ATT Raises U-Verse Pricing For Internet, VoIP, TV User notes $5 a month broadband increases.. Tipped by cdcl0pht 
After unveiling a new 24 Mbps tier, AT&T appears to be raising prices for their U-Verse service in several markets. One user writes in to note he received a notice from AT&T saying that broadband Internet prices will be increasing five bucks from their current rates starting February 1. The fine print below their current pricing page confirms. Standard pricing for Express (1.5 Mbps) will be $30 a month, Pro (3Mbps) will now be $35 a month, and Elite (6 Mbps) will now be $40 a month. Some users in BellSouth territory still say they pay close to $33, $38, and $43, respectively. Customers in our U-Verse forum say that AT&T is also raising the price for several TV packages and VoIP service in several areas. Happy New Year, U-Verse customers.
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 | | 6Mb "Elite" plan? I think maybe it's time to rename the plans. 6Mb is anything but "Elite". Does Verizon even offer a plan that slow? | |
|  |  FBGuyyippee ki yayPremium
join:2005-03-19 | Re: 6Mb "Elite" plan? you got a point here. plus they are increasing the plan prices. way to fail at&t
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| |  extreme50Formerly TwoKDialupPremium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI | E-"lite" maybe?  | |
| |  IowaManPremium
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA | I'll take $40 6 Mb DSL over 3Mb cable as the equivalent package from our cable company is $60 for 12Mb which I simply don't need.
Will drop the cable TV soon as well
($26 for 22 channels versus 50+ from Dish Network) | |
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1 edit | sorry accidental double post | |
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|  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| Just more proof they know there's insufficient competition and consumers will have little choice but to pony up--- no matter how unhappy they are with the service.
AT&T profits up despite the bad economy, but nothing is good enough for them. Must always been more, and more, and MORE.
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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 JonPremium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| Nothing here yet My bill for Dec is $119. Same as it has been since it was installed. Guess I'll see...
Did get a big 5 page privacy policy in the mail from them in an envelope that said "AT&T Annual report" or something. Thought that was a little weird. Maybe something about the rate hike is buried in there. | |
| | | What happened to lower prices for consumers? | |
| | FBGuyyippee ki yayPremium
join:2005-03-19 | Re: What happened to ha this is AT&T we are talking about. | |
| | |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: What happened to I don't think it matters if its cable, fios, uverse or satellite.... prices go up, not down. | |
| | | | FBGuyyippee ki yayPremium
join:2005-03-19 | Re: What happened to prices go up. not the value.
that spells one thing. anti-consumer.
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 KoilPremium
join:2002-09-10
Irmo, SC | Where is the competition?? Here in Columbia, SC, TWC is the main deal, pretty much, esp as ISP's go. Well, its RoadRunner, but piped through them.
Anyway, I would love nothing more than to go to AT&T or some other vendor, but AT&T doesn't even compete...it makes me think they're in corporate agreement to keep the prices the same on both sides for the same level of product.
I currently get 8mb RR Ultra and U-Verse I think is actually MORE than TWC for the same speed...how do you come into a market and not at least undercut the competition a little?
I keep thinking I am missing something, so please....someone clue me in.
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| | | | Re: Where is the competition?? Not that I agree with this, but I believe that they're competing on quality of services and the value of their brand over TWC. The U-Verse PQ is better than what I've seen from TWC in several markets ( Socal, Wisc, and Columbis, OH). Their channel lineup is better than TWC. They offer more HD channels than TWC. Their DVR is better than TWCs DVR. Also, U-Verse offers faster speeds than 8mbps, for sure. None of these ISPs/Video companies seem to compete on price and they can do this because we buy it the way they sell it. I've had both and I liked Uverse better than TWC. | |
| | | | What's U-Verse? Here in North Augusta, SC it's all Comcast or ATT DSL (max 3mb).
We're still waiting on the increased competition and lower prices down here. | |
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JonPremium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
1 edit | I don't see it I just looked at my bill and on Uversecentral and see no mention of a rate hike anywhere.
Edit: Okay I see.
From the current rates link Karl posted in the story
quote:
* Standard retail pricing on 02/01/10 will be: Express - starting at $30.00/mo., Pro - starting at $35.00/mo., Elite - starting at $40.00/mo.
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| |  gdmPremium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
kudos:3
·AT&T U-Verse
| Re: I don't see it I don't see anything about the 12meg or 18meg package getting raised or VoIP.
