DSL companies are writing to me that unless I have Verizon phone
service I cannot get DSL in New York City, is that true? (That means
that everyone that wants DSL in New York City must switch to Verizon
phone service, that means that when everyone will get DSL in New York
City Verizon will be the only phone company in New York City, and when
you get Verizon for phone your most probably getting also DSL from
them. It doesen't make sense).

[I have MCI phone service].

Hi there, Courious!


I can confirm that this is definitely not true.
I visited the web site for MCI [ http://consumer.mci.com/index.jsp ]
and then clicked on the Neighborhood (tell me more) link.

Then, I visited Yellow Book [ www.yellowbook.com ] to look up the
phone number of the Hilton hotel in New York City (42nd St) which I
then typed in to the MCI availability checker.
To double check, I also entered a phone number for a business on 7th
Ave in Manhattan and the MCI site also confirmed that I could order
the phone and high speed internet package for $99 a month.

To check your own area in New York City, visit the following page and
type your phone number in:
http://www.theneighborhood.com/res_local_service/jsps/default.jsp


Kind regards,
errol-ga.

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Request for Answer Clarification by courious-ga on 21 May 2003 02:19 PDT

I'm looking for a normal priced DSL for about $40, it would cost less
than $99 a month to get a new phone line-service and DSL from
Verizon...

Who will give me - MCI phone service - DSL for about $40 per month, in
New York City? Earthlink, Juno, MSN, AOL, Verizon, et cetera refuse.

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Clarification of Answer by errol-ga on 21 May 2003 17:21 PDT

Hello again.

Roadrunner [ http://www.rr.com/rdrun ] offer DSL for around $45 a month.

Hope this helps,
errol-ga.

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Request for Answer Clarification by courious-ga on 22 May 2003 21:20 PDT

I don't have cable...

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Clarification of Answer by errol-ga on 22 May 2003 21:32 PDT

Hi there.

There are many DSL providers listed in the following directories:
http://www.blueballweb.net/ISP.html
http://www.comsearch.net/dsl.htm

You may also wish to browse through this Google search:
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cheap+dsl+new+york

Regards,
errol-ga.

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Request for Answer Clarification by courious-ga on 22 May 2003 21:41 PDT

I already contacted part of them and they said that I must switch to
Verizon phone service...

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Request for Answer Clarification by courious-ga on 22 May 2003 21:43 PDT

Summary: with MCI phone service you cannot get DSL in New York City!

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Request for Answer Clarification by courious-ga on 22 May 2003 21:44 PDT

Answer to my original question: 'Subject: Must have Verizon phone for
DSL in NYC - true?' - YES!!!

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Clarification of Answer by errol-ga on 23 May 2003 03:30 PDT

Hello.

As you can see from my original answer, you can get DSL from MCI in New York.
Maybe you should ring customer services for MCI?
They will be able to help you more than I could.

Regards,
errol-ga.

your right

This answer is already done with, but I must disagree just incase you
decide to give some tech support guy a bad time with not fully
accurate information.

I have worked with ILECs, CLECs, and ISPs in Verizon's area and can
offer further explanation. Unfortunately there is a chance if you have
a 3rd party voice carrier your ISP won't have permission to use their
lines. The ISP has a contract with your phone company to utilize their
copper wires and provide DSL. They may not have a contract with MCI,
and the order would then get rejected usually with a reason of "3rd
party voice."

Sure, there is no technical reason why you wouldn't be able to get
DSL. It's all just wiring. The only limitations are paperwork and
contracts.

99% of places have no way to tell that you have 3rd party voice until
they actually start to process the order. Prequalification pages use a
static database that is notoriously inaccurate and lacks information.

In conclusion, if you have MCI for your voice line, depending on the
ISP you choose, you may not be able to get DSL with them. It all
depends on if the ISP has paid outlandish amounts of money to MCI to
use their lines. Please be nice to tech support!

Disclaimer: I work for Verizon, though not in customer support so I'm
not an expert on services nor pricing.

That said, Verizon recently lowered it's DSL rates to $29.95 a month. 
I believe this applies in all Verizon territory.  Prior prices were
$40 - $50 for basic (slowest) service.

You also get a price break for packages that include both DSL and
analog service, and I think in your territory they may have packages
including long distance and wireless.

Sorry for the advertisement, but bottom line I suggest a call to
Verizon to see if we're more competitive than before.

featser-ga,

Can I get Verizon DSL with MCI phone service? Answer: No.

Answer to my original question: 'Subject: Must have Verizon phone for
DSL in NYC - true?' - YES!!!

In defense of errol's answer: Errol has made it clear that the answer
to the original question -- 'Subject: Must have Verizon phone for DSL
in NYC - true?' -- is no.  MCI's own web site confirms this.  What
more proof is needed?

In other words, if MCI offers DSL with at least some of its phone
service in NYC, then at least some people do not need Verizon phone
service for DSL in NYC.

Have you tried checking your phone number on MCI's web site?  Have you
tried calling MCI for information on the availablity of DSL under The
Neighborhood plan?  You should do both of these things.

I've read this discussion carefully, conclusions:

1) must you have Verizon phone [analog] service to obtain DSL by MCI
or another provider? - No.
2) must you have Verizon phone service to add DSL for the cheapest
total cost - probably.
3) If Verizon provides the best combination of service and price, does
this mean Verizon has an advantage in the marketplace - yes.
4) Will this automatically result in Verizon becoming the only phone
company in NYC - no.  The competition for the particularly dense and
rich NYC area will prevent that.

To get Verizon DSL you need Verizon local phone service for $65 per
month.

When using MCI local phone service for $35 per month the only DSL you
can get is MCI $65 per month.

In other words: phone service + DSL in New York City lowest monthly
price will always total $100.