dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
view:
topics flat nest 
Comments on news posted 2011-05-05 10:03:48: As we noted earlier this week, AT&T has officially shifted their residential broadband pricing to the cap and overage model. The company now caps DSL users at 150GB, U-Verse users at 250GB, and charges $10 for every 50GB over the cap users travel. ..

page: 1 · 2 · 3 · next

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

No meter!! Then OK to go over cap w/o penalty

Sounds like AT&T has given the OK to go over the cap without penalty - as long as you don't have the bandwidth meter. Of course, there is Catch 22 - how will you prove that if you go over cap and your bill shows overage charges.
moes
Premium Member
join:2009-11-15
Cedar City, UT

moes

Premium Member

meters

Meter is active here
kevsteele
join:2001-04-20
North Royalton, OH

kevsteele

Member

No meter here yet (Northeast Ohio)
podstolom
join:2010-01-25
Wichita, KS

podstolom

Member

Prices with Cappd Billing

Now that caps are slapped on data consumption, do prices go down to reflect User Based Billing (UBB)? Nope, not at all. Just overages @ $10/GB. A money grab, pure and simple.

JasonOD
@comcast.net

JasonOD

Anon

Well duh! How else is AT&T going to increase revenue while protecting their TV division. Investors would have taken them to task if they had decreased prices, they're already cheaper than cable.

timcuth
Braves Fan
Premium Member
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
Technicolor ET2251

timcuth

Premium Member

said by JasonOD :

Well duh! How else is AT&T going to increase revenue while protecting their TV division. Investors would have taken them to task if they had decreased prices, they're already cheaper than cable.

They are not cheaper than cable, here. I can get four times the nominal speed for $3 less per month on cable. And that is at the normal monthly rate, not the startup promo rate. The reasons I don't switch are 1) the wife doesn't want me to; 2) I hear as much bad stuff about Charter as I do about AT&T.

Tim

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

No meter available?

So, it's only available in certain areas.. Unfortunately, those areas also have caps implemented.

Sounds like Piss Poor Planning to me. They should have the meter available to everyone BEFORE they even start using caps.

Of course, we are talking about at&t here.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to podstolom

Premium Member

to podstolom

Re: Prices with Cappd Billing

It's only pseudo-UBB beyond the cap. Why would you honestly expect the prices to decrease?
openbox9

openbox9 to SimbaSeven

Premium Member

to SimbaSeven

Re: No meter available?

What I don't understand is why the tool is ok for some areas, but not others. Doesn't seem like it should be too difficult to poll the DSLAM ports for the users and provide the data in a nice pictorial form. several OSS, vendor proprietary, as well as commercially available tools exist to do it already. After all, if a 7ish year old Linky with free OSS firmware can do it, one would think AT&T should be able to.

Jon5
Premium Member
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL

Jon5

Premium Member

Meters Not Enabled in All Markets?

Did they hire captain obvious as their spoke person?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Monetizing dumb pipes...

Have to hand it to the Deathstar...

They've managed to remonetize dumb pipes...

Welcome back to the Prodigy and Aol days... The golden years of the Internet. Instead of being by the hour, now it's by the GB.

Sad.

wings10
I Am Legend
Premium Member
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL

wings10

Premium Member

Unlimited in the meantime

So until we have our usage meter up it is unlimited for us.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to IPPlanMan

Premium Member

to IPPlanMan

Re: Monetizing dumb pipes...

It was inevitable and has been in the works for a while now. I'm amazed that people continue to be surprised that the ISPs refuse to be relegated to measly earnings and true dumb pipe status.
Qixotl
join:2002-02-08
New Milford, CT

Qixotl to wings10

Member

to wings10

Re: Unlimited in the meantime

Yep, that is what the meter webpage keeps saying for me here in CT. I will hold AT&T to that.
The U-verse data measurement report is currently under construction. When completed, you will be notified if your usage exceeds the allowance. Until that time, U-verse customers should not be concerned about their usage patterns for billing purposes.
maubs
join:2010-02-26
Farmington, IL

maubs to moes

Member

to moes

Re: meters

No meter in Central IL.

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

maartena

Premium Member

And when it comes....

How do we really know it is accurate?

Jon J
join:2000-06-12
Nashville, TN

Jon J

Member

Meter

In my location the meter comes and goes. It is currently gone.

Once upon a time there was a "prior" selection that reported the previous month's usage along with the "history" report. "Prior" is gone, too.

This situation is so fouled up are we sure the government isn't somehow involved?
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to openbox9

Member

to openbox9

Re: Monetizing dumb pipes...

Once they provide the connectivity and the IP address there is not a single thing that any user of any ISP can't do on the internet that the ISP is not explicitly blocking. Sounds to me like they are a dumbpipe.

