SBC rolls out DSL promotion

(Telephony) The nation’s leading DSL service provider, SBC Communications Inc., today launched a broadband promotion that the company said would make DSL a more attractive and affordable Internet access alternative to consumers.

The promotion, in cooperation with Compaq Corp. and Prodigy Communication Corp., allows customers who order SBC’s high-speed DSL service with Prodigy to purchase one of three DSL-equipped Compaq computers discounted as much as $500.

The deal is an expansion of a promotion rolled out last year that offered only one choice of Compaq computer and required a one-year term obligation to use the Prodigy Internet service.

Under the new offer, which includes increased computer choice and has no minimum time commitment, a spokeswoman at SBC said the promotion would help draw customers to SBC in the highly competitive DSL market.

"Right now we’re seeing such a high demand for the service," she said. "And the no-term commitment is something we heard our customers say they wanted."

As the end of the fourth quarter 2000, SBC said it had more than 767,000 DSL subscribers. In addition to the current promotion, the company said it plans to release additional services like voice-over DSL and home networking in the future that will layer over its existing DSL service.

Compaq PC’s are equipped with a DSL modem so customers can self-install the service, which SBC said is the preferred installation method of more than 70% of its customers.