Embarq uses ‘naked DSL’ to slow line loss

Embarq began offering so-called “naked DSL” service this month as a tool to retain customers who no longer want landline voice service.

Two weeks ago, the tier-two carrier began offering DSL by itself—with no other services bundled in, such as voice—but only to customers who call Embarq requesting service cancellation.

“We only offer ‘naked DSL’ as a customer-retention tool,” an Embarq spokesperson said. “Our strategy is to integrate our offerings so that they work together.”

Embarq’s naked DSL is $34.95 per month for speeds “up to” 1.5 megabits per second, while its bundled DSL is $24.95 per month (for just the DSL part of the bundle).

This tactic is the latest effort from Embarq to slow its access line loss. The company has been losing access lines at the rate of about 6% per year since it split off from Sprint. Embarq resells wireless service from its former parent and has introduced a range of fixed-mobile convergence applications to try to convince customers of the value of keeping both a landline and a mobile phone.

When asked why Embarq didn’t start offering naked DSL earlier than this month, the spokesperson said, “Our strategy is to integrate and bundle our service offerings…so offering one standalone product like [high-speed Internet] isn't a strategic fit. However, we would prefer to keep a customer for one service should they decide to discontinue their home phone service, rather than lose the customer altogether.”

AT&T was required by the Federal Communications Commission to offer standalone DSL (at 768 kb/s for under $20 monthly) as a condition for its merger with BellSouth. A company spokesperson today said AT&T will launch such an offering by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the carrier began offering a DSL/wireless bundle, without landline voice, in some markets this fall, starting at $60 per month (including $24 for DSL). Having had success with that offering in early trials, AT&T is working to make it available throughout its service territory "in coming months," the company said.

A spokesperson for Windstream—another local incumbent that, like Embarq, was spun off from its wireless parent—said the company does not offer naked DSL.