Want DSL? Be Prepared to 'Bundle Up'

Time is running out, bargain hunters, to buy standalone High Speed DSL internet access service from Verizon.

Come Sunday, the only way you'll be able to acquire Verizon's econo-class broadband is in a bundle with phone service from the operation, kicking up that $25-$40 internet monthly tab by until further notice another $10 a month and more like $20 for wider calling coverage.

Oh, and if you're now a Verizon DSL customer who has been thinking about quitting their phone plan, that option goes away on Sunday too. So does your right to move and continue to get DSL-only service.

The big losers here are the "over the top" voice-over-internet phone companies like the wonderous Ooma which performs terrifically and can cut your telephone bill to practically nothing. Ooma's slick piece of hardware goes for about $200 and, unlike the bargain Magic Jack, does not require you to keep a computer on and connected. Oh, and afterwards your initial Ooma gear investment, the only fee charged for basic nationwide calling is a few bucks each month in federal taxes. Clearly Ooma will at the time try to upgrade you with a premium package that adds a second line and free porting of your current phone number. They as well offer bargain international calling packages.

Clearly, Verizon has been losing a lot of landline clients - not only to the likes of Ooma, however also with people who're content just having a mobile phone number. And in areas where it as well offers far faster FiOS fiber optic-fed service for phone. internet and TV. Verizon is doing its best to convert clients to the new tech, and obliterate the old school copper wire-fed DSL and phone service. Two years ago, when I signed up for FiOS internet, the sales agent made an offer I word for word couldn't refuse to as well take its internet-fed FiOS phone service. The two year introductory rate for the bundle was cheaper than just getting the internet!

Just yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission was hit with a letter from 17 interested companies and groups, asking the commission to require Verizon to halt its plan to stop offering stand-alone DSL. The signers note "the practice of tying broadband service to other services prevents consumer choice, limits consumers from porting telephone numbers and in essence forces consumers to purchase local services they do not want - either because they have a wireless option or because they prefer to use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) or other alternatives. The net effect is to act as a drag on the adoption of broadband and new IP technologies as then as alternative, competitive voice options by making other standalone services economically unattractive."