Can I
really have telephone service from one provider and ADSL (or ADSL 2+) service
from another – both using the same line?
The simple
answer is ‘yes’ – however this depends upon the country you are located in, the
current telecommunications laws and regulations of your country, and upon the
commercial conditions of the available telephone line and ADSL service
providers in your country/region.
In most
‘deregulated’ countries, it is possible (using a single shared 2-wire telephone
line) to receive telephone or ISDN service from one operator (typically the old
phone company – the ex-monopoly operator (also called the ‘incumbent operator’)
and an ADSL service from another operator (typically a newer, start-up – an Internet
service provider or ISP)). Put simply, the telecommunications regulators in the
affected countries have decreed that the incumbent operators must be willing to
operate ‘line sharing’ and/or line ‘unbundling’ with their competitors.
Currently
only very few operators are willing to provide an ADSL service only line
(without an associated telephone line). This is because of the regulatory
situation governing line
sharing and unbundling.