Naked DSL is the trendy name for DSL without phone service, and it’s good news for many Web surfers who have cancelled their landline telephone services in favor of mobile phones. However, don’t assume that you’ll reduce your monthly bill by simply removing your phone service. Naked DSL may actually end up costing the same as or more than your standard DSL-landline bundle.

The Naked Part Of DSL

If you feel uncomfortable asking your phone provider for naked DSL, there’s no need to blush on the other end of the receiver. You can refer to the service as standalone, dry loop, dry line, or unbundled DSL. It’s called naked or standalone because the physical phone line doesn’t provide an active dial tone. Therefore, the DSL signal is “naked” or stands alone on the phone line. Naked DSL runs through the same phone line and is neither faster nor slower than traditional DSL service.

Bells Are Ringing

We compared prices for three naked DSL providers: Qwest, Verizon, and AT&T. All three companies offer their bundled DSL and phone services in a similar price range, but their naked DSL prices vary greatly.

The amount of taxes and surcharges your state applies will affect whether AT&T Yahoo! naked DSL will save you money. AT&T spokesperson Brad Mays says, “We typically say to add $12 to $15 per month for taxes, fees, and surcharges with a service such as All Distance Select.” The cheapest AT&T DSL bundle includes its Express DSL (downloads up to 1.5Mbps [megabits per second]) with local phone service for $28.99 before taxes and surcharges. The standalone AT&T Express DSL price is $44.95. Once you add taxes and surcharges, the cost could fluctuate only a few dollars between the two services.

To find out if AT&T standalone DSL is available in your area, visit www.att.com. Click Residential and enter your ZIP code. Click the View All Internet Services link. (If you don’t see this link, your state likely will not be able to receive AT&T DSL.) Click the Popular Plans link. Click the Check My Address For High-Speed Internet link, enter your address, and AT&T will verify if DSL service is available at your residence.

Save Some Pretty Pennies

Verizon’s naked DSL costs around $25 a month less than its DSL and landline package, and those savings stand out when comparing Verizon to other naked DSL providers. You can receive Verizon’s naked DSL that operates at up to 768Kbps (kilobits per second) for $19.95 a month or at 3Mbps for $34.99 a month. Purchasing a Local Calling Verizon landline would run you an additional $20 to $30, plus taxes and surcharges. Current Verizon landline customers who want to switch to naked DSL have the option to transfer their telephone numbers to a wireless number, or they can simply drop their Verizon landline to receive standalone DSL. Verizon DSL includes your choice of Verizon Yahoo! for DSL or Verizon Online DSL with MSN Premium services. You can visit www22.verizon
.com/forhomedsl/channels/dsl/dryloop to check the availability of Verizon’s naked DSL service.

Every Qwest DSL tier is offered as a naked DSL service. If you were to choose Qwest DSL service alone it would cost around $20 a month less than traditional Qwest DSL. For example, if you purchase Qwest Choice DSL Deluxe (downloads up to 1.5Mbps), it regularly costs $44.99, and Qwest Choice DSL Deluxe bundled with landline service would regularly cost $65.99, plus taxes and surcharges.

Qwest offers naked DSL in Qwest Choice Basic (downloads up to 256Kbps), Qwest Choice Deluxe, and Qwest Choice Premier (downloads up to 3 to 5Mbps). All tiers of Qwest DSL include MSN Premium, which provides security and tools for your broadband connection. You can visit www.qwest.com/residential/internet/resaddressQual.html to see if your address qualifies to receive Qwest DSL.

Widen Your Search & Your Wallet

You don't necessarily have to purchase DSL from a phone company. You can receive naked DSL from a broadband specialist, such as Speakeasy (www.speakeasy.net), which reaches every state in the continental United States.

Once you contact a broadband specialist, it will get in touch with an ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier), and the ILEC will send an order to form a loop (thus the term dry loop or dry line) from the central office to your location. This could require splicing a new phone line to your residence or utilizing existing lines. Once the ILEC creates the loop, the broadband specialist will test and set up the connection, which may cost a fee. In addition to a connection fee, service from a broadband DSL specialist could cost quite a bit more than the phone companies’ DSL services. For example, for around $55 a month both Speakeasy and Lightning Bolt Technologies (www.lbdsl.com) offer DSL with a download speed of 1.5Mbps and an upload speed of 384Kbps. Speakeasy offers two services: Line-Share DSL, which requires a phone service, and OneLink DSL, which does not require phone service. To check the availability of Speakeasy DSL, you can either call (800) 556-5829 or visit the company’s Web site.

Lightning Bolt Technologies provides naked DSL in Dry Line Residential Basic (1.5Mbps download, 128Kbps upload) and Dry Line Residential (1.5Mbps download, 384Kbps upload) DSL. You can check the availability of Lightning Bolt’s dry line DSL by calling (866) 241-9939, or visit www.lbdsl.com/availability.html.

Make First Contact

Even if standalone DSL is not listed on a company’s Web site, you should still ask about it. Because the service is so new, your provider may not have information about it posted on its Web site yet. We suggest contacting your DSL provider via email as opposed to calling because it will give a representative time to gather information about standalone DSL and how much it will cost. Once you reach a knowledgeable representative, double-check that the provider’s DSL service is available to your residence. Get a price quote for both standalone DSL and DSL bundled with landline services. Ask the rep to include local landline phone taxes and surcharges with the bundled DSL price.

If multiple providers offer naked DSL to your location, examine both their costs and speeds available; one naked DSL provider may charge a few dollars less for service but only offer half the speed of a similarly priced provider.

Naked DSL Voice Options

Now that you’ve gotten rid of your landline, you may need to make other arrangements for phone service. If you already own a mobile phone and are content with its service, stick with that provider. However, if you’re not happy with your wireless service or don’t own a mobile phone, look into bundling your naked DSL with that provider’s wireless options.

For example, through AT&T you can bundle AT&T Express DSL (1.5Mbps for $44.95) or Pro DSL (3Mbps for $49.95) with Cingular Wireless’ Nation 450 w/Rollover plan ($39.99) for $80 and $85 a month, respectively. If you previously used your landline for local calls, you may need to invest in a mobile phone plan with more or unlimited minutes. You also can utilize your DSL’s high-speed connection with a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) provider. VoIP uses the Internet to send and receive telephone calls and can be less expensive than a traditional phone service because many VoIP providers offer unlimited local and long-distance plans.

Use this article as a guide to find and purchase naked DSL. Visit and email DSL providers’ Web sites and then compare the options available to what you’re currently paying for phone and DSL services. Your monthly budget could reflect an investigation of naked DSL as time well spent.

by Nathan Lake