[Southwestern Bell follows Pac Bell in FasTrak DSL Service]
Texas to try out DSL
By Jeff Pelline
November 13, 1997, 2:10 p.m. PT
update Another Baby Bell, this time Southwestern Bell, is rolling
out high-speed Net access over copper wires, or DSL, in the
high-tech hub of Austin, Texas, on an experimental basis,
executives disclosed today.
An announcement is expected tomorrow. This comes one day
after Pacific Bell launched a DSL (digital subscriber line) market
trial in Silicon Valley, taking on cable-modem providers such as
@Home on their home turf. Both Baby Bells are owned by SBC
Communications, and both regions, in Texas and California, are
hotbeds of high-tech activity. SBC recently bought Pac Bell in
one of the largest telco mergers to date.
"Right now, Southwestern Bell is offering FasTrak DSL service
in Austin, Texas, on an experimental basis," reads a posting on
the telco's Web site. "After the Austin trial concludes, we plan to
offer FasTrak DSL in additional locations."
As with Pac Bell, Southwestern Bell is offering users two
options: one with up to 384 kbps both downstream and upstream,
and another with up to 1.5 mbps downstream and up to 384 kbps
upstream. It typically takes five to 17 days to install the service.
The trials come in the wake of US West's rollout of commercial
DSL service in Phoenix. Both are signs that the Baby Bells are
gearing up to take on the cable-television industry in offering
higher-speed Net access. @Home, which is based in Silicon
Valley, offers its cable-access service in the San Francisco Bay
Area suburb of Fremont, and soon will add Pleasanton, Castro
Valley, and Livermore to the list. @Home also is expected to
announce a content partnership for receiving video on demand
from CNN, one of its biggest such deals to date.
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