Variety of high speed Internet services available in Livingston

Qwest Communications announced this week it is now offering high-speed Internet service in Livingston, joining the competition between other businesses offering high-speed services in town.

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/01/16/news/dslbzbigs.txt

DSL — Digital Subscriber Line — is faster than traditional dial-up Internet service and is available to Qwest telephone customers in Livingston within 2.5 miles of the company’s central office on Third and Callendar streets, said company spokesman Vince Hancock.

The technology uses a phone line to provide Internet service, but still allows customers to talk on the phone at the same time. Qwest charges one fee just for access to the phone line. A separate fee is charged by the Internet Service Provider chosen to provide the necessary Internet portion of the package.

According to a press release from Qwest, a customer who buys a "bundle" of Qwest phone services can also get DSL with MSN providing the Internet service for $26.99 or $39.99 a month depending on speed.

Without the phone services, the company charges from $31.99 or $44.99 for the service through MSN.

But customers should know they don’t have to choose MSN as their Internet Service Provider, said Joe Long of Bridgeband Communications in Bozeman. His company has a contract through the state of Montana and with Qwest to also provide Internet services through the Qwest central office in Livingston.

"If you call Qwest directly, Qwest will direct you to MSN," Long said. "We would not only match that price, but we would give you the better service and let you not have a contract."

Qwest charges a flat rate of $15 or $28 per month for access to the DSL service. Bridgeband charges about an additional $15 per month to provide the Internet service.

But DSL isn’t the only high-speed service in town.

In fact, WispWestNet in Livingston has been offering high-speed wireless Internet service for more than a year, said Jason Boss, a technician with the company.

"It’s available to anyone in Livingston, Gardiner, Clyde Park and all of the Paradise Valley," Boss said. "We have towers in all of those areas. We have almost 100 percent coverage of all those areas."

The wireless service requires that a residence or business be within the "line of sight" of one of Wisp’s radio towers and it uses similar technology to a cordless telephone, Boss said. The service costs $49 per month with no set up fee.

And Bresnan Communications also offers cable Internet service in Livingston.

Bridgeband has been offering two other high-speed services in Livingston for three or four years. Businesses can have a T1 line or a dedicated DSL line that doesn’t share the voice phone lines, Long said. That service costs a little more at $69 to $159 a month depending on speed.

Now that Qwest has started the line-sharing DSL service, Cindi Fargo at the Alliance Development Corp., a nonprofit business development organization in Livingston, said it will be interesting to see what happens to high-speed Internet prices.

"It is a good thing that the business community has access to another provider of this service," Fargo said.