Basic Phone service, DSL and Vonage

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 23, 2004 Posts: 5

Here's my question for you. I have Verizon DSL and a regular phone. The phone costs me about 23.00 bucks a month that I use almost never. Perhaps a couple of calls out and of course calls coming in. IT works out to about 2 bucks a call. I have gotten rid of my long distance carrier and use a phone card at 2.5 cents a minute. (I also have a cell but live in a basement condo and the cell signal is poor)

I saw the linksys Vonage Adapter at Circuit City for 59.99 with a 60 rebate. How could I say no? (I have a Lingsys g Wirelss router) I have since hooked up Vonage (I've only had it for a couple of days but so far the quality is great.

So I called Verizon to get rid of my local phone and they tell me that I will lose the DSL service. That said, I said no. I then called Verizon DSL and they tell me I can but I need a data only line. I ask the cost and they can't tell me, they refer me to Residental services that knows nothing about data only lines. After 5 different departments they try to sell me their VoiceWing service (54.95 a month) ahhhh NO.

Have you experience this and do you know a way to cut the basic phone service while keeping my DSL. Having a regular phone, and Vonage doesn't save me any money and that is what I was trying to achieve in the first place.

Posts: 22 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 02, 2004 Posts: 22

What you are looking for is currently referred to as "Dry DSL".
A DSL line with no dialtone.
DEPENDING on where you live and your local phone company you may or may not be able to get one from the phone company.
I live in SBC/Ameritech territory and can't do it through SBC.

There ARE 3rd party phone companies and DSL providers that do it.
You'll have to research it. I think Covad may offer it but a lot depends on what equipment the 3rd party provider has installed in your CO or if you are on an RT.

www.broadbandreports.com is a good starting place, You can find alternative DSL providers and research if they offer DRY DSL.
You may just find DRY DSL is as expensive as what you are paying now.

Also, have you removed ALL unnecessary options from your phone? Like wire maintenance, voicemail, wall waiting etc. Those add up quickly.

J

Posts: 227 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 10, 2004 Posts: 227

Most carriers whether it be xDSL or Cable will increase the cost of their broadband service by at LEAST $10. They do this so you will pay for the bundle services. Here in NH, Comcast charges $42.95 for their broadband w/cable services. W/O cable service it is almost $60/mo. I believe Verizon in this area charges $29.95/mo with phone service and somewhere between $39-$49 dollars (I don't know for certain). The point being, they will charge you MORE just to carry the broadband service.

Posts: 22 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 02, 2004 Posts: 22

Chicago may be unique.
I can get a bare POTS line for about $9/mo which just gets me dialtone, E911 and free incoming calls.
If I just make SBC my LD carrier I qualify for DSL at $27/mo.
Making SBC your LD carrier cost you nothing if you don't make LD calls.
So for $36/mo (plus tax) I get DSL. Still a better deal than cable modem here. $45 or $57 depending on whether you have cable TV or not.
Although Comcast does have a $7.50/mo deal for what they call "basic cable". So for $7.50 I can save $12 I see no reason anyone would pay the full $57 for cable modem here.
FWIW, way back when I had SDSL which was on a "Unbundled Loop" which is a copper pair with no dialtone the cost of the UL was $7.50/mo.
J

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 23, 2004 Posts: 5

Here is what I have learned so far. Verizon was looking to roll-out standalone or Dry DSL by the end of 2004 but have hit technical difficulties. Persoanlly I think those difficulties are they will lose revenue since they do have it in parts of Bell South, but only becuase they were forced to by regulators. I can have a data line put into the house without a dial-tone. Kind of sounds like Dry DSL. At any rate, it appears that in all Likelyhood that I will have to keep my POTS line to have DSL. So in effect my DSL service costs me 49.95 a month. Cable still costs me more at 57.95.

Going with another company that resells the line doesn't apeal to me. I tried that in the past. In NE anyway, they have to have access to the CO but Verizon has made that very difficult for third party entry. Such that they can get into the CO on the 21st of the month at 4:00 PM. IF they can't be there it will be another month before they have an opening to get back into the CO. Of course if there is a problem on a verizon line they can be there the next day.

Posts: 448

rrats wrote:

The phone costs me about 23.00 bucks a month that I use almost never. Perhaps a couple of calls out and of course calls coming in. IT works out to about 2 bucks a call.

Ask about Message Rate service. It's one of those services that Verizon won't tell you about if you ask for "the cheapest phone service I can get", but it exists. In our area (Tampa Bay) it's $7.45/mo and you get 30 calls per month free, then 10-cents for each additional call, which sounds like more than enough for your needs. Of couse, you have to add in the $6.50 "Federal subscriber line charge" which is nothing more than an *optional* charge that goes straight into Verizon's pocket, deceptively passed off as a "federal" charge so people feel they have no choice but to pay it. Nonetheless, after all the usual taxes, you should still come in less than $20/mo for the phone service portion.

I know that doesn't totally solve your dilemma, but it might just keep a few extra bucks out of Verizon's pocket each month.