Back when it was still at&t serving as my local loop (originally SNET, then SBC after the "merger", finally at&t after the re-christening) provider, their at&t/Yahoo! HSI DSL service included, as part of the bargain, rights to use a nationwide pool of dial-up modems for those times one needed internet access but one's DSL modem was unavailable for use, rights that came in mighty handy when in a strange town's Motel 6 on a business trip, or when troubleshooting an errant DSL modem/gateway/router device.
In particular, to adapt the message Yahoo! Answers provides when asked
: Well, first, you're just accessing at&t dialup, not DSL. Enter your area code : at the site to find : access numbers. at&t's terms of service allow you to have a simultaneous : dial and DSL connection active on your account. So if you're traveling and : using dialup, your family at home can still be using the DSL line without : violating the terms of service.
But late last year at&t sold over all its formerly-SNET local loop business to Frontier Telecommunications, the promise to customers having been that their services and their pricing would remain unchanged.
That promise has been broken at least three ways, so far as I'm concerned:
1) My monthly bill (excluding actual calling time) has risen by about 30%; 2) My DSL speeds, rated for about 750 Kbps, are now in the 300 Kbps range; and 3) Having tried to use my local DUN modem-pool numbers from that "openPhone" list only to learn there was no longer any account provisioned with my AUTH data, I called Frontier for help with that, only to learn from the Frontier rep I spoke with that backup DUN service through nation-wide modem pools was *never* part of the service they took over from at&t.I'm flabbergasted most by item #3, no DUN back-up if DSL fails somehow. Could that be an issue for my local PUC? or for the FCC? Advice (even from those who must invoke the IANALB boilerplate) welcomed.
Thanks. Cheers, -- tlvp