The offer is the latest sign that the Baby Bells are anxious to lure customers to their new, higher-profit margin services before competitors such as cable modem, wireless or satellite technologies snare a significant portion of the market.
Alternatives based on cable networks have an early lead, however.
Analysts said SBC and US West are ahead of the pack in terms of DSL deployment. TeleChoice estimates there were 500,000 DSL lines in service in North America by the end of 1999. SBC, which operates local phone companies such as Pacific Bell, Ameritech, Southwestern Bell and Nevada Bell, had 169,000 DSL lines at the end of 1999 and claims more than 200,000 today. The company is currently adding about 1,200 new DSL customers per day, according to a spokeswoman. The so-called Project Pronto aspires to make DSL available to 80 percent of SBC's customers by 2002.