Do you have DSL?  If you’re an AT&T customer you were forced to buy a landline as well - whether or not you need it. 

I just use my cell phone around the house - I have no need really for a landline.  Technically I have a landline connection in my house but I don’t even have a phone hooked up to it.  But I still pay for it - with taxes it comes to an additional $10-15 a month.  And this is for a basic line with no minutes.

But as part of Cingular’s merger with AT&T, the company agreed to provide Dry Loop DSL service - that is, DSL service by itself, without a landline.  Consumerist posted the details of this new service yesterday - $28.99 for the Pro DSL package - a nice discount over landline + DSL service.

Not only that, but the principle of the thing counts for me.  Phone companies should really not use their monopolistic power to force you into buying something you have no need for.

So today I called to change my service.  After an hour and a half on the phone and at least a dozen AT&T reps, my order was in.

It’s a new service, so you get a lot of reps passing you on to their superiors.  When I finally got to the ‘Dry Loop’ department I had to wait for 15 minutes off an on while the rep talked with his manager, figuring out how to complete my order.

The result?  I’ll have dry loop in a week, but it will require the creation of a new AT&T account and 3 days of downtime.  In a nutshell, they make it hard for you to switch…but in a few months this service will be more widely advertised and the process should be a lot quicker.  hopefully.

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