Monday, 3 Octorber 2011

CenturyLink is marketing a $9.95 monthly Internet access to low-income households, duplicating a similar offer from Comcast.

Centurylink featured its new Internet Basics service on its website.

The CenturyLink Internet Basics service, unveiled Monday, offers low-income homes download speeds of 1.5 Mbps, which is the same speed Comcast is offering low-income homes nationwide through its Internet Essentials service. CenturyLink is also offering customers who don't own computers netbooks for $150, which is the same price Comcast is charging for subscribers in its Internet Essentials program.

But the companies are using different criteria to qualify homes for low-cost Internet access services. Comcast is allowing homes that qualify for the federal school lunch program to sign up for Internet Essentials, while CenturyLink is letting homes that qualify for the Lifeline Affordable Telephone service program buy its Internet Basics package.

The Comcast and CenturyLink offers could compel other broadband ISPs to offer low-income homes Internet access at similar prices. It will be interesting to see if an ISP undercuts the $9.95 monthly subscriptions from Comcast and CenturyLink.

CenturyLink, which merged with Qwest Communications in April, said it will roll out Internet Basics initially this fall in Foley, Ala., Dumas, Ark., Eagle, Colo., Tallahassee, Phoenix, Galesburg, Ill., Franklin, Ind., Billings and Great Falls, Mont., Las Vegas, Farmington, N.M., Rockingham, N.C., Lorain, Ohio, Columbia River Gorge, Ore.,  Greenwood, S.C., Seattle and Yakima, Wash., and Glenwood  City, Wis. The company, which offers telephone and high-speed service in 37 states--and also resells pay TV programming from DirecTV --said it will expand the low-cost broadband service to additional markets next year.