We recently noted how AT&T's U-Verse expansion is essentially over, and if you haven't seen your market upgraded yet you probably aren't going to. So what happens to a little less than half of their current customers still on older DSL technology? Like Verizon -- who offloaded millions of users in somewhat ugly deals with Frontier and Fairpoint, it appears that AT&T is looking to sell off many DSL markets and keep their focus on wireless.

AT&T's recently on record stating that they can't find an "economically viable" way to upgrade these users, despite a looming increase in faster and less expensive last mile DSL technologies. The company's also recently on record stating that they believe DSL is "obsolete" -- a troubling claim since that's their primary product. According to the latest DSLPrime newsletter from Dave Burstein, all signs point to the fact that AT&T's gunning to sell many DSL markets off, provided they can find a buyer. The sale could involve anywhere between 10 and 25 million DSL lines. AT&T would then follow Verizon's lead and focus on selling capped, expensive LTE service to many more rural users, who primarily have the choice of slow, overpriced satellite, or slow, over-priced DSL (both, if they're "lucky"). The complete lack of interest in upgrading DSL lines in more than half of the United States is great news for cable companies, who'll be able to jack up rates for a decade as the only ISPs in many markets capable of anything close to next-gen speeds.