High-speed Internet connections offered by phone companies at low rates are pulling in more customers than the higher-priced service offered by cable TV operators, new data suggest.
A report from the Federal Communications Commission finds that in the 12-month period ended June 30, high-speed DSL service from telcos increased by 49 percent while cable modem service grew a less robust 36 percent.
At one time, two-thirds of high-speed Internet users chose cable modems, but its advantage over DSL is shrinking thanks to aggressive pricing that in some cases offers a year’s worth of service at just $20 a month.
There are now more than 30 million high-speed lines serving America’s residential and small-business market, the FCC analysis found.
Even though telcos are picking up market share, they face some inherent disadvantages, noted a report by analysts at Moody’s Corp.
Cable TV operators have largely completed an upgrade of their systems that was intended to meet competitive challenges posed by satellite TV operators.
With their upgraded systems, the cable operators are able to offer high-speed Internet at very little additional cost, according to the Moody’s report.
Telcos must upgrade their networks by putting optical fiber closer to their customers and using DSL as a stopgap measure to supply high-speed data, the report said, but the phone companies aren’t making much money on the service.
Moody’s predicts that eventually phone companies and cable operators will each have about half the high-speed data market.
“The cable industry will lose its leading position unless it becomes more competitive on price as the telephone companies rebuild their last mile and improve service quality and data speed,” said Dennis Saputo, Moody’s senior vice president and co-author of the report.
Increased interest in high-speed connections will be fueled by consumers eager to try low-cost Internet phone service, which requires broadband, predicts Jeff Pulver, an industry pioneer.
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Even so, Pulver said that broadband penetration in the United States is likely to continue to lag its growth in other countries where voice over Internet protocol, known as VoIP, is also becoming popular.
“The buzz surrounding the international VoIP industry continues to grow,” he said. “IP communications is disruptive in the most positive sense. It will dramatically enhance the ways we communicate.”
PDAs heart healthy: The good news from Mayo Clinic researchers is that personal digital assistants apparently don’t cause interference with heart pacemakers and implantable defibrillators.
The new study is in line with an earlier Mayo study that found cell phones also don’t interfere with heart assistance devices. With the proliferation of wireless communications that now include Wi-Fi and soon will add Wi-Max, the researchers believe it prudent to keep testing for possible trouble.
“Despite the increasing sophistication of sensing circuitry in contemporary pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, these devices are still susceptible to electromagnetic interference,” said Dr. David Hayes, a Mayo physician who led the studies of wireless devices.
“Physicians need good data telling them which ones are or aren’t [susceptible],” he said. “As technology advances, we’ll need to continue testing to stay up to date.”