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Comments on news posted 2013-03-11 15:48:33: On the heels of Verizon DSL rate hikes of up to $5, AT&T is informing many DSL users they can also look forward to more expensive DSL service. ..

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chamberc
Premium Member
join:2008-08-05
Addison, TX

chamberc

Premium Member

Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

How dare they set prices for the services they sell!

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David

Premium Member

I think all prices are going up.

1.) crude oil is up, therefore gas is going up.
2.) property taxes going up
3.) income taxes going up
4.) satellite/cable providers going up

I guess the dumb question is, what isn't going up?

CaptainRR
Premium Member
join:2006-04-21
Blue Rock, OH

2 recommendations

CaptainRR

Premium Member

Payrolls sure not going up!

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo to David

Member

to David
The difference is those are items of value. AT&T DSL is worthless trash to anyone that has a real choice between broadband providers.

This a perfect time for the U.S. to take a fresh look at the lack of broadband 'competition' and how overpriced it is compared to about every other country in the world.

WHT
join:2010-03-26
Rosston, TX

1 recommendation

WHT to David

Member

to David
said by David:

I guess the dumb question is, what isn't going up?

Upstream back-haul costs.

Probitas
@teksavvy.com

Probitas to CaptainRR

Anon

to CaptainRR
Confidence in politicians and lawyers....

Faith in the economy....

Quality of service....

Jobs at home vs. overseas....

buzz_4_20
join:2003-09-20
Dover, NH

buzz_4_20

Member

We'll just price-out a bunch of Loyal customers

It'll be fine for our long term plans...

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

1 recommendation

Jon5

Premium Member

Caps

"The user went to wireless where he'll face more heavily capped service with costlier overages"

So tiered of hearing people whine about caps. Not everyone downloads a terabyte of data every month. If you do, you either need to find and pay for a service that fits your needs or get a life.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

1 recommendation

tmc8080

Member

RiPOFF ALERT!

AT&T is rippping you off for 6 megabits at $51 a month!!
That in addition to caps & overages is a total ripoff! You the consumer must do something to stop this company from damaging the consumer wireline marketplace any futher!

Raptor
Not a Dumptruck
join:2001-10-21
London, ON

1 recommendation

Raptor to chamberc

Member

to chamberc

Re: Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

Many try, tough to do with AT&T and others lobby the local gov't to ban such an action. Funny how that works eh?
Bob61571
join:2008-08-08
Washington, IL

3 edits

Bob61571

Member

Which markets is AT&T doing this? What patterns do u see?

Which markets are seeing this, and which are not?

Does it depend on the Cableco competition? If so, which do they fight with, and which do they willingly surrender their customers to? Does AT&T have cable companies that they favor, and others that they do NOT like? Seems that when AT&T gives up, that the Cableco will make out like a bandit.

Is this an experiment in the former BellSouth areas, that will later roll out everywhere in the future?

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

bobjohnson

Premium Member

Doesn't matter which market. But particularly in old BellSouth areas that don't have U-Verse, T is basically handing their customers over to other companies without much of a fight.

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

Chris 313

Premium Member

Making cable seem like a bargain...

At these prices, those idiots at the bells make cable seem like a bargain for much higher speeds. Cable should be welcoming all these refugees with open arms. Maybe even taking a poke at them like Comcast has done with their recent speed increase commercials
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks to Raptor

Member

to Raptor

Re: Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

Many would argue that it's inappropriate for municipal government to be in the broadband business. Want to see the difference between private and municipal employees? Follow around a private garbage truck, then a public one, and watch the difference in haste between the two sets of employees.

I would take issue with lobbying to prevent private upstarts, but what's the problem if a state government deems it inappropriate for their municipalities to be in the broadband business? States set the rules for their political subdivisions, and with very few exceptions they can do whatever they want.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

1 recommendation

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Cable is better

Cable is better than DSL when it works. Getting them to fix things is another ball game. I've had so many problems with Comcast like getting bot notification e-mails even though I've ran antivirus software on the computers I suspect might be infected and the software said "no viruses detected".

