Verizon's 10, 15 Mbps DSL service is great if you can actually get it

Verizon this week introduced new 10 and 15 Mbps DSL speed tiers in its non-FiOS markets in what could be seen as another defensive play against cable. Residential and SMB customers that reside outside of a Verizon FiOS territory were pretty much relegated to the lower speed 4-7 Mbps with a whopping 768 Kbps upload. Basically, the new offerings take advantage of Verizon's deployment of ADSL2+ throughout its respective markets. Even though the Verizon speed tiers are competitively priced, they aren't without their catches. Although the new offerings are competitively priced at $49.99, if you want standalone DSL, well, you have to pay an extra $10 price of $59.99. The baseline dual-play SMB package runs $89.99 a month with a two-year agreement and $99.99 without a contract.

But the bigger limitation, when you peel back the onion a bit further, is the actual availability of the service. Given the physical limitations of copper facilities if you live beyond the 7,000 foot mark, the reality is well, you're out of luck.