hmmm - i didn't know the dsl wholesalers were is such poor shape due to "at-risk" ISPs:

""It has been personally very frustrating to have such a large portion of our ISP [Internet service provider] base deteriorate so quickly," said Chuck Minn, chairman and co-founder of Covad, the largest competitive Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) carrier. Fully 26 percent of Covad's installed base is connected through "troubled" ISPs, while another 32 percent is with "at-risk" ISPs. While it already had to re-report its third-quarter earnings downward $10.4 million due to these problems, Covad last week projected that it would earn $20 million to $25 million less than the $85 million it was projecting for the fourth quarter.

"These [wholesalers] are really in life support mode, and there's nothing they can do," said Adam Giansiracusa, managing director of technology stocks at Frost Securities. He explained that all of the carriers are trying to get themselves to profitability by scaling back and not growing too quickly, since their ISP customers are performing so poorly."

i'm not one for flagrant testimonials, and i've only had dsl for less than a week - but i'm totally and completely impressed by my isp, speakeasy.

not only did they give me two free months because of a delay that i admitted was likely my fault [i was screwing around with my e.mail account and brought it crashing down, just when they were trying to send me an e.mail that required confirmation to proceed with the installation], but they also sent me e.mails every other day to tell me how things were progressing:

"...covad has just informed us of your telephone delivery date..."

"...Your circuit order 824414 has been successfully delivered and tested with the local telco and you have been scheduled for a Covad installation...'

"... Your Covad install is swiftly approaching! ..."

and that's only a portion of the e.mails. currently, i've been trading e.mails with a support rep named caroline who is always prompt in responding to my doltish e.mails [ yes, i actually forgot my password, assumed that it was their fault - shot off an e.mail - only to find out 5 minutes later that i was an ass and had actually been typing in the wrong password. over. and over. and over.]

i might be going a little overboard, but i've been around the virtual block a few times and i have never seen customer service as good as this before. speakeasy gets it. they use a nice mix of automated and human interaction to deliver service. the type of service that makes people that have never written testimonials - write testimonials. so, if you're thinking about dsl and you have an option for an isp, my money's on speakeasy sticking it out. if customer service has anything to do with it.

and no, i'm not getting any free service for writing this, you cynical bastard.