections when downloading and uploading information.

There are of course other forms of DSL services including VDSL, which works over short distances, SDSL, which won't allow you to use your phone at the same time but is often faster for sending information and RADSL where the modem automatically adjusts the speed of your connection based on the quality and length of the line it is using to connect with.

Article by Frank Owen, visit his web site on high speed internet for more information on cable, dsl and other high speed internet services
http://www.highspeedinternetchoice.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Owen

Broadband and Internet 101

2005-11-28T15:51:00.000-05:00

Internet is the World Wide Web. Broadband is the medium that carries it. Internet is the international computer network linking together thousands of individual networks. Broadband is the transmitter of these signals.

The most popular features of the Internet include electronic mail (of course you know e-mail), discussion groups (called newsgroups or bulletin boards, where users can post messages and look for responses on a system called Usenet). There is also the online conversations or chats, adventure and role-playing games and information retrieval You can also find electronic commerce (e-commerce) in the Net where you can buy and sell stuff at the click of a button.

On the other hand, broadband is the high-speed transmission. It is used to refer to Internet access which uses cable modems or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). Broadband DSL connections are faster compared to dial-up connections.

Dial-up connections utilize phone lines to connect to the Internet while broadband uses cables.

High-speed transmission is commonly used to refer to Internet access via cable modems or DSL, which is faster than dial-up. For years, "broadband" has referred to a higher-speed connection, but the actual speed threshold has varied.

Along with digital subscriber line technology, cable modems ushered in the age of broadband Internet access in developed countries. Before DSL and cable modems, Internet access involved slow dial-up access over a public switched telephone network.

Users in a neighborhood share the available bandwidth provided by a single cable line. Therefore, connection speed can vary depending on how many people are using the service at the same time.

While T1 (1.5 Mbps) has been widely used as the threshold, others have used T3 (45 Mbps) for broadband. For example, after the turn of the century, South Korea leapfrogged the U.S. in Internet access, offering DSL up to 50 Mbps and calling their 1.5 Mbps service "light."

Mbps is an abbreviation for megabits per second. It is the data transfer speeds as measured in megabits. This unit is mostly used in networking technologies such as broadband.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is the greatest force to the popularization of the Internet. It is a hypertext system (a computer based retrieval system) which makes browsing the Internet both fast and intuitive.

The information stored in the computer networks connected to the Internet forms a huge cyber library. But the enormous quantity of data and information in these interconnected computers makes it difficult to retrieve the information.

This is where broadband comes in because with the use of these cables, the information available in the Internet can be retrieved really fast and without hassles.

The broadband medium can carry signals from different network carriers. This is done through fiber-optic cable. Fiber-optic cable is a thin glass strand designed for transmission. It is capable of transmitting trillions of bits per second

Broadband technology can support a wide range of frequencies. Broadband in general refers to data transmission where multiple pieces of data are sent simultaneously to increase the effective rate of transmission. In network engineering this term is used for methods where two or more signals share a medium.

Various forms of DSL service are broadband in the sense that digital information is sent over one channel and voice over another channel sharing a single pair of wires.

James Monahan is the owner and senior editor of
BroadbandBase.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Monahan

Different Internet Options

2005-11-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

How many ads have you seen just today for different internet companies? It can be a staggering amount. Think about this as well. For every commercial, every billboard ad, and every internet ad that you see there are hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting it. That is quite a huge amount of money being used to get your attention and get you to switch from one company to the next. The real question is though, who has what you need and the right price.

It is often hard to choose one from the next because they all claim to have the best rates out there. Sure, when you compare one company’s dial up rate to another company’s cable rate, there is a large difference. The first order of business for you, then, is to choose the type of method you want to use for your internet access. You can choose dial up which uses your phone line. You can be charged by the minutes, hours, or a flat rate here. But, remember, being online means to access to the phone.

Another option is the cable modem or DSL. In each of these cases, you are accessing the internet in a different manner, but the process is basically the same. DSL runs through your phone line, but does not clog up the lines. A cable modem is used to access the internet through your cable company. This type of internet access costs much more than dial up but allows you the flexibility to be online and on the phone for a flat rate every month.

When you compare apples to apples, you’ll be able to see what the differences in internet companies are. When it comes time to choose, you’ll have a different way of choosing. Compare prices, yes, but do not forget to compare other factors like abilities, speed, features, and the ease of use. Some internet companies offer spam blockers, virus scans, and even firewall protection. Others are a basic internet hook up that offers fewer frills at a better rate.

One of the best ways to know which company has a good history with its members is to look for testimonials. But, stop, don’t get them from the companies, get them from people you know. Did you get an email from a friend? What is his ISP, or internet service provider? Ask him how he likes the company. First hand knowledge of the ISP will allow you to make a fair choice in one company to the next. They are all competing for your business so give them a run for your money!

Mike Wall

Internet Directory

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Wall

Residential Broadband Price War

2005-06-09T21:34:00.000-04:00

Residential broadband cheaper than dial-up? That may soon be the case.

SBC has recently reduced its broadband subscription rates to SBC phone customers to $14.95 per month. Cox is offering a promotional rate to some of their customers for $9.95 per month. Comcast customers may be able to get broadband high speed internet for $14.95 per month by pressing their Comcast service rep. While AOL is still charging about $20/mo. for dial-up.

The baby bells are in serious trouble these days. As more customers opt to use cellular or broadband phone service, their traditional revenues are rapidly drying up. SBC's announcement is an attempt to keep their phone service customers, add an additional service to the customers bill, and hope that they will stay with SBC until the phone giant can roll-out television services in a year or so. Many of the other residential broadband providers say that they will not get involved in a price war, but, as in the case of Cox and Comcast, are in fact beginning to offer lower promotional pricing.

For more on this story see the following CNET articles:
SBC ups the ante in broadband war
SBC slashes DSL price tag
Broadband headed for price war?
Verizon CEO says no to big DSL discount
Comcast can match SBC's deal--for a while