Verizon upgrades broadband service
Verizon Communications is making a new push to
sign up broadband Internet customers in the Tampa
Bay area by enhancing a network it hopes to one
day make obsolete -- DSL Internet access.
Digital subscriber line access is one of the longest-running
broadband Internet systems, and Verizon is upgrading
its DSL service to reach about 42,000 more residents
and businesses.
The upgrades are important for Verizon because
DSL links are somewhat limited by distance. Customers
need to be relatively close to a telephone company's
network hub to have access. Verizon's upgrade will
extend range by 2,000 feet farther out from network
hubs in the area, or just over one-third of a mile,
to about three miles total.
DSL is available in most of the area. The upgrade
would extend that reach. Verizon is making similar
upgrades in 14 states including California, Michigan,
Nevada, Ohio and Texas. Verizon chiefly competes
with Bright House Networks, which runs Internet
access on coaxial cable lines.
Customers can see if the Verizon upgrade is available
to them by going to Verizon's Web site, www.Verizon.net/dsl.
The upgrade comes as Verizon invests hundreds of
millions of dollars to build a different, state-of-the-art
fiber optic network called FiOS across the region
to deliver much faster Internet access, telephone
and cable TV service.
Verizon's DSL service costs $20 to $30 per month,
depending on access speeds.
