Groups alarmed that Verizon is ending standalone DSL

A number of small telecommunications companies and consumer groups sent a letter Thursday to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski expressing alarm at Verizon’s recent announcement that it will discontinue installing so-called “naked,” or standalone, DSL Internet service as of this coming Sunday.

The letter is signed by representatives from small telcos like Access Humboldt and consumer groups like Public Knowledge and Consumers Union.

{mosads}In correspondence obtained by DSL Reports, Verizon also explained that existing “naked DSL” customers who make changes to their service plans will lose their DSL service as a result. Nor will customers be able to move their service to a new location.

Instead, customers will be forced to purchase a “bundle” of voice and DSL services. Verizon’s own earnings reports show approximately 385,000 customers will be affected by this change.

The letter implores Genachowski to see “that the commission work with Verizon to explore its planned discontinuance of standalone DSL and, if possible, to delay the implementation of a policy that would further reduce the affordability and availability of broadband services to consumers.”

One reason for delay is that there already is an open FCC proceeding investigating the effects of bundling on prices and competition for telecom services. While the docket has been inactive since 2005, it remains open for public comment.

The open investigation is the reason the commission “should ensure that the status quo is maintained with respect to Verizon’s standalone DSL offering until the commission can complete its consideration of the impact of tying on consumers, the communications marketplace and broadband deployment,” the groups wrote.

Public Knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky said the Verizon plan is “further evidence that [Verizon] is bailing on the landline side of the telecommunications business.”

Public Knowledge has alleged that the proposed deal between Verizon and the SpectrumCo coalition of cable companies is a way by which Verizon will let cable take over providing landline phone service while using the spectrum gained in the transaction to solidify its position as a wireless service provider, and let its copper network fade into antiquity.

“That’s a shame,” Brodsky said of the possibility that Verizon would let its portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network deteriorate to gain more wireless market share.