FCC: High-speed Internet subscribers nationwide approach 10 million

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday said the deployment of high-speed data services nationwide is progressing in a “reasonable and timely manner.”

The commission’s third report on the availability of advanced telecommunications capability indicated there were about 9.6 million high-speed Internet subscribers nationwide as of June 30, 2001, a 36% increase during the first half of 2001.Of these, about 7.8 million are residential or small business customers.

The report states that 7.0% of American households subscribed to high-speed services through the first half of last year, up from 4.7% as of January 2001.

In addition, the report said the number of digital subscriber lines (DSL) in service increased by 36% in the first half of 2001, to 2.7 million. However, cable lines increased by an even faster clip in the period--45%--to 5.2 million lines in service. Incumbent carriers reported 94% of the DSL lines, with 86% reported by the Bell companies.

The FCC defines advanced telecommunications capability as the availability of high-speed switched broadband telecommunications that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics and video using any technology platform.

--Glenn Bischoff, senior news writer