Residents Get High-Speed Internet

By DAVID COLLINS

TECHNOLOGY

Internet: Dial-up users will need some new gear

It’s now easier to get somewhere on the Internet from the Pojoaque Valley.

Upgrades at Qwest Communications’ local switching office have made high-speed Internet service available to about 1,200 area telephone customers, a Qwest spokesman said.

For some who subscribe to the new service, that can mean an Internet file such as an image that once took a minute to download can now be downloaded in about two seconds.

Qwest’s Digital Subscriber Line service, or DSL service, can exchange digital digits over standard phone lines at rates starting around 1.5 million digits per second, or 1.5 mbps said Gary Younger, a Qwest spokesman. Compared to dial-up lines, that’s about 27 times as much data as the 56kbps dial-up connection now used by many Valley residents.

Younger said speeds of Qwest’s DSL service start at 1.5 mbps and can be as fast as 7 mbps. The fastest DSL speeds can potentially deliver data 125 times faster than a dial-up Internet connection.

Until now, Comcast’s cable-modem service has been the main source of high-speed Internet service in the valley. Comcast advertises speeds of up to 6 mbps.

DSL service through Qwest is available starting at under half the cost of cable service.

Qwest is offering service at speeds up to 1.5 mbps for about

$27 monthly. For those who live or work in an area where it is available, Qwest offers a 7 mbps line for about $37 monthly. Comcast’s high-speed cable

service is advertised at about

$60 monthly. Both providers listed their prices as discounted or promotional rates.

The very-high-speed 7mbps connections will be available to customers located near a remote terminal that boosts signal strength, Younger said. The company plans to continue installing the booster terminals in coming months, Younger said.

Currently, high-speed service is available within about three miles of the local switching office, behind Cities of Gold Casino. Remote terminals can increase available speeds in that area and extend high-speed service beyond the 3-mile limit, Younger said.

Users who previously used a dial-up modem will need some new gear for either cable, DSL or for wireless Internet service. Qwest and Comcast each offer free equipment.

Pueblo of Pojoaque has discussed the possibility of providing telephone service in the area, but Gov. George Rivera said last week the pueblo is close to reaching a deal with Qwest.

Qwest leases rights of way from the pueblo, but doesn’t want to sell the copper line and switching networks in those easements, Rivera said. Their lease is set to expire this year.

“Our first choice was to buy it, and contract it out. They didn’t want to sell,” Rivera said.

“We are continuing to negotiate,” Younger said.

Younger said Qwest’s recent service expansion in the valley resulted both from the company’s planned investments and from upgrades made under a 2006 settlement agreement with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

The agreement requires Qwest to invest $270 million in phone systems in the state. Part of the agreement is to extend broadband Internet service to 83 percent of Qwest customers in the state.

Valley Qwest customers can enter their phone number or address in a form at www.qwest.com to find out if high-speed service is available at their home or office.

DSL service uses conventional telephone lines configured to an upgraded switching system and does not interrupt use of the same lines for telephone calls even while a computer is connected to the Internet, Younger said.

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