GTE bringing high-speed
’Net link to isles in June
ADSL promises superfast Internet
By Russ Lynch
connections over existing
copper phone lines
Star-BulletinGTE Hawaiian Tel said today it will start providing a superfast Internet connection to island users in June.
Using new technology, the system will use existing copper telephone lines in an "always-on" mode that allows phone calls and faxes on the same line as the full-time Internet link.
It will offer data download speeds about the same as those offered by rival Oceanic Cable, which is building an Internet network on Oahu through its fiber-optic cables -- five to 30 times quicker than the fastest modems working on the telephone system.
Officials of parent company GTE Corp. said it will first offer the system -- called ADSL, for asymmetric digital subscriber line -- on Oahu and in Hilo.
GTE's lowest-priced level of service, a base rate of $30 a month aimed at home users and home offices, will provide data download speeds up to 256 kilobits per second (kbps). That's nearly 10 times the fastest speed available with the now-common 28.8 kbps modems. The top-priced service, for $250 a month, will run at speeds up 1,500 kbps, more than 50 times the speed of a 28.8 modem.
Those prices do not include the special modem that will have to be installed. GTE said they can be rented for about $12 a month or bought outright for about $300.
Oceanic, which says it already has 2,500 Oahu residents signed up for its Internet service, charges its cable customers $39.95 a month for the added service, and $49.95 a month for those without cable.
The basic prices are therefore similar. One of Oceanic's sales points is that unlike GTE, it includes full Internet service, usually worth about $20 a month, in the base price.
GTE says its service provides a wider choice. Many users prefer to select their own Internet service, even if they have to pay more, the company says. GTE will bundle its own Internet service in with the line price for a total of about $60 a month.
