1.  But access to copper lines is still hit and miss.

2.  David Holub, former president of Whole Earth Networks, a San Francisco ISP, said Pacific Bell has no incentive to lease cheap copper lines.

3.  DSL startups have had a hard time competing with Pacific Bell, which owns those copper lines.

4.  He also likes Commscope, a Hickory, N.C., manufacturer of cable that transfers data and voice more efficiently than copper lines.

5.  In August, Dynamic finally persuaded Pacific Bell to instead lease him a low-grade copper line connecting Transbay to a nearby building on Telegraph Avenue.

6.  Once granted that status, they can negotiate a contract with Pacific Bell to lease copper lines.

7.  Some ISPs around the country are leasing copper lines meant for services like burglar alarm circuits.

8.  Still, he said, the capacity of the line will be three times as large as that of a copper line.

9.  The fiber can carry far more information, including digitized conversation, than copper lines.

10.  The product, called an Intelligent Multiservice Access System, allows a traditional copper line to carry multiple voice-telephone lines and superfast Internet-access line.