In a move aimed at matching its cable rivals, BellSouth Corp. has announced a new high-speed digital subscriber line tier that tops out at 6 Megabits per second downstream - more than twice the speed of its fastest DSL product to date.

The new BellSouth FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0 Internet service delivers as much as 6 Mbps downstream and 512 kilobits per second upstream for $46.95 monthly. That is just $7 more than the existing FastAccess DSL Xtreme offering, which offers 3 Mbps down/384 kbps up.

The Bell operator is marketing it to customers who download larger video files or are avid gamers. FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0 is now one of four packages BellSouth offers, with the low end being a 256 kbps down/128 kbps up FastAccess DSL Lite offering for $24.95 monthly.

"BellSouth recognizes that many of our customers want faster speeds to get the most out of their Internet experience," said Pam Jones, vice president of data product management for BellSouth. "We are committed to providing the greatest choice and value to our customers -- and with this new service, BellSouth now offers the widest range of broadband options in our market."

BellSouth has continued to see strong growth for its broadband products, ending the third quarter with more than 2.6 million customers.