May 22 2003

The Denver Post - Economy can't slow high speed internet

by Jennifer Beauprez

Kevin Brady's long wait for high-speed Internet access may be over soon.

Brady, who lives in Jefferson County, is one of many Colorado consumers still complaining they want high-speed access but can't get it.

But more Americans are getting high-speed Internet access despite the sluggish economy, according to a study released Wednesday. Both Qwest and Comcast are promising to move more aggressively to offer the service to customers across the state.

Broadband subscribers in Colorado jumped 37 percent to 244,000 last year, making the state the 11th fastest growing in the nation, according to the study, Broadband in the States 2003, released by the American Electronics Association.

Colorado ranks No. 20 for high-speed access.

Nationwide, broadband subscribers grew 27 percent to 16.2 million up from 12.8 million in 2001, according to the study.

In 1999, just 2.7 million Americans had high-speed connections. The report is based on Federal Communications Commission data.

California, New York, Florida, Texas and New Jersey had the most broadband subscribers in 2002, according to the survey.

The data is surprising because, for years, industry executives worried the poor economy had caused telecom companies to halt their rollout of broadband technology.

They also feared consumers needed compelling products and content - whether that's movies on demand or subscription music - to persuade consumers to pay more for the services. But because of a lack of broadband availability, developers were slow to create and push those services.

That is starting to change.

Qwest Communications, after putting DSL on the back-burner, has promised to invest $75 million to expand its DSL connections by 20 percent in its 14-state territory. The first phase of that rollout, which will start later this year, will be along the Front Range. Qwest serves 535,000 DSL customers.

Comcast Co., which provides cable TV service to most of metro Denver, also has promised to spend $150 million to finish rebuilding its network for Internet access in Denver within the next 12 months.

"We've already upgraded more miles in the first five months of this year than we did all of last year," said Jeannine Hansen, Comcast spokeswoman. "There's great demand and we're working hard to get it done as quickly as possible."

But some consumers who still can't get high-speed access are antsy.

"It's like living in a third-world country here," said Brady, a lawyer who lives in a new neighborhood in unincorporated Jefferson County.

Brady said his slow dial-up connection prevents him from working from home and even teaching his children - ages 2, 5 and 7 - to use the Internet

"They click their button and it's two minutes before the page loads and they realize it's the wrong page," said Brady.

While cable and DSL accounted for 90 percent of the nationwide growth, a number of wireless and satellite companies have been filling the void in areas that still cannot get DSL or cable modem service.

Denver and Colorado Springs rank among the top five markets for DirectWay, a satellite Internet service. Compression technology has improved the service over the past 18 months, said Myllisa Lardieri Kennedy, a spokeswoman for DirectWay.

A number of smaller wireless startups are also marching into western Denver suburbs with names like Ricochet, WisperTel and Usurf. The companies use grassroots and penny-pinching strategies to find their customers - going door-to-door, pitching services at homeowners-association meetings and partnering with other small firms.

"We were sort of stuck until we got a hold of WisperTel," said Gene Tansky, a Genessee resident who waited for 16 months for high-speed access. WisperTel is an Evergreen-based startup that offers a wireless device for Internet access.

The American Electronics Association hopes the broadband growth bodes well for small businesses like Tansky's as well as the rest of the ailing tech economy.

Colorado is home to a number of companies that build or support those broadband networks, said Greg Jenik, executive director of the AEA's mountain states council.

"We're hoping for more jobs, increased investment and economic growth," said Jenik.

That's the expectation of Jim Crowe, chief executive of Level 3 Communications in Broomfield. He told investors Tuesday that there will be more demand for new products and services because there's nearly enough broadband subscribers to justify those investments.

Crowe said 17 percent of Internet users now have high-speed access. Television, radio, video cassette recorders and cell phones took off when 20 percent of the population starting using them, he said.