How to Cancel Phone Service & Keep Internet Service
By Ernestine Hill
If you have DSL (digital subscriber line), cable, satellite or wireless Internet service, you can cancel your land line phone service at any time. The land line phone and DSL Internet service use a split line---one for voice, the other for data. Since the two operate independently, canceling one won't affect the other. DSL without phone service is called "Dry Loop" or "Naked" DSL.
Call your phone service provider to cancel your home phone line. Give the customer service representative your current home phone account number. Let them know you no longer need the voice-band line and that you wish to cancel that part of your service.
Ask what penalties, if any, you will incur for unbundling the services. Most phone service providers consider two or more services to one household as "bundled" services. Removing a service from the bundle might prompt the service provider to impose a penalty and decline to repackage any remaining services---meaning you will be billed for each service separately.
Keep all account numbers associated with the new transaction. The service representative will assign a dummy phone number for referencing your account, since the remaining services will have no link to a phone number after the disconnection. You will need this number whenever you contact your provider.
Set a date for the technician to visit your home to terminate the phone service. An adult 18 years or older must be at home on the termination date in case the technician needs to enter the house.
Log on to your computer before the technician leaves to make certain the DSL, cable or satellite Internet service is working. The technician may want to set up a new password for the service if you've forgotten the password you used initially to set up the Internet. Too, the service provider name and acquisition changes may have occurred since you first acquired the Internet. The service provider will want this reflected in their new records. The logon passwords you currently use likely won't be affected.
References
Warnings
- Some cancellation requirements may vary among service providers.
Writer Bio
Ernestine Hill has been a writer for more than 20 years and has authored travel articles, a suspense novel, computer application articles, appliance reviews and original recipes. Hill periodically writes for various websites and has published in the "Kansas City Kansan" newspaper. Hill attended the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University.