AT&T Quietly Offers $10 DSL Plan

[warrior1]

http://www.kcra.com/technology/13526538/detail.html

NEW YORK -- Without any sort of fanfare, AT&T Inc. has started offering a broadband Internet service for $10 a month, cheaper than any advertised plan.

The DSL, or digital subscriber line, plan introduced Saturday is part of the concessions made by San Antonio-based AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission to get its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. approved last December.

The $10 offer is available to customers in the 22-state AT&T service region, which includes former BellSouth areas, who have never had AT&T or BellSouth broadband, spokesman Michael Coe confirmed Monday. Local phone service and a one-year contract are required. The modem is free.

[kurth]

1. Catch is slow download

There is always a fine print somewhere.

[ThomWV]

2. What do you mean by slow download?

We have a DSL line and its pretty much instant.

[bunkerbuster1]

6. 768Kbyte isn't bad

Put it this way--it's twice as fast as the slowest/cheapest cable broadband available in our area.

[madokie]

7. we pay 40 bucks a month for 450 kbytes

so 768 sounds good to me, not to mention the $10

[bunkerbuster1]

8. If it's for real, I might go for it myself

But I'm very skeptical--furthermore, I'm very, very wary of committing to even a one-year contract deal on anything.

[hobbit709]

3. Not the fastest but

if you were paying more for dialup then even 768K is a hell of a lot faster than what you had. And for many people $10/mo is more affordable.

[bunkerbuster1]

5. I really, really wonder if this is for real.

It sounds like they're making it very difficult for actual customers to go with their plan; sounds like it's all about satisfying a court agreement in letter, not in spirit.

[On the Road]

13. Trust Me, This is for Real

It's a good deal. A year of this plan costs only 3 months of cable modem rates. Unless the extra speed is really necessary.

[bunkerbuster1]

16. I'm going to look into it, then.

Changing ISPs is never fun (email address change, mostly, is a pain in the ass) but I stand to save 30/month if I go to this provider.

[bunkerbuster1]

4. hoo boy, I just read the fine print...

"To order FastAccess DSL Lite with term agreement, continue with your local phone service order, but do not order FastAccess DSL at this time. Once you have a working telephone number, visit www.bellsouth.com. On the home page enter your telephone number under FastAccess DSL to order the service."

In other words, we're keeping this double-secret, but trust us, it'll be available once you order!

No thanks.

[Buzz Clik]

9. At $10, it will be oversubscribed instantly. Speed will plummet.

Had DSL. It was better than dialup, but when we got cable after we moved to another house, it a quantum leap up. :loveya:

[Donnachaidh]

11. it already IS oversubscribed - was so when we signed on a couple of years ago

If they are basing that on what Bellsouth used to call dsl lite, it's already oversold. We very quickly went up a level, because of problems with downloading. :shrug:

[On the Road]

12. Unlike Cable, DSL Doesnt' Slow Down

when usage goes up. At least not very much.

[Buzz Clik]

14. Well, I've heard a lot of discussion from a lot of people who claim to be experts.

And I am not an expert, so the best I can do is pass along what I've heard. And the word I've gotten from those in the industry (networking pros, not salesmen for internet providers) is that both can be oversubscribed. Our DSL was squirrelly as can be -- speeds slowing to a crawl during peak usage times, and really fast in the wee hours of the morning. Our cable suffers from some fluctuations, but more like +/-25%, not order-of-magnitude stuff.

By the way, on our cable system in our house, we've had as many as eight computers cranking away for weeks at a time, and suffered no bogging down. Our average number is four at any one time...

[JTFrog]

10. Like AT&T would ever

block any request for information on any of it's users to Agent Mike for any reason :eyes:

I can't wait until my contract ends with AT&T next month.

That company doesn't do anything for the good of the people. And their acquisition BellSouth just brings us full circle again doesn't it? And just where is this all going to fit into the broad scheme of net neutrality? Are they hoping to collect more info to control the poor? Or is this not aimed at the poor? Or are they doing this because they were forced to? :tinfoilhat:

Cynical I know.

*on edit - after reading the whole article (yeah I know, quick reaction there) it seems they are being forced to do this. I don't think it's a good deal considering that it's a concession to take us back to the Ma Bell days.

[On the Road]

15. It is a Court Order

but Bell South probably had something to do with how the order was written.

The other reason is that the local phone companies are desperate to keep customers from moving to cable for voice, data, and video. I know, I work for another local telco. This is a good situation to take advantage of.

Personally, I can't believe the FCC is allowing so many parts of the old AT&T to be reassembled. On the other hand, the landscape has changed dramatically since 1984. There are many more options. I don't know why the old SBC would want a bigger share of a declining business -- it's probably the wireless companies.