Qwest upgrades its dial-up service

Qwest Communications last week announced that the business and wholesale customers of its dial-up Internet access service should expect the same fast connection speed that’s available internationally.

The carrier says it is now supporting the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) V.92 specification, which supports faster upstream speeds, faster connectivity to the Internet and also a modem-on-hold feature.

In order to take advantage of the upgraded features customers will have to ensure their modems supports the V.92 standard. Most modems bought in the last two years should support the specification.

The previous specification called V.90 only supports upstream speeds of 33.6K bit/sec whereas V.92 modems support upstream speeds of 48K bit/sec. Both support the same downstream speed of 56K bit/sec.

The V.92 specification also allows users to connect to their ISP’s network 25% faster than with a V.90 modem. And for consumers that only have one telephone line, the Internet call-waiting feature is also useful. Users can put their Internet connection on hold while they answer their telephone.

Qwest is also now supporting international roaming. The carrier offers local number dial-in support from 40 countries. This allows customers to use a local telephone numbers when traveling to these countries which reduces dependency on toll-free access number usage and also long distance charges. While “800” dial-in numbers are called “toll-free,” most ISPs charge users a premium when these access numbers are used.

The 40 countries include Canada, Japan, Mexico and many in Europe and South America.