Digital Trends

Qwest has launched new fiber-powered 12 and 20 Mbps DSL services in 23 of its top markets.

Regional telecommunications operator Qwest announced today that it is introducing 12 and 20 Mbps DSL service in 23 of its top markets, Dubbed Qwest Titanium and Qwest Quantum, respectively, the company expects the services to be available to over 2 million customers by the end of 2008.

The 20 Mbps service is currently the fastest DSL service available from a major U.S. telephone operator.

"Our customers tell us that they want more speed, capability and value in their connections," said Qwest executive VP of products Dan Yost, in a statement. "Qwest has committed to spend up to $300 million to bring the latest in fiber-optic technology closer to the customer than ever before, and we're ahead of schedule on our goal to make this service available to two million customers by the end of this year."

Qwest Connect Titanium is priced at $46,99 per month when bundled with qualifying voice service; the 20 Mbps offering is $99.99 per month with a voice plan. On their own, the plans are $5/month more.

Qwest's plan does not follow the route of Verizon's FiOS service, which pulls fiber all the way to customer's homes; instead, Qwest brings fiber to central offices and relies on the existing phone network for final delivery to the home. The result is that actual bandwidth delivered via these plans will vary depending on the distance from a central office and the amount of noise on a line.

Cable and phone providers have been racing to offer faster broadband speeds to accommodate an expected booming marketing in video downloads: for instance, Comcast recently announced 50 Mbps service in the Minneapolis area.