They call it “Naked DSL” because you can get it without voice service. In theory this means you could BYOV (Bring Your Own Voice) but the recently announced “Naked DSL” from AT&T, made possible as one of their concessions to the FCC so the Bell South merger could go through, really isn’t just naked. It has been neutered.
DSL is DSL. It works without voice just as easily as it does with it. It may even work better. But obviously AT&T is fearful that people will just buy the data and then find their own provider. AT&T is limiting the downloads to 768kbps which in today’s era, is not very fast. For example I have “naked” cable and have 12 megs down and one meg up in speed.
In my mind AT&T should offer a DSL + CallVantage bundle, remove the speed cap and let the DSL fly as fast as it can. That is what the Earthlink offering of DSL and Voice provides. They don’t mess around with speed caps, or try to “arm twist” customers into buying a different plan.
Another idea. Sell unbridled DSL with a Mobile Phone plan. Chances are the reason someone wants naked DSL is they have already become a cord-cutter and don’t need the home landline any more.
These options are way too easy to offer, but in reality AT&T wants to sell the neutered version only as a concession to merger..and hence why they have made it ring so slow.
Daily Links: From C# to D, Standard Deps for Linux?, Virtualization from IBM, AT&T’s neutered DSL, Doctorow’s “end of days” fiction, w/IT.
Slashdot: The D Programming Language, version 1.0BitTyrantLinux Watch: Linux software installation to improveIBM Developer Works: Virtualization on LinuxVoIP Watch: AT&T’s Neutered DSLThe Rake: (Fiction) When Syadmins Ruled The Earth, by Cory Doctorow …
In italy to have a naked DSL you need to pay additional 10€ to the incumbent… really a shame.
I’m one of those who is stuck having an SBC landline with a phone number I’ll never use.
On the flip side, when are providers going to offer naked SIM cards? Think about it: http://www.ringnokia.com/2006/12/why_isnt_anyone.html
AT
Andy Abramson made a good catch on the ATT – BellSouth merger. One of the so-called concessions that ATT made to the FCC to get the deal approved was that it would offer DSL service without requiring customers to have