Cable, satellite and the phone companies are slugging it out these days in the Internet and telephone industries. AT&T has successfully taken over BellSouth, the southern monopoly phone company in the States. But AT&T had to make some concessions to the Feds in order to get the merger approved. For instance, you will now be able to get what’s called “naked DSL,” and it will cost about $20 a month. This means you’ll be able to get DSL service without needing to have a local or home phone connection. It won’t be the highest speed connection, but it’ll be “always on” and it’s cheap. Then, you can add Internet phone service and save a ton of money per year. Along those lines, Lingo is now offering phone service for $195 per year, or about $16 a month. You’ll get voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting and all of the other extras. Lingo’s offer is meant to undercut SunRocket, which had the lowest price going for a while. Sunrocket currently offers a year of service for $199, while Skype is $15 a month for a year. Clark has experience with Vonage, SunRocket and Skype, and the call quality can differ because of the Internet connection. Just remember that you have to sign up for the Skype deal by January 31, 2007.