Nearly 30% of AT&T’s DSL growth in the last quarter was of the naked kind – meaning sans a traditional wireline. Half of those new naked DSL lines were sold as a part of a wireless bundle. Presumably, those 75K or so AT&T customers who opted for a mobile-DSL bundle also opted out of a traditional wireline. The details appear in this Telephony Online article. Goodbye wireline – hello mobile and broadband. While the trend is widely known, it does help to validate it when you see real data like this. We've seen other recent data on wireless substitution that isn't pretty, at least from a wireline provider point of view.

So here’s the skinny. If I’m a traditional wireline company, I’m certainly trying to stem the flow of wireline substitution. One potential strategy is to continually try to add value to a wireline through applications like fixed mobile convergence. But even with that, a quantifiable number of customers will leave wireline behind – and a large number at that. So, if customers are going to leave anyway, why not try to sell them broadband at least, and a broadband-mobile bundle at best (if you’re lucky enough to be in a position to offer mobile). I sat through a recent presentation at the MetaSwitch Users Forum, where an AT&T exec spelled it out like this. From AT&T’s perspective, "we’re positioning our product portfolio to meet the needs of customers, whatever their preferences are." Want wireless and broadband, we’ve got you covered. Want wireline voice triple play, no problem. Want wireless voice triple play, be our guest. Truth be told, I think AT&T would prefer wireless bundled customers over wireline bundled customers. I’ve never heard that from anyone at AT&T, but as the Telephony article pointed out, wireless customers tend to have a higher ARPU than wireline, or at least a better opportunity to increase ARPU. In today's competitive environment, the name of the game is meet your customer's needs and expectations with whatever flexible product portfolio you can, even if that means they cut the “bread and butter” wireline. If you don’t have something to sell them at the point they’ve decided to cut the chord, more than likely, you’ve lost that customer for life. Agree?

AT&T is quietly meeting its BellSouth acquisition merger condition by expanding the availability of stand alone DSL. Its website now offers a stand alone 768K DSL product for $19.95. The “DSL Lite” plan differs from a similar AT&T stand alone DSL product offering of $10/month, in that there is no 12 month term commitment and it is more widely available. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, AT&T’s stand alone DSL product offerings have caught the attention of Comcast, who will soon offer a 768K cable modem service for $24.95.

These new plans will be interesting to observe for many reasons. One of the more compelling possible outcomes is unbundling. There has been so much discussion about and focus on bundling over the past few years (and rightfully so), but I’m starting to see more emphasis on unbundling of services, and stand alone broadband is a good example of this trend. Comcast just launched a new marketing campaign in the Washington D.C. market which highlights stand alone phone service for customers who don’t subscribe to cable TV. AT&T and other telecoms have been slow to promote these unbundled broadband services. But you wonder if that mindset will begin to change, as a potential market for unbundled services may soon blossom.

Not everyone is comfortable getting naked. Add Embarq to that list. They offer a naked DSL product. They just don't want too many people to know. Telephony Online reports that Embarq offers a stand alone DSL product, but only as a retention tool. Landline customers who call Embarq to cancel their landline service are apparently being offered a stand alone DSL service. Embarq tells Telephony "…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." Don't look for a marketing blitz from Embarq offering "nakedivity."

Today's reality is that all wireline companies are struggling with how to deal with line loss. AT&T also quietly offers a naked DSL product, although they were forced to in order to get their Bellsouth acquisition approved by regulators. It makes sense to leverage wirelines for whatever possible. If that means broadband only, so be it. Better than nothing. The issue that carriers like Embarq struggle with is what is the proper level of aggressiveness in offering that option. Competitors from wireless to cable have traditional telecom wirelines in their sights. Depending on your perspective, the happy or sad truth is that the future of wireline probably rests in IP/broadband, and not in voice. But voice still represents the lion's share of revenue for many wireline carriers today. Especially those who do not own significant wireless assets. No business, telecom carrier or otherwise, is interested in surrendering what regularly "butter's their bread." It's a struggle that wireline carriers will continue to face, as competitor's raid their core business, and they transition their wireline revenue structure from voice minutes to data kilobytes.

Naked DSL is now available in many parts of the country. It stands to become more widely available once AT&T complies with one of their Bellsouth acquisition conditions, which mandates they offer naked DSL within one year of the deal’s closing. AT&T is on record as saying they will comply with that mandate and will soon offer a $20/month naked DSL product. Don’t look for them to heavily market it though. Naked DSL is one of those products that send shivers down the back of many traditional telecom providers.

On the one hand, naked DSL is seen as a precursor to a subscriber abandoning landline telephone service. The thinking is they will utilize either wireless or VoIP from a third party for their voice services. No incumbent carrier welcomes abandonment of lucrative POTS lines. On the other hand, naked DSL may be a blessing in disguise. The contrarian view says, if I’m going to lose providing voice to a customer, at least my naked DSL product allows me to maintain a billing relationship with them. If not for naked DSL, I might lose that customer entirely, and perhaps forever. Moreover, if I happen to have a video and wireless service, perhaps I offer a “voiceless” bundle. Pretty soon, losing that voice revenue doesn’t look so bad. I fully recognize the presence of many “ifs” in the contrarian view scenario. The reality of today, with its confusing regulatory and settlement processes, makes this scenario easier talked about than implemented. But the not too distant future may make this scenario more of a reality for many.

Check out this naked DSL discussion on BroadbandReports.com.

Also, take a look at his AT&T/BellSouth pricing matrix for DSL, contributed by a forum member and therefore no claim of accuracy by us.

EarthLink announced the launch of naked DSL, or ‘Freestanding DSL’ as they call it. Pricing packages include a 1.5Mbps/768kbps DSL for $14.95 per month for six months, after which the price increases to $39.95 per month and a 3Mbps/768kbps service for $19.95 for three months, after which also rises to $39.95. There is an early termination fee of $149. EarthLink leases copper loops from other carriers to provide DSL service.

Get the details at this EarthLink site.