Bell Atlantic Tuesday launched
its Infospeed DSL
service in Cambridge, Mass., and will soon introduce DSL to other parts of the
Boston metropolitan area.
Infospeed DSL is Bell Atlantic’s brand name for its ADSL service. Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line technology provides Internet access to consumers at
speeds up to 126 times faster than a 56 kbps modem. The technology allows
consumers to use a single phone line to send faxes or make phone calls
while surfing the Net.
Introduced last fall, Infospeed DSL now is available in parts of the
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas and in
communities on New Jersey’s Hudson River waterfront. The company will
expand availability within these markets in the coming weeks and months. In
addition, Bell Atlantic plans to introduce the service in the New York area
later this spring.
“Our Infospeed DSL customers tell us they value most their ‘always-on’
connection,” said Amy McIntosh, president of consumer data services, Bell
Atlantic. “They are enjoying the speed, as well as the immediate and
unlimited access to the Internet that Infospeed DSL gives them.”
A recent survey of Infospeed DSL customers in those regions showed that
more than 40 percent are using the service more than 30 hours a week, with
over 90 percent online at least 10 hours per week. When asked which
features of DSL service were most important to them, 89 percent cited the
“no dialing/no busy signals” aspect.
Bell Atlantic’s entry-level package of DSL service and Internet access is
offered at $49.95 a month for unlimited use on speeds up to 640 kbps, Bell
Atlantic.net Internet access and a link to a specialized version of the
Snap! portal service.