AT&T offering $10 DSL service

["Tom Metro-12" <user=71@nabble.blu.org>]

 I heard this mentioned on a recent podcast. The first part - $10 DSL - 
is old news from last Summer: 

http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/84875
   As part of a promise made when AT&T acquired BellSouth, the company 
   will start offering $10 768kbps/128kbps DSL starting this weekend. 
   Some caveats: it must be bundled with a landline, the offer is only 
   available online to new customers who've never had service and it 
   requires a one-year contract. 

And: 
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070618-att-launches-10-dsl-it-hopes-no-one-signs-up-for.html?rel


The new part is that they're now offering a $20 DSL service (at a more 
typical 1.5Mbps speed) on dry lines (no existing phone service required; 
also known as "naked DSL"). Naked DSL would be of particular interest to 
anyone who has replaced their landline with VoIP or wants the 
flexibility to do so. 

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071231-att-offers-20-naked-dsl-if-you-know-where-to-look.html?rel

   ...most telcos would rather not give up a major revenue generator by 
   allowing customers to bypass the landline. But AT&T agreed earlier 
   this year, as part of its conditions for acquiring BellSouth, that it 
   would introduce a standalone DSL option by the end of 2007. 

The article then goes on to discuss how this option is essentially 
impossible to find on the AT&T site. They linked to this: 

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=10850

as the closest thing, which offers a naked DSL package for $24/month. 
However that page seems to direct you to a phone number for ordering and 
more info. No online order link or link to see if you qualify. 

When I followed the residential service links from the home page I saw 
varying results as to whether service was available in my area depending 
on the number I entered. Obviously the area code and exchange will 
impact this, as it identifies a region and central office, but even 
changing the last 4-digits impacted whether it said AT&T DSL service was 
available "in my area." So if it tells you it isn't, try other numbers. 
If they install naked DSL, the last 4-digits should be completely 
irrelevant. 

The article also notes: 

   As is the case with the $10 DSL offering, AT&T is only required to 
   offer the $20 naked DSL option for the next two and a half years. 
   After that, the company is free to make whatever changes it wants to 
   the service. Given how little it has marketed either option, it's 
   pretty clear that when those two and a half years are up, AT&T will 
   probably kill them both off. 

Whether they "upgrade" you to a more expensive plan after 2.5 years, or 
you get grandfathered in is another consideration. If you can live with 
that uncertainty, it seems like a good deal. 

While at the AT&T site I also took a look at their business DSL plans. 
They have a small/home office business plan with a static IP for 
$50/month (up to 6 Mbps down/768Kbps up; rate dependent on your distance 
from the CO). No option mentioned for a dry line or additional IP addresses. 

Seems quite competitive, but is having AT&T as an ISP any better than 
having Verizon? I doubt it. 

  -Tom 

-- 
Tom Metro 
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA 
"Enterprise solutions through open source." 
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and 
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is 
believed to be clean. 

_______________________________________________ 
Discuss mailing list 
[hidden email] 
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss