High-speed Internet Service: Ramping up

Competition for broadband, or high-speed Internet, customers is heating up among rival technologies. Utility companies that just a few years ago would never have imagined being in direct competition are now in a bitter struggle for a new, lucrative and still largely untapped market -- the tens of millions of dial-up Internet customers nationwide that have yet to make the jump to broadband.

Companies interviewed declined to give estimates of how large the potential Las Vegas broadband market is. Surveys of the Las Vegas market by Scarborough Research estimate 588,000 Las Vegas adults, about 53 percent, access the Internet at home. National estimates are that almost all, perhaps 95 percent or more, are dial-up accounts.

All of those dial-up users are the subject of multifaceted marketing campaigns by phone, cable and satellite services, as well as several companies specializing in Internet service, in a competition for new subscribers.

"There's been a real push. There is room for acquiring more broadband customers, or we wouldn't be going through this full-court press," said Stephanie Stallworth, public affairs director with Cox Communications, the largest provider of high-speed Internet services in Las Vegas. "We see it as an evolution. People go through the stages of technology, starting with dial-up service and working their way up to higher speeds."

The grab for broadband customers is one that extends beyond the keyboards of American homes. Information technology has blurred the lines between once distinct services, allowing the phone company, the satellite company and the cable company to use technologies -- and in some instances, provide services -- more associated with their broadband competitors.

Blurring lines of communication

A cable company, for instance, can use coaxial cable to allow a customer not only to place a phone call, but a "video phone call." While there are serious limitations on actually using the product for routine phone purposes, the ability to transmit voice and video at high speeds leads to a range of entirely new services that a company can offer -- once they have that customer.

One example places the cable utility in competition with home security companies. Security broadband service, launched by Cox last February for homes and just months ago for businesses, allows customers to view their property via cameras and a secure Web site. Customers can even control the cameras remotely.

Stallworth cited two other recent examples: Steinberg Diagnostic, which uses its connections to send medical images to other offices in place of runners; and the cast of Celine Dion's "A New Day," who use a cable and wireless connection to stay in touch with distant friends and family in between long sessions at Caesars Palace.

"In this era, there's a variety of different needs for information services. The one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work anymore. That's why we have a whole division that works to come up with creative solutions for clients. They design a package that will meet those needs," Stallworth said.

Selling point

For the new-home market, which has already become increasingly technology-driven with the popularity of the home office, the ability to offer superior connectivity is a major selling point. Claims of "fiber (optic line) to the curb" or "fiber to the house" are a point of pride in some neighborhoods and communities.

At least two local master-planned communities have signed deals with local providers to ensure they can provide their residents with top-of-the-line services. Summerlin became the first in late 1997 when it agreed to a deal with Sprint in which the local phone service utility would become the community's preferred provider of high-speed Internet service. Sprint began its network of computer nodes and fiber optics within the master plan, testing the service before officially launching the service.

Last month, Southern Highlands announced a preferred provider deal with Cox, the sole cable television provider for Southern Nevada. The deal ensures the cable company will provide the community with its best fiber-optic network and offer special packages for property owners in the community.

Three roads lead home

Despite the dizzying array of companies, products and acronyms, there are three main ways to get a broadband connection into a home: phone line, coaxial cable or satellite.

With the most extensive network of fiber optic, cable provides coverage throughout most of the valley, as well as the greatest range of services. A few areas outside of cable's reach lie in older, central areas, what Stallworth called "concrete islands" where pavement prevents the addition of newer lines without costly retrofitting.

Several companies use local telephone infrastructure to offer the Internet, including every dial-up, DSL (digital subscriber line) and ISDN (integrated services digital network) service. T-1 and T-3 lines, usually leased by businesses, use telephone lines as well.

DSL and ISDN require only a regular phone line and a location within three miles of a phone company "central office," of which there are several in Las Vegas. As such, they are the easiest of broadband connections.

Detra Page, media relations manager for Sprint, said DSL offers more than faster Internet connections.

"What is so terrific about high-speed DSL is that it allows you to talk on the phone while you are using that line for the Internet. It eliminates the need for a second line," Page said.

The weaknesses of DSL are twofold: limited service and speed. Thus far, about 60 percent of valley residents can receive DSL service, mostly in centralized areas.

"Our goal is to achieve complete coverage of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and the surrounding county. Potentially, anyone with a basic phone line eventually may receive service," Page said. "Customers at this time need to be within a couple of miles of a central office, however we are testing technology that would allow us to extend that technology to more remote areas."

For business people with more intensive needs, telephone infrastructure can provide even greater bandwidth with a T-1 or T-3 connection. A T-1 is a dedicated connection of 1.5 MB per second download speed, whereas T-3 connections are greater than 40 MB per second.

TelePacific of Los Angeles avoids DSL service in Las Vegas entirely, providing its clients with a range of options built around T-1 connections and larger. Although intended primarily for small- and medium-size businesses, the flexible use of the lines makes them accessible to home-based businesses with six or more phone lines and at least 128 KB per second downloading speed, according to Adrianne Davis, senior director for marketing and product development with TelePacific in Los Angeles.

"We offer what we call the flex T-1. It's for smaller businesses. We split the T-1 to use for all voice and data lines," Davis said. "Since we offer no DSL, we created a lower entry for the T-1 in the Las Vegas market."

Satellite-service providers are less numerous. The local giant in satellite is Hughes Network Systems, which owns DirecWay. Like cable, Hughes markets its broadband service as a package with its television programming and uses its airways to promote its Internet service.

Satellite services have the broadest availability of all, almost anywhere outdoors.

Lesser-known satellite providers offer the same service and often at a cheaper rate, but use a different satellite and dish. Most are not in the television programming business.

Other broadband providers are not, strictly speaking, phone, satellite or cable providers. Internet service provider Velocitus, for example, offers connections via phone, satellite and wireless means, and is primarily an Internet service provider.

A new road, an old road

In some cities, wireless communication allows broadband connections between locations where cables may not be able to serve. Using carefully placed communication towers, wireless Internet providers can offer service to customers within line of sight over distances of about three miles. The premise is simple: if a business can communicate with a satellite hundreds of miles in space, it can connect to one a few miles across town.

The service is neither cheap, nor widely available. On the other hand, neither were any other broadband connections when they first hit the market.

Perhaps the most unlikely of all future ISPs in Las Vegas -- although not as far-fetched as it sounds -- is the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The folks who work to ensure the spigots in the valley never run dry are not looking into any water-borne information technology, but they are pursuing a takeover of Nevada Power Co., including its network of power lines.

The same power-line infrastructure that distributes electrical power may also serve as the simplest Internet connection yet devised. Anything that is plugged into a standard wall socket can be connected.

The concept has been under development for several years by a few dozen companies and is even offered commercially on a limited scale in some European markets, but has yet to hit North America. Power companies in a few high-density East Coast markets, including New York City's Con Edison, are conducting trials that may one day lead to power line communications in the United States.

In theory, a power company could -- through its old-fashioned infrastructure -- offer electricity, broadband access, and -- provided it could create sufficient bandwidth -- even television programming and phone service, everything but water. Of course if it's owned by the local water authority, it can offer that, too.

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