G ot broadband yet? DSL or a cable service? No? Then you, and others like you, are becoming fewer in number, largely because of the increased availability of broadband services to people anxious to dump dialup for much faster, almost always on connectivity to the Net.
The battle raging between the two traditional providers of broadband: Cable companies who offer fast connections via the cable that gives you your TV programming, and your local telephone company who offers the sometimes slower but often more reliable Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) DSL, which piggy-backs a high speed connection, has recently been kicked up a notch, according to a Wired News article titled DSL Firms Drop Prices to Compete. In a quest for more of your broadband dollars DSL providers are dropping the price they charge for broadband and are starting to offer a broader range of options. From the article:
In the battle for broadband dominance, US cable firms long have held a competitive lead over phone companies offering digital subscriber line, or DSL, technology.
Lately, however, phone companies have been fighting back with one of the most potent weapons in their arsenals: price cuts.
Under service plans recently rolled out with little promotional fanfare, the nationis two largest local phone companies have reduced substantially the cost of subscriptions for DSL, with prices for new subscribers hovering around US$35 a month. Some industry experts expect there will be more cuts to come.
"Thereis a trend of DSL prices coming down," said Cynthia Brumfield, president of Broadband Intelligence , a research firm. "Itis a reflection of how important it is to capture the broadband market for the telephone companies."
In an increasing number of cities, Brumfield said, standard DSL prices are now below cable broadband rates. This is a switch from last year, when cable broadband prices were substantially lower -- US$40 a month on average, compared to about US$49 for a typical DSL rate.
And DSL prices keep coming down.
Get the full story at Wired News.