Qwest to increase high-speed Internet service

There is good news for Internet users who have been waiting for high-speed connections in areas where phone service is provided by Qwest.

By The Associated Press Helena IR

Qwest Communications International expects to see a significant increase in availability of its high-speed Internet services following an ongoing $75 million expansion, chief executive Richard Notebaert said Wednesday.

Speaking to investors at a New York conference, Notebaert said Qwest has the highest sale rate among the four regional Bell companies of high-speed Internet service in areas where it is offered. That rate, called a penetration rate, is 8.3 percent for Qwest, he said.

Homeowners in many areas, including major cities, haven’t had access to Qwest’s DSL or cable broadband Internet service. The cost also has been high, often above $50 a month.

Notebaert said Qwest is equipped to offer so-called digital subscriber-line service, or DSL, to only 36 percent to 37 percent of its customers. The other three Bell companies, which serve more densely populated states, can do so for roughly 60 percent of their customers, Notebaert said.

‘‘What that says is that, where we have it, we’re very good at selling it and very good at deploying it,” Notebaert said. ‘‘But we haven’t invested over the last few years” in the remote terminals needed to provide DSL in new areas.

Qwest had 551,000 DSL subscribers at the end of the first quarter, as opposed to 535,000 in the previous quarter.

Qwest aims to boost the availability of its DSL service through an expansion aimed at increasing its number of field offices equipped to provide DSL to roughly 608 from 458. The expansion might go further, following Qwest’s recent decision to change one of its equipment vendors on the project.

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