Verizon tests super-fast DSL as it also rolls out fiber optics

The Boston Globe reports:

The telecommunications giant, currently trying to bring high-speed fiber-optic lines into customers' homes, is also testing a super-fast version of its digital subscriber line technology, which delivers Internet services over old-fashioned twisted copper telephone lines.

Verizon is testing DSL with download speeds double their current limits in some of its employees' homes in Texas. If the service proves popular among its workers, Verizon could crank up its high-speed residential connections from their current download speed limit of 3 megabits per second to as much as 7.1 megabits per second.

The DSL upgrade, reported by Cnet last week, comes as Verizon is also rolling out FiOS, its fiber-optic offering that is the backbone for the company's new venture to provide video service, in competition with cable companies.

FiOS offers download speeds 10 times faster than DSL's current quickest speed