Covad Boosts DSL Speeds

Covad Communications announced on Thursday it is offering a faster DSL service that promises to deliver 8M to 15Mbps of dedicated Internet access.

The new service, which Covad is calling ADSL2+, is available in three flavors that support 8M, 10M or 15Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream of Internet access.

The service provider has upgraded its network in 11 markets with new DSLAMs from Samsung that support the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) ADSL2 specification.

ADSL2+ doubles the maximum frequency used for downstream data transmission from 1.1 MHz to 2.2 MHz. This effectively provides downstream data rates of 25Mbps on phone lines as long as 5,000 feet.

Covad says its ADSL2+ service is provisioned the same as any of its other DSL offerings and rides on the same copper infrastructure from the customer's premises to the service provider's central-office site.

ADSL2+ allows service providers like Covad and EarthLink, which resells Covad's DSL services to its customers, to compete with higher-speed cable modem services.

Covad is selling its service to small and midsize business users looking to increase their bandwidth while sticking with the same service. EarthLink primarily sells its service to residential customers looking for high speeds.

The 11 markets where Covad is offering its higher-speed service are Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Covad offers service in 120 markets today with its other Internet access offerings. The service provider says it expects it will expand its ADSL2+ footprint in the future but will stick with its initial 11 markets for the near term.

The service ranges from US$150 to $195 per month depending on the downstream bandwidth the customer purchases.