High-speed Internet access jumps

The FCC today said that high-speed connections to the Internet increased by 27% during the first half of 2002, to 16.2 million lines. Of these, 14 million lines served residential and small business customers, up from 11 million in the second half of 2001, and 10.4 million lines offered speeds exceeding 200 kb/s in both directions, up from 7.4 million. Of the advanced-services lines, 8.7 million served residential and small business customers.

The FCC’s data further indicate that high-speed services made inroads into low-income areas during the six-month period. Based on median household income, high-speed subscribers were present in 69% of the bottom one-tenth of zip codes nationwide, compared to 59% at the end of December 2001.

Specifically, high-speed ADSL lines in service increased by 29% in the first half of 2002 to 5.1 million, while high-speed lines served by cable providers grew 30% to 9.2 million lines over the same period.

Jason Oxman, assistant general counsel for Covad Communications, said in a press briefing that the DSL growth serves as affirmation of the FCC’s line sharing rules.

“DSL growth has been explosive,” Oxman said. “Three years ago, before the FCC adopted line sharing, there was no DSL because the ILECs didn’t deploy it … [but] there has been double digit growth every year since. Consumers are enjoying the widest broadband deployment at the lowest prices ever at this time.”

However, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Telecom Association said in a statement that the continued disparity in market share between cable providers and telcos demonstrates the need for regulatory parity.

“While cable companies continue to actively compete for high-speed Internet customers, DSL providers are heavily regulated and have to compete with one hand tied behind their backs,” she said.