Verizon switches on speedier DSL

For $40 a month, the new DSL service promises data downloads of up to 3 megabits per second and uploads of 786 megabits per second, Verizon said Tuesday. Customers in 12 East Coast states and Washington, D.C., are the first to be offered the service in addition to the Verizon's existing 1.5mbps plan, which costs $30 a month.

Depending on the success of the 3mbps plan, Verizon may offer even faster connections to the Internet, company representative Briana Gowing said.

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Such "tiered" services are popular among telephone service providers, as they battle the cable industry to sell broadband to U.S. homes. Cable operators, which offer consumers speeds of 3mbps, or twice the typical top speed of DSL providers, are leading right now.

The U.S. broadband market reached a significant milestone recently. For the first time, more Americans are using broadband to access the Internet than are using dial-up services, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

As of July, there were 63 million people using broadband at home, making up 51 percent of the total U.S. Internet population, the market research company said. That's a 47 percent jump from last year, when broadband was found in only 38 percent of all U.S. online households.

Verizon said it is selling its 3mbps plan in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, the District of Columbia and parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The faster service will be extended to the remaining 11 states where Verizon sells 1.5mbps service later this year.