Posted on: Saturday, March 26, 2005

Fees change for Verizon Net service

Advertiser Staff

Verizon Hawaii has raised the monthly residential rate on its most popular high-speed Internet service, while cutting the annual rate for a faster 3 megabit-per-second service.

The monthly rate for 1.5 megabit per second digital subscriber line (DSL) service rose from $34.95 to $37.95, effective Monday. However, the price under an annual contract or when bundled with other Verizon services remained unchanged at $29.95 a month.

Meanwhile, the price for 3 megabit-per-second service, which only is available in certain areas, was reduced from $39.95 to $29.95 a month with a one-year contract or bundle. The monthly rate without an annual contract was reduced from $44.95 to $37.95.

"Most customers are signing up for bundles and annual plans because they do represent the best value," said Verizon Hawaii spokeswoman Ann Nishida. "We're just trying to encourage that."

The monthly rate increase for the slower DSL service still keeps the price below that of cable competitor Oceanic Time Warner Cable's Road Runner high-speed Internet service. The standard cost of Oceanic's 5 megabit per second service — which can download data at a maximum rate of 5 million bits of information per second — is $44.95 a month.