Verizon to Bundle Landlines with DSL Service

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
75,399
As of May 6th, if you want Verizon’s DSL service, you will have to bundle it with Verizon landline service. The deadline will apply to new customers and existing customers who make any changes to their DSL service plans after the May 6th deadline. Hello, and welcome to the 20th century. :D

It's a move that DSL Reports called "quite a surprising and bizarre step backwards for the Telco"
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It's because nobody wants a landline telephone anymore. Everyone has a cell phone. Solicitation occurs a lot on landlines. So it's a huge wasted extra cost for something you don't want. It's already an outdated business model.

Cable companies do the same thing. You want cable internet then you need basic cable service, like it or not. Verizon is just copying them really. I believe it's something the government should get involved with, since it's unfair to customers.
 
Seems pretty odd and pointless to the consumer. I haven't had a land line in FOREVER, I don't even like using the land line in my office...
 
Having worked for a large DSL company in both residential and business support, I can see why Verizon would do this.

I can also say that there is no way in hell I will ever use DSL again, nor would I support a company that tries this. It's an outdated business model, using outdated equipment. Copper lines need to go, they aren't able to support average speeds of 5 years ago on a single line, much less current speeds. I dont want to use two phone lines for a 15 meg line, especially since I can get 40 over a single, already existing cable line.

And while most people who dont want the phone service will just not hook up a phone, you shouldnt be forced to purchase a service you dont need. If Verizon is going to try this route, they should still offer an internet only line, even if they do something stupid like increase the already bloated price for said dedicated DSL line.
 
Both dsl and landlines are becoming obsolete around here.

Why use dsl when its slow as hell and why get a landline when you got a cell phone.
 
Wasn't this already ruled as illegal tying? How can you force someone to buy a second service that is clearly unneccesary to the first service? This is like saying "if you want to buy these shoes, you HAVE to buy these pants too".

The worst part is that they still have the power to FORCE customers to get this landline because, in some places, the alternative to DSL is no internet at all (or satellite internet, which might as well be nothing at all).

It's a good thing thing they aren't doing this in my area, or they would find a bag of burning dog poop in the middle of their lobby on Monday morning.
 
FighterAce124 said:
It's an outdated business model, using outdated equipment. Copper lines need to go, they aren't able to support average speeds of 5 years ago on a single line, much less current speeds.
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I didn't see in the article if the landline would be VoIP or PSTN. If it's an IP line it makes some sense, if it's copper PSTN then it makes no sense whatsoever.

This is probably a ploy to keep the wireline guys employed from an agreement in their union labor contract expiration fiasco last year. That or they see the lost local toll charges for area towns/cities to try and reel a bigger profit.

Yay for cable..... when the companies don't suck implementing it.
 
I dunno, my DSL is bundled with my telephone service, I dropped AT&T (both dsl and telephone), and I got "up to" 20Mbps ADSL (reality is 7Mbps, which is fine), telephone, free long distance, call ID, call waiting, and all those other little things that AT&T would charge you a few bucks each per month, all for $40/month.

I don't have a cell phone (yeah I'm one of the few) and to be honest, I like a land line over cell as far as clarity in hearing what the fuck is being said on the other end.
 
FighterAce124 said:
Having worked for a large DSL company in both residential and business support, I can see why Verizon would do this.

I can also say that there is no way in hell I will ever use DSL again, nor would I support a company that tries this. It's an outdated business model, using outdated equipment. Copper lines need to go, they aren't able to support average speeds of 5 years ago on a single line, much less current speeds. I dont want to use two phone lines for a 15 meg line, especially since I can get 40 over a single, already existing cable line.

And while most people who dont want the phone service will just not hook up a phone, you shouldnt be forced to purchase a service you dont need. If Verizon is going to try this route, they should still offer an internet only line, even if they do something stupid like increase the already bloated price for said dedicated DSL line.
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It's pretty ridiculous. I'm surprised you can only get 40 meg over cable though. I can get 100 meg and live in a town with a population of under 20k
 
FighterAce124 said:
Having worked for a large DSL company in both residential and business support, I can see why Verizon would do this.

I can also say that there is no way in hell I will ever use DSL again
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Its obvious you don't live in my neighborhood. DSL is the only thing that works. Cable...only works two hours of each day, in the afternoon and evening it either drops out or is slower than dial up analog.
 
wtiger said:
I can get 100 meg and live in a town with a population of under 20k
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You should realize you are only able to get that speed because of the low population density on cable where you live. No mystery there.
 
