Jan Janowski
join:2000-06-18
Skokie, IL | Stupid idea
Absolutely Stupid idea! |
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The_Dude
@ferris.edu
thumbs down from:
TKJunkMail 
| BS
I think this is total BS!!!!!!!!! I just won't have Internet if they want to keep pushing shit like this!
Peace |
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veunad
What Does This Do?
Premium
join:1999-08-06
Alpharetta, GA | reply to Jan Janowski
Re: Stupid idea
There is no stopping it, unless the consumer base(s) rise up and let these companies know they will not stand for it... good chance of that happening. Eh? |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| No, no, no.
quote:
AT&T, meanwhile tells the local paper that limiting your consumption and charging you more for bandwidth is actually about making broadband better and more affordable through targeting "abnormally high usage patterns":
This is clearly NOT about targeting abnormally high usage patterns. If it was, the limit would be more like Comcast's. Just a high limit placed on the overall service to discourage abuse. This pricing structure is clearly set up with low allowances and high overage fees to encourage people to buy higher speed plans.
What's really unacceptable about AT&T's implementation is that not all customers qualify for all speed tiers. What if I only qualify for 3mbps Pro service due to CO distance, but I use 120GB per month? I'm going to get hit with a monthly bill of over $100 per month. The only way to get a cap high enough is to buy U-Verse Max - tough luck if it's not available.
--
AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
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THXULTRA
@att.net
| This is enough to make me jump
Most consumers will probably not even notice the cap but this will make me jump to another service with out caps. I can see these caps being a big issue once streaming video becomes more popular from netflix and direc tv. I have both services so may need to think about dropping AT&T for Comcast. |
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fireflier
Coffee. . .Need Coffee
Premium
join:2001-05-25
Limbo
·Skype
| Lucky Beaumont
Seems to me, AT&T chose Beaumont as an experiment to see how metered billing goes over in a market that already has metered billing on competing ISPs so they can compare the results to a market that doesn't have a metered alternative.
Assuming Beaumont's market is more favorable to AT&T, all they've got to do is arrange with their competitors to meter bandwidth as well, they move in, customers have no unmetered choice and everyone winds up on metered plans. All ISPs make more money, and everyone is happy except the customers.
Great. . .
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Tradition: Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid. --despair.com |
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callattandcancl
@ameritech.net
| Call your Reno, NV or Beaumont,TX AT&T rep and cancel
If you let them continue, they will spread this to other cities, and you will have a "class" based system of internet access. Those who can afford more data per and those who can't. Only higher income will eb able to afford the "best" part of the web (HD VOD/etc).
Since the Bell's could not force net neutrality, they did the next best thing, metered usage. And like metered usage, it should become a "utility" and thus be regulated.
I called my AT&T rep and told them to stop this idea in Reno and Beaumont, and if it continues, I will cancel my phone line, my long distance, and my DSL thru AT&T. I will get a dryloop Covad line then let AT&T continue to do this nonsense to people. They say that 5% of users are causing havoc, then AT&T, hey deal with them and do not let the rest of us have to suffer.
Reno/Beaumont users, when you are canceling your DSL service, let them know why and that the metered usage is a joke.
You can find alternate ISP's here:
»www.theispguide.com/
There may in fact be AT&T reseller ISP's who resell AT&T DSL, without the metered billing, but be sure to ask and get it in writing. |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | 28Mbps?
Anyone know what the cap on 18Mbps service is (U-Verse)? |
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fireflier
Coffee. . .Need Coffee
Premium
join:2001-05-25
Limbo
·Skype
| What? You haven't heard?
"While AT&T has been using an industry policy group and cherry picked data to suggest there's an unmanageable bandwidth crisis looming that requires a billing shift, network data from backbone operators doesn't support that, and AT&T has provided no raw data showing congestion problems of any kind"
Oh, but wait, there's this huge paradigm shift that's occurring right now what with all the streaming video and music, and pictures and firmware. So past data isn't an indicator of what's going to happen. Yeah, things are going to get really bad because of this shift and the backbone will get saturated and there will be all these bandwidth brownouts and supposedly the planet will stop spinning. . . So to insure we don't all run out of bandwidth and die when the planet stops working right, the big guys have got to resort to metered bandwidth with ridiculous markups for overages. It's the only way we'll survive!!!
I can't believe you guys haven't heard of this by now. It's in all the telco's talking points playbooks.
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Tradition: Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid. --despair.com |
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Qixotl
join:2002-02-08
New Milford, CT
| Skewing data
On the surface, choosing Beaumont as a test site just looks like an internal stunt to prove to the marketing dept. that customers won't leave AT&T in droves if caps are put in place. It is not like people are going to get better service from 5MB-40MB capped Time Warner. I am sure that this is being orated as just a quick glimpse into the future when everyone is capped, but it does feel a bit more devious.