So I'm surprised ISP's havent just realized they are nothing more than a dumbpipe and split divisions in their companies.
LostMile
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI

1 recommendation

LostMile

Premium Member

Rollover bytes?

Do unused bits and bytes rollover to the next month?
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to Skippy25

Premium Member

to Skippy25

Re: Monetizing dumb pipes...

The point is that ISPs, and any successful business for that matter, will strive to increase their revenues. Business decisions and goals often are at odds with consumers desires. True success is realized when a business can entice customers into believing that business decisions are good for them. Or when comfortable monopolies exist...whichever occurs first

Cthen
Premium Member
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI

Cthen to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5

Re: No meter!! Then OK to go over cap w/o penalty

said by FFH5:

Sounds like AT&T has given the OK to go over the cap without penalty - as long as you don't have the bandwidth meter.

Ha, try flying that over with AT&T and see how far you get.
said by FFH5:

Of course, there is Catch 22 - how will you prove that if you go over cap and your bill shows overage charges.

What, did you really think that isn't in the TOS somewhere?

HappyAnarchy
@iauq.com

HappyAnarchy to openbox9

Anon

to openbox9

Re: Monetizing dumb pipes...

When I look at the earnings those companies have made under the unlimited plans that have been standard the last decade, one word I wouldn't use to describe them is "measly."
zipjay
join:2003-03-11
South Williamson, KY

zipjay

Member

one thing you could do...

If you dont have the meter, call them up (alot) and ask a rep how much you have used so far. mostly just to tie up customer service as much as possible. Make sure to mention that you wish you didn't have to make these calls, if only there was a way to track how much you have used.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to HappyAnarchy

Premium Member

to HappyAnarchy

Re: Monetizing dumb pipes...

It's all about growth

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski to zipjay

Premium Member

to zipjay

Re: one thing you could do...

said by zipjay:

If you dont have the meter, call them up (alot) and ask a rep how much you have used so far. mostly just to tie up customer service as much as possible. Make sure to mention that you wish you didn't have to make these calls, if only there was a way to track how much you have used.

Worst idea ever. No meter, no cap and overage. Calling them and begging for the meter will shorten that time you have cap free.

OneEye
join:2006-04-15
Peachtree City, GA

OneEye

Member

Not Metering - Central Georgia

The U-verse data measurement report is currently under construction. When completed, you will be notified if your usage exceeds the allowance. Until that time, U-verse customers should not be concerned about their usage patterns for billing purposes.

Zip: 30269 / Peachtree City, GA
en103
join:2011-05-02

en103 to LostMile

Member

to LostMile

Re: Rollover bytes?

Personally - I wish that AT&T did this with data as they do with voice (wireless).
This adds a positive incentive to keep data from going over limits vs. penalties of overages.
jkeelsnc
join:2008-08-22
Greensboro, NC

jkeelsnc

Member

Silliness

No doubt the caps were instituted because some hand wringing stockholders at the last stockholders meeting were whining that they weren't getting a fast buck quick enough and that their earnings weren't growing fast enough. Never mind that we are still in a recession. These fast buck grumps don't care about reality.

So of course the executives run around in a panic figuring out how they are going to make some fast money and finally decide on the cap idea. They devise a series of questions in a way that will give the answers they want to support the caps (weakly) and then implement them. But in the process they don't even bother to provide a reliable means for the customer to verify how much they are using (down to the last megabyte).

Well, given all of this being true it is a good thing I cancelled my service with ATT a long time ago. LOL If I had still been a customer now I would have cancelled in a heartbeat. Why should we as customers be treated this way. Take your money and go somewhere else if you can.

I was with TWC for a while but I cancelled them too because of the bill they pushed in the general assembly in NC to limit municipal broadband. Same thing again, they are looking out for themselves and not the customers they depend on for their revenue. So again, it was time to take my money somewhere else. Good riddens.

ATT and TWC? Do you realize you lost a long time paying customer who always paid on time? Does that not matter? Nope, well then don't expect anymore money out of my pocket again.
nutcr0cker
join:2003-04-02
Chandler, AZ

nutcr0cker to zipjay

Member

to zipjay

Re: one thing you could do...

worst idea ever! do you happen to work for the AT&T PR firm . Call them up if you have a meter and then make them give you the URL for your metered usage and obviously you would have problems loading the page and then ask them to give you the each usage bandwidth.

shelleyp
@sbcglobal.net

shelleyp

Anon

no meter in St. Louis

No sign of a meter here in St. Louis.

My understanding of their message is that until we have the meter, the cap isn't being applied.

If I were to get the email about overages, without access the meter, I will file a complaint with both FCC and FTC.
page: 1 · 2 · 3 · next