Qwest said today it will offer double the broadband speeds to some customers, and is also offering discounts on the service in conjunction with a wired phone line. Like its competitors, the phone provider is emphasizing faster upstream speed packages as part of this effort. It’s not a symmetrical connection, but with customers uploading more content such as video to the web, upstream connection speeds are becoming a choke point.
Qwest today said it has started to roll out these services, which top out at 40 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, on a limited basis in 23 locations where it has invested in deploying fiber to the node. These areas include the Denver, Tucson, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis/St. Paul markets and those in New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Pricing on the package ranges from $99.99 per month for 40 Mbps downstream with 5 Mbps upstream to $109.99 a month for speeds of 40 Mbps downstream with 20 Mbps upstream. Qwest will also let customers boost their upstream speeds to 5 Mbps for $5 more a month.
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This statement makes no sense:
“Qwest will also let customers boost their upstream speeds to 5 Mbps for $5 more a month.”
Do you mean they can increase the speed by 5 Mbps? To a max of 25 Mbps?
i believe most customers frustration with broadband speeds are not peak speeds but when things slow down from congestion. my experience is that during times of high congestion things are about the same no matter what plan i subscribe too. what i want are not higher peak speeds but a guarantee that my available bandwidth will never drop below a certain level in exchange for a higher monthly charge.