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In just under a decade, Broadband internet connections from Qwest, Road Runner, Comcast and others have moved from relative obscurity to being the norm for most American households. Dial-up internet connections are becoming increasingly rare, and DSL, cable, and cellular based connections are becoming the norm. Prices have also dropped from potentially hundreds of dollars per month to just $30 or $40 a month. Now consumers will have even more choice with the a new offering from the telecom industry called Naked DSL.

A digital subscriber line (DSL) is a technology that allows users to connect to the internet at high-speeds through their existing land-line telephone system. The beauty of DSL is that even though it goes through the phone-line, it does not prevent you from making or receiving calls while it’s in use like traditional dial-up connections did. In addition, the connection speeds provided by DSL is magnitudes faster than that of dial-up internet connections. Many companies, including Qwest Communications, are now offering naked DSL. In fact, Qwest DSL Service is currently one of the best naked DSL deals around.

In order to get a DSL connection, users have to have a phone-line with their local telecom that will be providing the DSL. This wasn’t a problem a decade ago when it was just a standard thing to do to have a phone line, but now more and more consumers are moving to exclusively have cellular phones and not having a physical-line in their home. This means that customers who want DSL have to fork over an extra fee just to have that land-line in place, even though they will likely never use it.

Telecom companies have made a killing pushing phone-lines onto people who won’t use them, but consumers have wised up and instead largely signed up for a competitive service from the cable companies. In order to combat this trend, AT&T is now experimenting with what’s called “naked dsl,” or a digital subscriber line that does not require the customer to have a physical landline.

AT&T is currently rolling out naked DSL in a few different trial markets including Chicago, Austin, and Jacksonville Florida. Customers in these markets will be able to purchase naked DSL from anywhere from $20 to $24 a month, which is substantially cheaper than paying $30 to $40 a month for a cable based connection. If the test launch is successful, AT&T will likely launch the service in additional markets. Other telecom companies are also looking at launching naked DSL services in the near future as well.

It may be a few years before Naked DSL is a commonly available product, but it will likely be an excellent deal when it arrives in your market.



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