Verizon Communications wants to use its existing customers as the feet on the street to convince cable subscribers to switch.

FiOS may be Verizon’s future, but with a loss of 135,000 DSL customers during the third-quarter–its worst reported loss to date–the ILEC wants to do something to stem the bleeding. Its answer is pretty simple: offer six months of DSL for free. Verizon will also extend the free DSL promotion to customers that choose to bundle DSL with their Freedom Essentials (local and long-distance voice …

Verizon Communications will try to boost the numbers in its DSL business by offering six months of free service to customers who commit to a one-year agreement, and the telco also announced price breaks and three months free multiroom DVR for new FiOS bundle subscribers.

Now through mid January, Internet users eager to cut ties with their cable company have a huge incentive to switch to High Speed Internet .

Verizon offers service to more than 3,000 city households, with plans to add 8,000 more. Verizon made its FiOS cable service available to more than 3,000 West End Allentown households on Wednesday morning — the first area in the city to receive the paid-television service.