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Qwest starts faster Internet service in Twin Cities area
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Qwest Communications on Thursday began rolling out faster Internet service to some of its top markets, including parts of the Twin Cities metro area.
The new DSL service, with speeds up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps), is an attempt to compete with cable provider Comcast in the race to give consumers high-speed access to video. Qwest's previous fastest consumer service was 7 Mbps.
Earlier this month, Comcast rolled out 50 Mbps service at a price of $150 a month.
Qwest is offering two levels of its faster service. The fastest, up to 20 Mbps, has a regular monthly price (excluding promotional deals) of $114.99.
The next level, with speeds up to 12 Mbps, has a regular price of $64.99.
The higher speeds are made possible by installing fiber-optic lines as far as Qwest's neighborhood "nodes." Qwest can't afford to run fiber-optic lines all the way to customers' homes, so copper wire handles the last part of the trip.
The new fiber-optic lines are being phased in throughout 2008, so the new service isn't available in all areas yet. For information on availability, go to www.qwest.com.
CASEY COMMON
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