High speed net access in the Valley -- soon will be nationwide?.....
news.com
Covad debuts high-speed
access
By Jeff Pelline
December 8, 1997, 4:20 a.m. PT
A start-up called Covad Communications today is
announcing high-speed Internet access in the San
Francisco Bay Area, including Silicon Valley, for as
low as $90 per month, with a national rollout
planned for next year.
As previously reported by CNET'S NEWS.COM,
Covad was expected to provide the access over
copper phone wires, known as DSL (for digital
subscriber lines) this year, largely aimed at
telecommunters. But today the company provided
pricing details.
The service, dubbed TeleSpeedSM, will be offered
to 400,000 homes and businesses in the Bay Area.
Within 90 days, Covad and partnering Internet
service providers expect to announce the service
for small businesses.
The pricing includes access rates of up to 1.1 mbps
to and from the home for $195 per month; access
rates of up to 384 kpbs to and from the home for
$125 per month; access rates of up to 144 kpbs to
and from the home for $90 per month. Customers
also must pay a $325 installation fee.
The DSL service is expected to compete with the
Baby Bells, including Pacific Bell in the Bay Area,
which are rolling out their own high-speed Net
access. But they face stiff competition from
cable-modem service providers as well, including
@Home in the Bay Area.
"We are proving that the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 is working by offering corporations and
Internet service providers an alternative to existing
telecommunication providers and by rapidly
deploying new services at affordable prices,"
Covad CEO Chuck McMinn said in a statement.
The act has made the launch of companies such as
Covad possible.
Covad says its network connects the central office
to a corporation using a private network. It is
privately held and funded by E.M. Warburg Pincus,
Crosspoint Ventures, and Intel. |