U think its an extortion attempt to sell me signature support. If I pay to have my computer fixed, it will be at the apple store or the geek squad. Having taken college courses on computers and networking, I don't need some "technician" to read me instructions off a script (for a fee of course) for stuff I already know and I can ask for help on DSLR as well.

Their signature support is about milking consumers, I'd trust the Geek Squad or Genius Bar before I'd trust Comcast. At least Comcast is generous enough to give me free copies of Norton Internet Security for Mac with my subscription.

insomniac
Oh Yeah
Premium Member
join:2002-09-22
Naperville, IL

insomniac to tmc8080

Premium Member

to tmc8080

Re: RiPOFF ALERT!

Not everyone has a choice. My parents, for example, can get DSL but not cable.

Of course, if AT&T keeps raising its DSL prices and driving away customers who do have a choice, then it can justify eventually getting rid of the service, like Frontier obviously wants to do with the TV service in the FIOS areas it acquired from Verizon.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned) to IowaCowboy

Member

to IowaCowboy

Re: Cable is better

said by IowaCowboy:

Cable is better than DSL when it works. Getting them to fix things is another ball game. I've had so many problems with Comcast like getting bot notification e-mails even though I've ran antivirus software on the computers I suspect might be infected and the software said "no viruses detected".

That doesn't mean there are no viruses or malware on your computer.
siouxmoux
join:2007-09-25

siouxmoux to tmc8080

Member

to tmc8080

Re: RiPOFF ALERT!

I am paying $51 a mouth 12/1.5 for uverse internet. And that way to high.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned) to Crookshanks

Member

to Crookshanks

Re: Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

said by Crookshanks:

Many would argue that it's inappropriate for municipal government to be in the broadband business. Want to see the difference between private and municipal employees? Follow around a private garbage truck, then a public one, and watch the difference in haste between the two sets of employees.

Where I live we've had both and the privately run trucks the employees do a pretty poor job.
itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Carlisle, PA

itguy05 to Crookshanks

Member

to Crookshanks
said by Crookshanks:

Many would argue that it's inappropriate for municipal government to be in the broadband business. Want to see the difference between private and municipal employees? Follow around a private garbage truck, then a public one, and watch the difference in haste between the two sets of employees.

I think I'd rather have the municipal owned utility. We moved from a location that was serviced for a for-profit water company where we paid ~$30 a month for water. Now we are on a municipal owned system and pay ~$30 per QUARTER. Why? The municipality can't make a profit on what they sell us.

Raptor
Not a Dumptruck
join:2001-10-21
London, ON

1 recommendation

Raptor to Crookshanks

Member

to Crookshanks
The public v. private can always go either way depending on the services being offered, locale, time of year, etc.

The problem is apparent when you can see that it's a law been put into place only to serve existing business. Arguing that the law was put into place with the conviction that it will stave off yet another endless public money pit seems a bit presumptuous.

As per the inappropriateness, I understand that point and can certainly agree that there are instances where that would apply. The government is the government, or it should be anyway. If all is running well then they shouldn't have to get into a service that one would hope would be efficiently run by private enterprise. They should stick to what they do and run the municipality/state/province/etc. One could also argue that as time moves forward, the idea of internet access and it's level of use within our society is slowly moving it towards being a Utility (i.e. power, water, gas, etc.)

Ignoring other industries for a moment, I think many would agree that there are some very glaring and obvious examples in the residential broadband industry where the private lobby stomps on a muni start-up, lest they have to offer something better than $50/mo 5-mbit connections.

The very definition of capitalism by which a private business would be run by in an area where they may be the sole service provider steers them towards a model of how much cash can they pull in providing the lowest amount of service. A municipal upstart is something that local residents can agree on to pay for themselves (local democracy at work) assuming a value added proposal is put forth and it means better service and/or more cash in their pocket eventually.

