Chief Family Officer: I believe pricing is at what the market will bear. The more Local Exchange Carriers there are, the more competitive pricing will be. I suspect that where I live, there aren’t that many LECs operating. (Also technically, I get my service from the existing RBOC entity, aka Regional Bell Operating Company. The formal term now I guess is ILEC, Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier)

Clever Dude: I never, ever, EVER read your site. Clearly you don’t read mine either. I just posted that I don’t trust VOIP service. I will never use cable as a phone provider. What’s the point of Comcast to me anyway? I don’t own a tv and don’t need their endless marketing crap to buy more of what I don’t need. I suppose I could ask them for dry loop DSL service, but I don’t trust the cable company to set it up properly and it would require some new equipment. UGH. After the work week I’ve had, I’d rather gouge out my eyeballs than deal with hardware.

Some things to note:
- I get dry loop up here in MD for 26.99 per month final price. It’s the 768kbps. I also have Vonage and it mostly works fine at that speed.
- If you drop your phone line and add dry loop DSL, they’re going to renew your 1 year contract and charge the ETF if you cancel. I’d like to switch to cable internet for the higher speed, but I have to wait till spring.
- They’ll require your CC to bill it each month.

There’s other nuances, but if you just don’t need the home phone, then think about it. But also consider the early termination fee, and maybe look into cable internet prices (there’s always specials)