DSL Prime: DSL Subscriber Numbers

The numbers show that the FCC has succeeded in eliminating non-ILEC DSL deployment. Bundles are big in the U.S., but the best bundles are abroad.

by Dave Burstein of DSL Prime and Future of TV [August 26, 2004]

Verizon's Clothes Coming Off in Indiana
Standalone DSL promised to state regulators
It's the service I cannot name without triggering many filters. Qwest's offer of DSL without a local phone charge will now be matched by Verizon, who promise stand-alone to Indiana regulators next year. VoIP like Vonage is a insignificant niche product if you have to pay $20 to $30 as well for local phone service. Posters at DSL Reports claim Verizon is allowing it elsewhere as well, although BellSouth and SBC are fighting back hard against California and other states. Eric Rabe clarifies Verizon's plans:

"We have offered DSL as a stand-alone for customers who port their local number to wireless. There are very few of those. In an agreement with the Indiana commission we agreed to offer it there next year as well. We don't offer stand-alone DSL under other circumstances, mostly because the only ones asking about it are reporters and an occasional regulator—not customers. There simply seems to be no demand, and there are technical issues we'd like to resolve before we offer stand-alone DSL as a normal product. That said, we do expect that we will eventually offer it in response to customer demand when it arises."

I may be part of that demand. There's a real saving of about $20 per month using Vonage on my Verizon DSL line and dropping Verizon for voice. Vonage is working very well for me on the line at Jennie's, over a Speakeasy DSL connection with great upstream speed.

$24.95 Unclothed 256 Kbps from Cox Cable
Bobby Amirshahi of Cox explains, "We are selling our Value Package of 256 Kbps symmetrical for $24.95 regardless of whether the consumer has any services from Cox. (phone or cable). We feel this removes a significant barrier to dial-up users in our markets that don't wish to consume multichannel video or perhaps subscribe to a satellite service (and are locked in.)" Kevin Fitchard of Telephony, who beat me to the story, writes "providers will have to aggressively go after the unwashed dial-up masses [and] Cox is starting to sooner rather than later."

Even Better: Free's Unbundled DSL + phone with Zero Phone Minimum
In much of France, Free offers an even better deal for light phone users. Zero cost for the phone from Free, and no charge for the line or phone service from France Telecom, either. If you take the 30 euro DSL service and don't want to pay FT, Free will pay FT for an unbundled line. Free will provide a VoIP phone connection, and only charge you for the calls you make, at a rate lower than FT.

 

US Q2 DSL Subscriber Numbers
DSL Total
SBC	4,276
Verizon	2,944
BellSouth	1,738
Qwest	853
Covad	515
Sprint	383
ALLTEL	195
Citizens	164
Cincinnati Bell	117
CenturyTel	109
Commonwealth	15
Total U.S.	11,308
Net Adds
SBC	475
Verizon	365
BellSouth	210
Qwest	130
Sprint	65
Citizens	36
ALLTEL	20
CenturyTel	9
Cincinnati Bell	10
Commonwealth	1
Covad	5
Total U.S.	919
(Figures from UBS. They don't include some of the smallest companies.)

Copyright 2004 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

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