Qwest (s q) said today it will offer double the broadband speeds to some customers, and is also offering discounts on the service in conjunction with a wired phone line. Like its competitors, the phone provider is emphasizing faster upstream speed packages as part of this effort. It’s not a symmetrical connection, but with customers uploading more content such as video to the web, upstream connection speeds are becoming a choke point.
Qwest today said it has started to roll out these services, which top out at 40 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, on a limited basis in 23 locations where it has invested in deploying fiber to the node. These areas include the Denver, Tucson, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis/St. Paul markets and those in New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Pricing on the package ranges from $99.99 per month for 40 Mbps downstream with 5 Mbps upstream to $109.99 a month for speeds of 40 Mbps downstream with 20 Mbps upstream. Qwest will also let customers boost their upstream speeds to 5 Mbps for $5 more a month.