Metrocall said:
Seems pretty odd and pointless to the consumer. I haven't had a land line in FOREVER, I don't even like using the land line in my office...
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I canceled my land line 4 years ago. Even my parents (72 and 75 years old) canceled theirs last year. Isn't land line one step above morse code?
 
<cough> Bullshit <cough><cough>

There's no reason people should be beholden to one company for everything. It's pretty fucked up that Verizon can get away with this shit.
 
Budzman said:
Why use dsl when its slow as hell and why get a landline when you got a cell phone.
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Most DSL services are outdated and just bad. Verizon is notorious for this. There are DSL services that are pretty decent, especially compared to cable companies who want to limit your data cap, or just don't provide internet service in your area.

DSL can get fast, but nobody is pumping money into upgrading it. I hear Korea has amazing DSL speed over there. Also keep in mind there isn't much that regulates cable companies at the moment, so eliminating DSL would give the green light for cable to screw their customers over.

What Verizon needs to do is remove their telephone service and drastically improve their DSL service. By removing telephone service and using VOIP they could probably reach higher speeds. Better yet, spread FIOS over to those areas where DSL exists, but we have a better chance of electing a transsexual polygamist as president of the United States.
 
Let's face it, people have DSL because they're forced to for one reason or another. Either the local cable ISP is shit or only DSL is available to them. Verizon probably knows this, so they've introduced this tactic to bilk more moeny from their customers. All I know is this surely means we'll be getting some new DOCSIS customers!
 
Sonic.net ftw! I got my parents to switch from the AT&T POTS. For the same price, they now have unlimited nationwide calling, all the bells and whistles like caller ID and 3-way calling, and there's a decently fast ADSL2+ connection (7M/2M because of distance). I really hope they continue to grow and expand their business. Especially their gigabit fiber network.

Starting some time last year, Charter stopped charging $10 for not having cable TV with their internet. I thought that was pretty awesome. They also increased their speeds not too long ago for the tier I have, from 18/4 to 30/4. However, I'm actually getting 45/4 which is pretty sweet.
 
wtiger said:
It's pretty ridiculous. I'm surprised you can only get 40 meg over cable though. I can get 100 meg and live in a town with a population of under 20k
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Is it affordable however? I can get 108 megs with Comcast where I live but it's over $100 a month. Business class is almost $400. The only one that is reasonable is 30 megs for $65 a month.
 
Ashbringer said:
It's because nobody wants a landline telephone anymore. Everyone has a cell phone. Solicitation occurs a lot on landlines. So it's a huge wasted extra cost for something you don't want. It's already an outdated business model.

Cable companies do the same thing. You want cable internet then you need basic cable service, like it or not. Verizon is just copying them really. I believe it's something the government should get involved with, since it's unfair to customers.
Click to expand...

I'd jump that ship immediately, I have only Cable Internet through Comcast, if they forced me to pay for Cable TV, I'd say goodbye in a heartbeat.

I say that now, but I realize not everyone has multiple cable providers sharing the same footprint, in which case this monopolistic marketing forcing customers to pay for service they do not want needs to be dealt with.
 
Budzman said:
Both dsl and landlines are becoming obsolete around here.

Why use dsl when its slow as hell and why get a landline when you got a cell phone.
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Because, I had DSL up until the end of this past week for 39.95, 7 Meg connection.:rolleyes: I have a great deal from Time Warner so I switched. However, prior to this deal, the least expensive I Time Warner internet I could have gotten would have been about $65 a month.

I am pleased that I now have a 20 x 2 connection for about the same price as the DSL I had. No FIOS in my area at all.
 
I have the U-Verse (internet only) from AT&T and I can get about 3-4 MegaBYTES sustained, which matches up to my 25megabit service. Its the only thing available where I live (well for that kind of speed).

Also don't forget if they bundle in telephone line, your going to get hit with additional FCC and local taxes. It may be a $10 a month extra charge for the telephone line, but there is probably another $5-$10 worth of taxes added onto that.

Thats why when I had Charter cable internet before I chose to pay $10 extra "penalty" for not having basic cable bundled with it. Because even though the basic cable was only $10, they added about $12 in taxes and surcharges just for having cable TV. So it was cheaper to to pay the penalty.
 
Budzman said:
Both dsl and landlines are becoming obsolete around here.

Why use dsl when its slow as hell and why get a landline when you got a cell phone.
Click to expand...

Many places do not offer cable and then there are places where cable is very expensive compared to DSL.
 
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