Service innovator SureWest Communications (SURW) has launched bonded DSL, to provide more subscribers on the company’s copper network with faster down- and upstream speeds for their Internet access links.
Like many operators, SureWest operates both fiber and copper networks to serve businesses and residential customers. While the spotlight has been fixed primarily on fiber-to-the-home networks, operators with copper nets don’t want to leave their DSL Internet customers behind.
Industry analysts have warned that focusing on fiber to the exclusion of copper networks could form two classes of Internet service users. As a result, carriers such as SureWest have been jumping the bandwidth on their DSL access links.
DSL channel bonding technology will increase the download speeds for eligible DSL subscribers from 6 mbps to 10 mbps,, or from 3 mbps to 6 mbps. Accomplished by assigning two copper pairs to the customer’s home, this new technology also allows for higher upload speeds, increasing from 768 kbps to 1 mbps, according to SureWest.
The carrier said, as of June 30, its copper network in the Sacramento region reached 74,500 homes in the company’s incumbent local exchange carrier territory.
“As we continue to expand our advanced fiber-to-the-home network in Sacramento and Kansas City, we are also creating a superior customer experience for our copper subscribers by providing them with the most bandwidth and highest speeds technology allows,” said SureWest senior vice president and CTO Bill DeMuth, in prepared comments. “Bonded DSL allows us to provide faster Internet speeds deeper into our copper network, and now over 50 percent of potential DSL subscribers have access to 10 mbps. Demand for higher speeds is swelling and we are pleased to offer this upgrade to our DSL customers.”
New and current customers eligible for the service can enjoy these faster speeds at new promotional rates of 6 mbps for $27.99 per month for one year or 10 mbps at $31.99 per month for one year. In addition to the higher speeds, SureWest’s subscribers using the bonded DSL technology receive up to 1 gigabyte of e-mail storage, up to 10 gigabytes of personal Web space and optional home networking.
SureWest has gained a reputation for an innovative firebrand of company by introducing new service, such as its Web-based home monitoring offering, and by bucking a trend of sorts and providing price breaks on TV and Internet to promote its full-price VoIP service in an alluring triple play bundle.
