DSL provider Covad Communications this week launched a program designed to assist DSL customers trying to switch their service away from failing ISPs.
Called Covad Safety Net, the program lets users designate a Covad ISP reseller, or Covad's direct DSL arm, Covad.net, as their new provider. Customers will be charged no fees as a result of the service switch. DSL users must check Covad's Web site to see if they are eligible for the program.
Covad Chairman Charles McMinn says the goal of the program is to keep DSL users connected.
"Our main concern is that they continue to get service from someone," he says. McMinn notes some ISPs have approached Covad to ask if Covad could take over their DSL customers. He cited HarvardNet, which recently announced it is leaving the DSL business, as an example.
One group of DSL users that Covad will have trouble helping is customers of ISPs that have filed for bankruptcy. McMinn says that since the customers are considered assets of the bankrupt ISPs, they cannot be released without a judge's permission.
Although certain ISPs may pick up users' existing DSL contracts, most ISPs will likely require customers to sign a new contract, McMinn says.
Adam Guglielmo, an analyst with telecom consultancy TeleChoice in Denver, says Covad Safety Net should appeal to any customers of ISPs that may be exiting the DSL business.
"There's definitely a concern out there with customers being dropped, because some of these ISPs are changing focus or going out of business," he says.
Covad: www.covad.com
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