Earthlink Network Inc., is joining the
growing list of broadband services providers that intends to increase
access and decrease install time for digital subscriber line services.
By the end of July, customers in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and northern New
Jersey can avoid the “truck roll” delays involved with setting up DSL
services. EarthLink Tuesday said it would fire-up its
systems for customer to install DSL modems, microfilters and software on
their own.
EarthLink’s splitter-less installation is is already available in Los
Angeles, San Fransisco Bay Area, Dallas, New York, Boston, Washington,
D.C., Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, OR, Tampa and St Petersburg, FL, and
Durham, NC.
Sprint Corp. , which owns
nearly a one-third stake in in EarthLink, Monday introduced its own DSL
self-install option for customers in cooperation with Broadjump Inc.
Lorraine Lopez, EarthLink vice president of broadband operations, said the
DSL self-install feature is a welcome alternative for people who don’t want
or need to wait for setup.
“One of EarthLink’s top priorities is to get EarthLink DSL customers up and
running as quickly as possible,” Lopez said. “Many of our customers have
said they would prefer the independence and convenience of a do-it-yourself
model. With about 13,000 self-installs under our belt so far, the
self-install model has been tremendously successful, and we expect that
trend to continue as we expand its availability.”
According to EarthLink, eliminating the need for a technician to make a
house call reduces DSL delays by as much as 50 percent.
Genuity Inc., formerly GTE Internetworking ,
provides the splitter-less installation kit for EarthLink’s DSL
customers. Patrick Kloepfer, Genuity vice president of
broadband and narrowband services, said his company’s experience with the
self-install setup makes it the obvious choice to provide the support.
“We understand the importance of ease and convenience to people considering
DSL service and are pleased to expand this option with EarthLink,” Kloepfer
said. “Our nationwide DSL footprint and our ability to offer our customers
and partners the self-installation option help make us the Internet’s
leading DSL backbone.”