I feel very sorry for the residents of Beaumont, TX. They are getting the snot beat out of them for no clear reason. |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
·PHONE POWER
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to fireflier
Re: Lucky Beaumont
said by fireflier :Seems to me, AT&T chose Beaumont as an experiment to see how metered billing goes over in a market that already has metered billing on competing ISPs so they can compare the results to a market that doesn't have a metered alternative. Assuming Beaumont's market is more favorable to AT&T, all they've got to do is arrange with their competitors to meter bandwidth as well, they move in, customers have no unmetered choice and everyone winds up on metered plans. All ISPs make more money, and everyone is happy except the customers. Great. . . This is where Verizon and even Comcast to a lesser extent are really throwing a wrench into things. Verizon has already came out saying they don't plan to implement caps at this time. And Comcast's 250GB cap is looking awfully good right now.
I'm serviced by both Time Warner and AT&T. Time Warner will have a tougher time moving forward with caps in SoCal when half their territory is also serviced by Verizon. They could enable caps on a zip code basis, but that would be a bit of a marketing nightmare.
--
AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
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pende_tim
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Andover, NJ
·ProLog
·ViaTalk
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to THXULTRA
Re: This is enough to make me jump
Jump to Where? If you are lucky enough to live in Beaumont TX, both of the ISPs seem to be doing the same thing. So much for competition.
Seems like some antitrust activities here.
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The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. |
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Shelleyp
@sbcglobal.net
| Time for the other big companies to fight back
The companies dependent on open pipes, such as Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, and so on, are going to have to be the ones to fight this. To many of us, this is looking more anti-trust all the time, but unless someone starts up a class action lawsuit against AT&T, there's little we, the customer, can do.
However, based on what's happening with cellphone companies, I do expect class action lawsuits, and I expect to see AT&T, Time Warner, et al, hauled into court for anti-competitive activities. The only missing pieces are the remaining bigger cable and other telcos that haven't ostensibly started capping yet.
Still, I don't think that Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, et al should be dependent on the consumers fighting their battle. Unless they're willing to step up, people are going to be buying their high bandwidth goods, not and risk paying $1 per GB, which is a deliberately inflated cost. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ | reply to The_Dude
Re: BS
said by The_Dude :
I think this is total BS!!!!!!!!! I just won't have Internet if they want to keep pushing shit like this!
Peace
Right. Cut off your nose to spite your face. |
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Noah Vail
Premium
join:2004-12-10
Lorton, VA
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to fireflier
Can you say COLLUSION?
said by fireflier :all they've got to do is arrange with their competitors to meter bandwidth as well Of course it would be illegal for you and I to engage in similar anti-competitive practices.
Must be nice being able to write your own laws for Congress to pass via donation-bearing-lobbyist.
NV
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I support Little League RollerBall.
Class Warfare and Perpetual Victimhood: Slavery for the New Millenium |
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sadbeaumontdsl
@ameritech.net
| reply to Qixotl
Re: Skewing data
That is why both Reno and Beaumont has to send a clear message to AT&T. Yes if you do this, we will leave.
Metered billing is like handling a virus plague. You have to stop it at the source, before it spreads. And yes if nothing is done, it will spread slowly, surely, and become "norm". |
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NOCMan
Verizon Fios User
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Flower Mound, TX
| Network Neutrality Back Door
So instead of slowing down competing content they're going to make competing content more expensive than their own content or those of their "Partners".
People need to start phoning their reps and the FCC to try to stop this ASAP before it's too late. If other countries can provide 100 megabit speeds to their customers at reasonable rates there is no reason it can not be done here. All this were too spread out crap is just what it is. Crap.
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Mac Chatter
»www.macchatter.net |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to fireflier
Re: What? You haven't heard?
said by fireflier :Oh, but wait, there's this huge paradigm shift that's occurring right now what with all the streaming video and music, and pictures and firmware. So past data isn't an indicator of what's going to happen. Thanks for the citation: »Past statistics don't always show future trends
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium
join:2005-06-29
clubs:
·QuantumVoice
·AT&T Southeast
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: BS
said by TKJunkMail :said by The_Dude :
I think this is total BS!!!!!!!!! I just won't have Internet if they want to keep pushing shit like this!
Peace
Right. Cut off your nose to spite your face. hey i was without internet for a month didnt bother me all that much. Alot of people are just plain hooked on the internet like a drug. |
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pende_tim
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Andover, NJ | Same BS in Rochester, NY
Time Warner (RR) is in Rochester NY and so is Frontier. Both have recently announced caps, almost in the same week. Too much of a co-incidence here.
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The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. |
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