Southwestern Bell Plans Major Launch of New Lightning-Fast Service for Data, Internet Access
Parent company SBC announces largest deployment of ADSL in the U.S. and major price drop to make service affordable for millions of customersRegulatory decisions key to scope of deployment
For up-to-the-minute news, visit http://www.swbell.com/
San Antonio, TX, Jan 12, 1999 -- The wait for affordable, high-speed, high-bandwidth Internet access may be near an end for millions of consumers and businesses. Southwestern Bell today announced plans to offer lightning-fast Internet and data access service in its five-state region beginning this year and today is filing the necessary tariffs with the Federal Communications Commission.
The launch of Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) in Southwestern Bell's five-state region of Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas is part of a broader plan by SBC Communications, Southwestern Bell's parent company, to undertake the largest ADSL offering in the United States. By the end of 1999, SBC intends to deploy ADSL in 526 central offices, which will enable it to provide ADSL service to 8.2 million residential and 1.3 million business customers. In California, Pacific Bell has announced that it will triple its current ADSL deployment and significantly lower the price of monthly service, installation and equipment. Connecticut-based SNET has filed with regulators to trial the service in that state beginning this month.
The company's long-range plans for offering ADSL service depend to some extent on forthcoming federal regulations. The speed and breadth of deployment will be affected by new rules the FCC is expected to issue in February outlining how regional Bell companies may offer advanced services such as ADSL. If current regulatory burdens are eased, the company would be able to accelerate deployment.
Southwestern Bell plans to offer "always on" ADSL service with guaranteed connection speed for as low as $39 a month, subject to FCC approval. In addition, Southwestern Bell Internet Services will offer Internet access with ADSL service for a combined price of as low as $49 per month. Equipment and installation will be available from Southwestern Bell for a one-time charge as low as $198.
By making the service widely available at an affordable price, Southwestern Bell will make high-speed Internet access a viable option for millions of households and small businesses who are looking for greater bandwidth to make the most of the Internet or to connect to an enterprise or corporate network from home.
"Southwestern Bell would like to move fast in 1999 to provide a high-speed data service that our customers have been waiting for," said John Atterbury, president of Southwestern Bell. "We want Southwestern Bell ADSL service to become the high-speed Internet access of choice for millions of customers in our five-state region."
Competition to provide affordable, high-speed communications services used for Internet access and other computer applications is heating up. Southwestern Bell believes that demand for ADSL will soar once service is widely available and affordable. In fact, DataQuest, a market research company, predicts the number of ADSL subscribers to expand from 50,000 now to five million worldwide by 2002.
Southwestern Bell intends to deploy ADSL in 271 central offices which will enable it to provide high-speed Internet access to 3.2 million residential customers and 440,000 business customers, or more than 37 percent of its customers. If federal regulators issue favorable rules for delivering broadband services, Southwestern Bell could be making ADSL available by the end of this year in the company's major markets of Austin, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, San Antonio and St. Louis.
ADSL: A Better Broadband Solution
With the $39 per month ADSL service, customers can simultaneously use a phone or a fax machine while getting downstream connection speeds up to 1.5 megabits per second-50 times faster than today's common 28.8 analog modems-and an upstream connection speed of 128 Kilobits per second. (Downstream throughput speeds will vary depending on the customer's distance from the central office and other factors, but the connection speed will be at a guaranteed minimum of 384 Kbps.)
For customers in need of higher speeds, Southwestern Bell will offer a package with downstream connection 200 times faster than today's 28.8 Kbps modems with speeds up to 6 Mbps and an upstream connection speed of 384 Kbps. Downstream connection speeds will be at a guaranteed minimum of 1.5 Mbps.
In addition to downloading data, graphics, audio and video, ADSL's speed transforms e-commerce transactions by creating faster responses for online traders and buyers, faster information exchanges between business partners and faster online sales.
When compared to cable modems, ADSL ensures greater reliability, better security and more consistent speeds, experts say, because the service is delivered via a dedicated line from a central office to the individual user's home or office. ADSL's "always on," dedicated connection provides a high degree of security and reliability for e-commerce, online banking and Internet trading, and enables customers to immediately surf the Internet or launch applications without waiting for a dial-up connection to be established. In addition, Southwestern Bell's ADSL service will run on the Southwestern Bell network, one of the most reliable in the world. And customers who choose Southwestern Bell Internet Services as their Internet service provider will surf on one of the country's most sophisticated Internet backbones and benefit from award-winning service and support.
Regulatory Factor
"Southwestern Bell's objective is to offer ADSL to as many of our customers as possible, both business and residential," said Atterbury. "But regulations will play a part in how quickly we can do it." In December, SBC joined dozens of telecommunications and computer companies asking the FCC to adopt 10 proposals designed to accelerate the delivery of new broadband services. The proposals include concessions for competitive telecommunications carriers who want to use Southwestern Bell's network to offer their own broadband services. Southwestern Bell's ADSL service will be available to competitors and Internet service providers for resale at the tariffed rate.
The company anticipates that it will make an announcement in upcoming weeks regarding the timing of ADSL availability. In the meantime, customers can get more information at http://www.swbell.com/ or call 1-888-SWB-DSL1.
A Leader in Bandwidth
SBC has been a leader in the development of ADSL. Last year, the company completed joint initiatives with Dell Computer Corp. and Compaq Computer to promote more convenient access to ADSL.
In California, where Pacific Bell launched ADSL service last summer, the company is expanding the largest single-state deployment of ADSL to 255 central offices which will enable it to provide ADSL service to approximately five million residential households and 900,000 businesses. Pacific Bell also will offer ADSL at the same low prices as Southwestern Bell.
In Connecticut, SNET has filed plans with regulators to initiate a service trial in three cities, and two additional towns to be named later. The trial is set to begin later this month.
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