Any provided public service can be thought of as another horse in the race. We can speak of bloat in the public sector all day, but it happens privately too. So I think that's a non-starter against muni broadband.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J

KrK to chamberc

Premium Member

to chamberc
Consumers, using the power of the free market, should just vote with their wallets and move to competitors who provide better services and cheaper rates, just as the Free market THEORY insists they can. That would solve these problems.

OH WAIT.....
KrK

KrK to David

Premium Member

to David

Re: I think all prices are going up.

said by David:

I guess the dumb question is, what isn't going up?

PAY. Standard of living. Hope for the future!

And the CPI is a complete lie. Anyone who believes inflation is 1% isn't living in the real world.
KrK

KrK to Chris 313

Premium Member

to Chris 313

Re: Making cable seem like a bargain...

Don't worry, the Cable execs will notice that too.

Que Cable internet hikes in 3....2.....1....
bimmerdriver
join:2010-12-10
Coquitlam, BC

bimmerdriver

Member

6 Mbps DSL for $51 NOT = 'Best Possible Internet Experience'

$51 for 6 Mbps is hardly what I would call the "best possible internet experience". What a load of crap. Maybe if it was 10 times what they are offering... Companies like this really deserve to get their a**es handed to them by real competition.
Kamus
join:2011-01-27
El Paso, TX

Kamus to chamberc

Member

to chamberc

Re: Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

said by chamberc:

Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

OK, you solved the riddle, now go and have a few drinks and drive home afterwards.
georgeglass5
join:2010-06-07
New York, NY

georgeglass5 to IowaCowboy

Member

to IowaCowboy

Re: Cable is better

Seriously ? You'd let someone from geeksquad touch your PC / MAC ? You haven't studied enough, if you think thats a wise choice, nine times out of ten the calls I get are from clients fed up with geeksquads shenanigans, and need the job done right. Good luck with that.
cramer
Premium Member
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
Westell 6100
Cisco PIX 501

cramer to David

Premium Member

to David

Re: I think all prices are going up.

If that's the case, why has my DSL line been $41.95 for over a decade? Inflation has certainly been ongoing the whole time, yet my Bellsouth (now AT&T) rate hasn't changed -- nor has my Earthilink/TWC service, fwiw.

The thing everyone, including Karl, are missing here is the word DIRECT in that letter... he's a dry-loop, no phone service, customer.

(The the record, I've kept the DSL line only because it has a grandfathered static IP -- and no port blocks.)
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

NoHereNoMo to Crookshanks

Member

to Crookshanks

Re: Uh... feel free to build out your own nationwide network...

Given the growing list of local and state government services and information provided only online, it's going to become more than just appropriate for every government entity to be in the broadband business, it's going to be essential--one way or another, even if it only means forcing "private" ISPs to provide service, to "put up or shut up" as it were.
Kamus
join:2011-01-27
El Paso, TX

1 edit

Kamus to David

Member

to David

Re: I think all prices are going up.

said by David:

I guess the dumb question is, what isn't going up?

The bang for the buck on information technologies, where the prices are actually dropping exponentially all the time*

Like for example, People used to have to spend thousands of dollars to get 4TB of storage capacity just a few years ago. These days all people need to spend to get that kind of storage is $170.00.

It's the same story for processing speed, where just a few decades ago the processing power that fits in your pocket used to cost millions of dollars and was actually called a "super computer"
These days you only have to spend around $300.00 to have that "super computer" on your pocket, and it's around 1000~2000 times faster.

So you see, the fact that AT&T is not only raising the prices on obsolete technology is ridiculous when the technology to deliver gigabit speeds for around the same cash exists today.

* -- Unless you're a telco that is unwilling to serve customers with new technology because they can't be bothered to spend a dime on infrastructure, since they already charge you the same with their obsolete and very soon useless technology. (and then maybe they can convince you to spend exponentially more on their wireless networks, because you know, there's a spectrum crunch and bandwidth is so finite they have to have your right eye for just a little bit of it)
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