High-speed Internet spreading in Washington State

Verizon Communications, Comcast and Qwest Communications International plan to expand high-speed-Internet offerings in Snohomish County over the coming months.

By Jane Hodges
Times Snohomish County bureau

Starting today, Verizon is beginning to lower prices on its broadband Internet service, boost connection speeds and make the service more readily available locally.

Verizon will charge $34.95 a month instead of $49.95 to $59.95 a month for digital-subscriber-line (DSL) service that includes MSN as an Internet provider. Verizon phone customers will pay less for DSL under the new plan: $29.95 a month.

The new pricing will appear on bills beginning next month or in July.

The price changes and service expansions are part of Verizon’s companywide strategy to make broadband Internet service available on 80 percent of Verizon lines nationwide.

Verizon will boost service by late summer in Arlington, Bothell, Everett, Marysville, Monroe, Snohomish and some Lynnwood neighborhoods.

"In most of these areas, we already provide DSL. But this (effort) will provide increased reach," said Missy Barran, a spokeswoman for Verizon’s regional office in Everett. "We’ll be adding remote terminals in more places."

Jed Kolko, a principal analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., said Verizon’s new pricing is a boon for consumers.

"Price has been the biggest barrier (to broadband), and this will boost adoption," he said.

At the end of last year, Kolko said, 15.5 million U.S. households had broadband Internet access. Only one-third of those households used DSL, he said, while the rest subscribed to broadband access via high-speed cable modems. However, he said, DSL has gained in market share and customer popularity in recent years.

Though declining prices are good for consumers, he said, they are a trade-off for Verizon. The company’s move to lower prices may help it attract more customers, but the company will gain a thinner margin of profit from each subscriber.

Comcast has offered broadband cable access in Snohomish County since last year and serves Bothell, Brier, Edmonds, Everett, Woodway, parts of Lynnwood and Mukilteo, and some unincorporated areas, spokesman Steve Kipp said.

Between now and early next year, Kipp said, Comcast will add cable availability in Lynnwood, Mukilteo and unincorporated county areas, and introduce it in Arlington, Lake Stevens, Marysville and Mill Creek.

The company charges cable-TV subscribers $42.95 to $45.95 a month for cable broadband, while nonsubscribers pay $4 a month more.

Last month, Qwest announced it would spend $75 million to expand DSL service within Washington. The company plans to make DSL available to 20 percent more subscribers within the state.

The company has said it will add DSL availability on the Olympic Peninsula, in Eastern Washington and along the Interstate 5 corridor, which could include Snohomish County. The company has not identified which cities along Interstate 5 will get additional DSL access, spokeswoman Sylvia McLachlan said.

Qwest charges $21.95 to $31.95 a month for DSL service that doesn’t include an Internet-service provider, and $39.95 to $49.95 a month for DSL service that includes MSN as an Internet provider.

Qwest phone customers pay $39.95 for DSL service that would cost $49.95 if bought separately.

Jane Hodges: 425-745-7813 or [email protected]

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