Verizon aims DSL/landline voice plan at dial-up crowd

Verizon has introduced a new double-play DSL/landline “Regional Value” calling package that appears to be aimed not only at stemming landline cord-cutting, but also injecting new life into a declining DSL business.

In a promotion specifically for non-broadband households, Verizon is offering an upgrade to DSL at a range of 768 Kb/s to 1 Mb/s, bundled with the Regional Value voice plan that includes unlimited local and regional toll calling. The bundle requires a one-year contract and is priced at $34.99 per month, with a set price for 24 months. The bundle price is $44.99 per month for customers new to Verizon voice service. DirecTV can also be added to convert the package into a triple-play bundle ranging from $64.99 to $74.99, the lower price being for existing Verizon voice customers.

The offer, which Verizon portrayed as an attempt to convert existing dial-up Internet customers to a higher-speed service, comes as landline cord-cutting has occurred in almost 30% of U.S. households and also not long after Verizon and AT&T both reported quarterly decline in their DSL subscriber bases.

The market segment of customers who cling to dial-up Internet despite the availability of broadband continues to vex service providers at a time when broadband growth overall is slowing. A Verizon spokesman said, “We think the value here overcomes the price objection we've all heard with some non-broadband households. And even though it is our entry-level broadband tier, it will still strike the chord that always gets rung when people experience broadband: It gets hard to go back to that slow experience.”

Verizon pointed out that the Internet access upgrade in the new offer is about 17 times faster than using dial-up. The company spokesman estimated that the number of current Verizon subscribers who would be eligible for the upgrade number “in the low-mid millions. These are mostly dial-up or no-service customers. When you add in non-customers it is much higher, maybe twice as much.”

It remains to be proven whether or not entry-level pricing is the only factor keeping these folks off the broadband express. A recent Pew Research Center study noted that some people who don’t regularly use the Internet feel that it doesn’t have much to offer them.