While it’s king of the residential access hill in select areas where it’s deployed FiOS fiber service, most of Verizon’s broadband customers connect via DSL over it’s tired old twisted pair infrastructure. It could be that the Cable guys have been eating away at V’s market share. When you do not have the best offering, you compete on price. Since a price drop is bound to send Wall Street into gyrations the dark helmeted V has decided to give new customers half of a year free with a  contract.

What’s truly amazing is how little the cable guys have invested to enable them to take more market share. It’’s more like demand has driven consumers to a bigger pipe, and the cable guy is the only game in town. Meanwhile back at the FCC, “stimulus” dollars are being spent on pretty new maps. So much for big government help with broadband. How about undoing the duopoly instead?

Verizon Communications will try to boost the numbers in its DSL business by offering six months of free service to customers who commit to a one-year agreement, and the telco also announced price breaks and three months free multiroom DVR for new FiOS bundle subscribers.

The six-free-months offer is available until Jan. 16, 2010, for Verizon’s 1-, 3- or 7.1-Mbps DSL tiers service as part of a one-year agreement. In addition, customers who order new DSL bundles online also will receive a free modem and an additional $5 off qualifying bundles. (Multichannel News)

The press release comes to us touting 1 million subscribers to AT&T’s Uverse TV service by month end, and service availability to 17 million, along with declining cost of delivery. Geeeeze, I’m not sure I’d go around bragging about a huge investment that has earned a 5.8% take rate. I wonder how big the take rate will be for the faster broadband product available to for those who don’t want TV service?

AT&T planned to add one million U-Verse TV subscribers by the end of the year. The company will hit that benchmark next week, Stankey said.

“Operationally, we’ve hit our stride,” he told analysts during a UBS-sponsored conference on Tuesday. The event was broadcast over the Internet.

The company plans to make the service available to 17 million homes by the end of the year.

U-Verse has helped keep AT&T in the game as its traditional digital subscriber line, or DSL, service has faltered against cable competition. Roughly 54% of new U-Verse Internet users didn’t have DSL before, Stankey said.

Also, installation times and costs have fallen, while average revenue per user for video has grown in double digits, percentage-wise, he said. (CNN)

If you’re planning to buy a home now may be a good time as the market may be at its bottom. Before you sign a contract, consider this: The broadband in your new neighborhood will be just as important as good schools, shopping and other amenities. My advice is shop where there is fiber to the home if at all possible. Next best bet is in a municipality planning fiber to home. Forget promises for the duopoly about future availability. The Telcos and the cable guys promised we’d all have fiber in place eight years ago.  Fiber will maximize the value of the home in the future.

In less than a decade, broadband has gone from a luxury to a must for many people, and for some of them, it’s started to influence their real-estate decisions. Homes that have broadband are winning out over more remote ones that don’t. Areas with better and faster broadband are becoming more desirable than ones with slower access.

Edward Redpath, a real estate broker in Hanover, N.H., said he has seen deals fall through once the buyer realizes a home doesn’t get broadband. Across the Connecticut River in Norwich, Vt., only the center of the village has cable.

“We have a lot of people that don’t go into the rural neighborhoods or consider the rural neighborhoods because they need the broadband,” Redpath said. “Our lifestyle demands speed.” (StarTribune.com)

It’s been a while since we’ve reported on the evil Q’s activities. True telco form, even the diminutive Qwest is working hard to keep up its end of the bad duopoly business practice drama. For the Q’s customers, “guaranteed for life” may end up seeming like how long you’re obligated to subscribe.

If you subscribe to any duopoly service, read the details. This is where the gotchas are hidden. in the case of Qwest’s “guaranteed for life” broadband prices offering, it comes in the for of early termination fees and a long contract. A few Qwest customers may help change this as they have sued to challenge these unjustifiable charges. It would have been much simpler to not agree to the service, but when you deal with a duopoly, there may be no other option.

Qwest’s termination fees are part of its “price for life” broadband plans offering $30 and up service. According to the complaint, residents of Washington state and Minnesota say they were charged $200 for bailing out of their broadband service.

A lawyer representing the plaintiffs says Qwest markets its price-for-life plans as requiring a two year agreement, but customers don’t sign a contract. The fees apply regardless of when a customer cancels service during those two years. The lawsuit argues that such a lengthy term requires a written agreement, and the fee isn’t a good faith estimate of what the real damages are.

Unlike wireless service lawsuits, customers canceling wireless service still have their cell phones - former broadband subscribers don’t have an expensive mobile phone to show for their commitments. (Fierce Telecom)