AT&T Broadband has sped up deployment of its new high-bit-rate tier of
cable-modem service.
The MSO announced that the 'UltraLink' service -- offering broadband
connections up to 3 megabits per second downstream and 384 kilobits per second
upstream -- is available as of Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Richmond,
Va.
It is priced at $79.99 per month for customers who own their modems and
$82.99 for those who lease modems.
The service is already up and running in Dallas; Denver; Salt Lake City; the
San Francisco Bay area; Seattle, St. Paul, Minn.; and select areas in the
company's Michigan and Rocky Mountain markets.
'Consumers enjoy the power of a lightning-fast, constant connection provided
by high-speed cable Internet,' said Karl Ossentjuk, vice president of Internet
services at AT&T Broadband, in a release.
'Now we can give them more of what they love with the faster UltraLink
service,' he added. 'It serves the higher-bandwidth needs of consumers who have
set up home networks; send or receive large files, such as when downloading
software; or enjoy other bandwidth-intensive applications.'
The original broadband service offers up to 1.5 mbps downstream and 256 kbps
upstream. Customers who own their modems pay $42.95 monthly for the service,
while those who lease pay $45.95.
Next up on the launch list for UltraLink are Chicago, central California and
the Northeast markets. The will launch later this year, once the Englewood,
Colo.-based MSO completes needed system upgrades. Those upgrades will also make
it possible to offer Internet-service-provider choice, according to the
company.
AT&T Broadband also has a lower-tier service on the drawing board, with
plans to test that service later this year.
