THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180344
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Bell Atlantic Corp. said Wednesday it has asked regulators in Virginia and in the other mid-Atlantic states it serves to approve rate reductions for using its so-called Integrated Services Digital Network.
Customers using ISDN can maneuver the global Internet computer network or other electronic networks at speeds up to 128 kilobits per second: five to 10 times faster than is possible using most conventional computer modems.
That speed has helped ISDN usage grow quickly in the past few years to about 160,000 ISDN lines for Bell Atlantic alone. But the service is still used by just a small percentage of all computer users because of its high cost: up to $80 a month for just 20 hours of use, not including an up-front investment of at least $450 to install the service and buy a specialized modem.
Bell Atlantic said Wednesday that its new schedule will reduce monthly ISDN fees by anywhere from 15 percent to 86 percent, with the greatest savings realized by those who use the service the most. In addition, it said it will cut installation fees, currently $163.50 for most customers, to $125.
Under the new schedule, Bell Atlantic's ISDN users will pay $31 a month for 10 hours of using both of the service's data channels. That's compared to $40 to $55 a month now for the same usage level.
Joan Rasmussen, a Bell Atlantic spokeswoman, said the company may offer even greater discounts on ISDN when it introduces its own previously announced service providing direct access to the Internet. That service will be introduced in Hampton Roads late this year.
In what could turn out to be a case of one-upmanship, cable-TV providers like Cox Communications Inc. have vowed to introduce even faster data services than ISDN within the next several years.
KEYWORDS: COMMUNICATIONS by CNB