Have they got a DSL for you! Providers cut deals to spread speed

Dial-up Internet users have reaped the benefits of an access price war for many months. Now DSL is getting into the discount act, as providers work to build out the service to the edges of their networks.

Most of the offers are limited-time promotions. In the most recent announcement, SBC Communications' subsidiary Pacific Bell will offer asymmetrical DSL (ADSL) service without the $198 installation fee to subscribers in the San Francisco Bay area who purchase an IBM Aptiva with a DSL network interface card. The offer lasts six weeks starting Aug. 16.

The deal requires customers to agree to a one-year contract for service and does not include Internet access. Subscribers can select Pacific Bell's unlimited Internet service for a total of $49 a month or choose from a list of ISP partners and pay Pacific Bell $39 for the high-speed line.

"We want to provide DSL service to our customers faster and more easily than ever," said Pam Price, Pacific Bell's director of consumer data products. "Our customer base is always looking to upgrade their hardware, and this is a way to offer them one-stop shopping."

The offer is open only to customers who buy a $950 IBM Aptiva 800E or a $1400 Aptiva 902 E, which are available only through IBM's online store.

Pacific Bell expects to have DSL available to 1.9 million Bay area homes by the end of this month and will strive to reach 5.9 million homes and businesses in its territory by the end of 1999.

BellSouth also is adding allure to its residential and small business DSL product by waiving the installation fee. Subscribers in the carrier's 28 DSL-ready metro markets who sign up for FastAccess ADSL before Sept. 30, will save the $200 installation fee, although they will face a one-time $99.95 activation charge. FastAccess ADSL offers BellSouth customers downstream speeds of up to 1.5Mb/s and upstream speeds of up to 256 kb/s.

BellSouth currently sells FastAccess ADSL for $59.95 a month, but reduces that charge to $50 in a bundle with its Complete Choice phone feature program.

"In each of our markets we're exceeding our customer counts, and that's leading us to accelerate deployment to bring this to all our customers as soon as we possibly can," said Robert Cunha, BellSouth's vice president of broadband services.