FCC: High-speed Internet lines soared in 2002

The FCC said in a report issued today that high-speed Internet lines in service increased to 19.9 million during 2002, a 55% increase compared to the previous year.

Of these, asynchronous digital subscriber lines increased 64% during 2002 to 6.5 million lines, while cable modem lines increased 61% to 11.4 million lines. While the growth rate for cable modem lines (55%) far exceed that for ADSL (33%) in the first half of 2002, the situation reversed in the second six months of the year. During this period, ADSL lines grew by 52%, while cable grew at a more modest 22%, said the FCC.

The reversal refutes Bell company claims that onerous regulatory policies are retarding their ability to compete with cable modem services, said Charles Hoffman, president and CEO of Covad Communications, in a statement. "These statistics prove that if the level of broadband competition that brought these consumer benefits is threatened by recent commission action, prices will increase, and deployment and adoption will decrease," Hoffman said.

The summary version of the commission's triennial review order issued in February relieved incumbent carriers of their obligation to unbundle fiber-to-the-home or hybrid (fiber-copper) loops. In addition, the order relieved incumbents of their obligation to make line sharing available as an unbundled network element. Some competitive carriers, including Covad, use line sharing -- which makes the high-speed portion of the loop available to competitors -- to provision DSL services. (The final triennial review order could be issued as early as Friday, but more likely would be issued the early part of next week, according to a source familiar with the process.)

Not surprisingly, the mostly ILEC-focused U.S. Telecom Association read the statistics differently. The trade group said the numbers indicate the FCC should be doing more to create a "vibrant competitive marketplace for broadband consumers" and stimulate infrastructure investment.

"Cable still has a nearly two to one advantage in the marketplace over DSL and it’s time for the commission to recognize that like services should be treated the same instead of regulating one service heavily and the other hardly at all,” said USTA spokeswoman Allison Remsen.

The FCC defines high-speed lines as those that can deliver traffic at speeds exceeding 200 Kb/s in one direction, whereas a line capable of providing advanced services must be able to deliver traffic at speeds exceeding 200 Kb/s in both directions. Based on this definition, 13 million (65%) of the 19.9 million high-speed lines in service at the end of 2002 provided advanced services, said the commission. About 10.8 million of these advanced services lines served residential and small business customers and such lines increased by 25% in the second half of 2002, from 10.4 million.