Ultrafast Internet nearly up to speed

Three-dimensional high-definition TV is ready, and the viewing experience breathtaking, but will people like the technology enough to pay extra? And can it pay off for network operators?

Phone and cable companies, including Verizon Communications Inc., certainly hope so as they prepare to launch ultrafast Internet service that can run at 100 megabits per second in some markets.

"There is a business case for ultrabroadband service in markets with a very dense population—New York, Chicago, Paris—but as a market’s population gets thinner, the business case gets weaker," said Robert Atkinson, research policy director for the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, a Columbia University-based center in New York City.

INSIDE TECHNOLOGY  BY JON VAN

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