Qwest ups its FTTN upload/download capabilities

Qwest continues to make good on its Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN) promise [1]. Already reaching more than 2 million potential customers in its local service region with FTTN capabilities, the RBOC today debuted a new 40 Mbps downstream, 20 Mbps upstream high-speed broadband service. Leveraging VDSL2, Qwest will initially roll the new service on a limited basis within its FTTN footprint to qualifying customers in its Denver, Tucson, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis/St. Paul markets. During the next few months, Qwest will expand the reach of this latest FTTN service to select areas within 23 of its local markets, including New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Prices for the new service are competitive. Qwest will effectively offer two main tiers: a $99.99 package with 40 Mbps downstream/5 Mbps upstream for a year, and a $109.99 package with 40 Mbps downstream/20 Mbps upstream that can be purchased with a home phone bundled offering. Existing FTTN customers that subscribe to a 7 Mbps, 12 Mbps or 20 Mbps speed tier will be able to purchase a 5 Mbps upstream speed option at a $5 introductory rate.

While the RBOC is sticking to its ‘no IPTV service' [2] guns, Neil E. Cox, executive vice president of Qwest Product and IT, said in a release that it does want to support online video consumption. "Faster download speeds are important, but upload speeds are getting more attention. By increasing connection speeds in both directions, Qwest is poised to support user-generated content and simultaneous high-bandwidth applications, like multiple online video streams and downloads or multiple players of online video games," he said.

For more:
- here's the official release [3]

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