If you folks recall, many analysts predicted the telcos would be leading the cable industry in overall broadband adoption totals by now, but they aren't. A report (pdf) by Information Gatekeepers argues that the longer install times of U-Verse and FiOS and a neglect of traditional DSL offerings are having a negative impact on both telcos. Verizon added just 19,000 DSL customers last quarter and 264,000 total, the lowest total since 2003:Why does that matter? If the total number of subscribers is lower, they have a harder time offsetting the massive exodus of landline customers. If both AT&T and Verizon are neglecting traditional DSL in cable markets, they're losing customers in an industry that's now about locking customers into long term multi-year contracts.I'd imagine that Verizon's new focus on urban FiOS should speed things up. I've mentioned this before, but ironically the very local franchise rules the baby bells lobbied to disable could come back to bite them. Under the old system, cable was often forced to deploy broadband to rural communities. Under the new system, the telcos can cherry-pick next-gen deployment locations. But if they intend to focus primarily on major markets and largely neglect massive swaths of their DSL networks, that gives cable a major competitive edge in a lot of towns and cities.