High-speed Internet service area expanded

Recent system upgrades by Qwest Communications have made high-speed DSL (digital subscriber line) Internet service available to 18,200 more homes and businesses in Spokane County, the Denver-based company said.

The expanded coverage results from new terminals installed in outlying sections of Spokane County, said Qwest spokeswoman Shasha Richardson.

Neither Qwest nor Comcast, the largest cable operator in Spokane and a Qwest competitor in the broadband Internet market, reveals how many subscribers they have here. They charge comparable prices for the service.

Industry officials say about 48 percent of all U.S. residences now subscribe to a high-speed Internet service.

The extra 18,200 homes and business in Spokane County account for a 22 percent increase in Qwest’s potential DSL service area, Richardson said. All told, about 83,000 homes and businesses in Spokane can now get DSL, according to Qwest officials.

The recent system upgrades have also rolled out the service to several Eastern Washington communities, according to a Qwest announcement.

In Colville, for instance, Qwest officials say they can now provide DSL for about 2,100 homes and businesses that earlier were not reachable. Those homes did not have that option until now, said Richardson.

Also seeing DSL service for the first time are residents in Coulee City, Richardson said.