SBC Communications yesterday said it would further reduce its low-cost broadband service price significantly - by 25 percent. MediaPost reports that industry observers view the reduction in monthly service price to $14.95 as certain to accelerate U.S. broadband adoption. SBC's price cuts are likely to capture market share not only from other high-speed but also from dial-up providers, which charge $15-$20 on average.

Up to 69 million households - 78 percent of U.S. online homes - will have high-speed access by 2010 if the cost of broadband continues to decrease, Jupiter Research recently forecast. It found that 8.2 million new households subscribed to broadband last year, bringing to 31.9 million the total number of U.S. households with broadband - a 35 percent increase from 2003. Some 43 percent of online households in the U.S.connected via broadband in 2004, according to Jupiter.

SBC sees a two-or three-year window to add as many digital subscribers as possible, before cable Comcast and Time Warner launch telephone services and offer customers voice, video, and data packages, according to an SBC spokesman. SBC offers DSL service to about 80 percent of households in its territory and will attempt to reach 90 percent within the next year or so.