US West to offer TV, Internet via copper
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U S West Communications Inc. is expected
to announce plans to deliver television programming and high-speed
Internet access over traditional copper telephone lines, the Wall Street
Journal reported Monday.
The Denver-based Baby Bell said it will begin offering a package of
video and data services via ''variable digital subscriber lines,'' or VDSL,
in Phoenix this summer, the Journal said.
VDSL is just one variation of technology that allows consumers to
download data and images at much faster speeds than commercially
available modems.
The company plans to offer some 120 television channels, 40 digital
music channels and Internet access for rates ''comparable'' to the
monthly fees charged by Cox Communications Inc., the primary
cable-television provider in Phoenix, the paper said.
Vickey Callen, a U S West vice president, said the company will deploy
the interactive product in other cities if it is able to meet certain cost
and service goals in Phoenix.
U S West's service will be available to about 400,000 Phoenix
households within the next six months and 700,000 homes by year end,
the Journal said. The VDSL service will be rolled out in areas in which
the carrier has deployed fiber-optic glass close to homes to optimize
downloading speeds.
A spokesman for Cox told the paper the cable company ''wasn't
surprised'' by U S West's plans to offer a competing entertainment
service. ''U S West is announcing their intent to get into our business,
but we're in the regional Bell companies' businesses as well,'' the
spokesman said.
U S West made a run at the cable business through its U S West
Media Group unit, the paper said. The Bell is now splitting from the
cable arm, now known as MediaOne Group, in a tax-free transaction
that shareholders are expected to approve this summer.
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