Internet users leaping to broadband, affordable internet service, low cost internet access

FASTER AND CHEAPER CONNECTIONS ABOUND

More Internet surfers across the country are dumping slow dial-up connections in favor of faster and increasingly less-expensive cable or DSL connections commonly called broadband.

And for the first time, a majority of Web surfers in one California region -- about 52 percent -- are using broadband instead of dial-up.

No, it's not Silicon Valley.

ComScore Networks, a Virginia-based technology consulting firm, found that home broadband use in the San Diego area surpassed dial-up in the last three months of 2003 and that home connections in Boston were split 50-50 between broadband and dial-up.

The Bay Area -- home to the technology capital of the world -- ranked ninth on the list, with 44 percent of its surfers using a high-speed connection.

``Hello, this is Silicon Valley, right?'' said Morgan Stacey, a salesman whose duplex near the San Jose-Campbell border can't get either digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem service. ``This is so weird to me. This is a city with a million people in it and I can't get DSL. I don't know what to do, other than move.''

That may not be necessary.

Both SBC, the largest DSL provider in the country, as well as Comcast, the cable provider in most Bay Area cities, said Wednesday that the Bay Area remains a high priority for an upgrade to their broadband networks and that customers should be able to get one of their services -- and possibly choose between the two -- within the next year.

Author: Sam Diaz

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