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Comcast Now Provides Digital Phone Service in Thurston County, Wash.

Posted on: Friday, 23 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 23--OLYMPIA -- South Sound's cable TV provider, Comcast Corp., said Thursday that it has begun selling phone service in Thurston County.

The company has been testing the service with employees for the past two months.

Comcast calls its product "Comcast Digital Voice," a service similar to the growing popularity of Voice-over IP phones, or VoIP. It allows a home user to make a phone call over a high-speed Internet connection.

Philadelphia-based Comcast plans to roll out the service in 20 markets and 15 million homes in 2005. It plans to reach all of its markets, or 41 million homes, by the end of 2006, according to spokesman, Walter Neary.

A Comcast customer of the new service can keep their existing phone number, use a touch-tone phone and connect to the service through a cable modem.

The service includes an installation and activation charge and a monthly charge that varies if it is used in conjunction with other Comcast services. A customer who only wants the Comcast voice product will pay $49.95 a month, Neary said.

While the monthly fee of many VoIP products is comparable to a regular phone line, the advantage to the consumer is that VoIP companies usually offer unlimited local long distance services at no charge, said Jay Stewart, owner of Olympia-based Zhonka Broadband. Stewart said this is possible because the Internet is not as regulated as phone lines are and to "digitize" a phone call doesn't require as many resources to transmit that call.

Comcast's service will be no different, Neary said, offering unlimited local long distance and a variety of international calling rates. A phone call to Mexico, for example, will cost nine cents a minute with the company's product, but a phone call from Olympia to Seattle will be free.

Lynnwood resident Carla Longerbeam, 42, has been using the service since early September. She said the connection has been clear and the unlimited local long distance service has cut her phone bill in half. Longerbeam, who also has Comcast cable TV, pays around $50 a month for the phone service. She said she talks to relatives in California and Texas for 30 minutes to 45 minutes every day.

"Before, I could crank out a $130 (a month) phone bill," she said. "Just knowing that it's going to be $50, that's great for me."

Neary also said the service comes with 12 calling features including call waiting and caller ID. If power fails in the home, the cable modem that is attached to the phone is backed up by five to eight hours of battery power.

Some VoIP products have had problems offering 9-1-1 emergency and 4-1-1 informational services. But Neary said emergency calls placed over the Comcast network can be routed to the correct destination.

"We're confident that we can pinpoint the need for emergency services," Neary said.

Regardless, many VoIP companies that have struggled to connect to emergency numbers have prompted the Federal Communications Commission to announce in July that VoIP providers have 120 days to straighten out their 9-1-1 problems, said David Irwin, a network and database administrator for the state's 9-1-1 program. The companies that can't work out their 9-1-1 problems after 120 days will then have to spell out clearly if they offer 9-1-1 services or not, Irwin said.

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Comcast Corp. is offering phone service in Thurston County.

--How it works: Phones are connected to cable modems that send calls over Comcast's network.

--How it's installed: Installation by a Comcast technician; self-installation is not yet offered.

--How much it costs: Installation: $99. Activation: $29.95 Monthly cost: It ranges from around $40 to around $50. Installation and activation prices can also be affected by discount pricing.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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CMCSK,

Source: The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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