AT&T still doesn't get what the idea of bundling means. Also getting rid of so many freaking internet package. Honestly do we need 1.5. They should just have 3, 6, 12 and 18. When the 24 comes out maybe get rid of the 3 and lowering the pricing on all. | |
| | |  manfmmdPremium
join:2003-01-14
Earth, TX
·AT&T Southwest
 ·CMA Access
| Re: I don't see it said by gdm:I don't see anything about the 12meg or 18meg package getting raised or VoIP. AT&T still doesn't get what the idea of bundling means. Also getting rid of so many freaking internet package. Honestly do we need 1.5. They should just have 3, 6, 12 and 18. When the 24 comes out maybe get rid of the 3 and lowering the pricing on all. Some of us can only get 1.5  There is a large majority of AT&T customers that are not Served by RT's or VRAD's that have to live with 1.5, I'm one of them. So yes, please keep a "up to 1.5Mbps" tier.
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"The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan | |
| | | | gdmPremium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
kudos:3 | Re: I don't see it I'm not talking about getting rid of 1.5 ADSL. 1.5 U-verse internet because everyone can get at least 12 megs for U-Verse. | |
| | | | | manfmmdPremium
join:2003-01-14
Earth, TX Reviews:
·AT&T Southwest
·CMA Access
| Re: I don't see it You didn't specify that your comments were directed to U-Verse plans only... "Bundling" is more than just U-Verse.. I am bundling Dish, Cell, POTS, and ADSL.
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"The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan | |
| | | | | | gdmPremium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
kudos:3 | Re: I don't see it This whole topic is about U-Verse which has 3 different products TV, Internet & VoIP not ADSL, cell, Dish, etc. | |
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| |  brianPremium
join:2002-05-02
Lake Forest, CA | because 1.5 is more than enough for a lot of people. | |
| | | | gdmPremium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
kudos:3 | Re: I don't see it You guys aren't getting the point is get rid of the 1.5 drop the 3meg pricing to the 1.5. It's more trouble to have so many speed tiers. Simplify the tiers and pricing. | |
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 Killa200Premium
join:2005-12-02
Southeast TN | Prices "Some users in BellSouth territory still say they pay close to $33, $38, and $43, respectively."
I hope those are bundled prices... I'm still paying $47.95 for 6Mbit "Elite" in BS territory unbundled. Which is ridiculous for how slow it is. | |
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | Re: Prices If Qwest wasn't doing deep-discount-for-first-year promotions they'd be right along with you; dry-line "up to 7 Mbps" is $46.99. | |
| | | | I was paying $47.99 a month as well for a 6 meg naked DSL line which was terribly slow. I was lucky to even see 4-5 meg. AT&T's service is grossly overpriced in the Bellsouth region for their DSL. | |
| | |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: Prices AT&T had been saying--or delaying--that pricing in the old Bell South region would come in line with the rest of their pricing. The problem was those pesky computer systems! Gosh darn it. They just needed time to be able to drop the monthly fees. Give them time....to integrate. Sigh. | |
| | | | Killa200Premium
join:2005-12-02
Southeast TN | Re: Prices By the time they "integrate" i will be in my new house and off the Bellsouth network, thank god. Shall be trying my luck with charter, which if worse comes to worse, I'll get their business class service when they decide to mess up resi grade, lol | |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
·Comcast
| Any changes on higher-end tiers? Or is AT&T just trying to push up their ARPU by sticking it to lower-end users?
That said, I know plenty of people who would happily pay for a $30 1.5/1 connection. It's just that all of them are outside town far enough that they'll never get U-Verse. | |
| | JonPremium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
| Re: Any changes on higher-end tiers? said by iansltx:Or is AT&T just trying to push up their ARPU by sticking it to lower-end users? I'm guessing the majority of their users are on the lower tiers.
The $5 extra doesn't close the gap to the next tier enough to make me upgrade though. If Elite was going to $50, I'd probably throw in the extra $5 and move up to MAX. But the $15 per/mo difference between elite & max is more than I'm willing to pay voluntarily. | |
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| | You'll pay whatever.... You'll pay whatever they want. Until there is more competition, and there ain't gonna be any in the near future in a lot of markets, you are stuck, or get satellite  - which also sucks wind ! | |
| | | Stuck my DTIVO is going out, and the contract is about done. i am not sure i want a new NDS box from DTV (and contract, price increases, and reduced feature set), so i am looking for alternatives. UVerse is available - but with ATT being in the holiday spirit and raising the rates, that just turned me off.
hope i can get a mythtv setup and use HULU for my tv (so i can cut out as many $5 panhandlers as possible) . . . | |
| | gigantePremium
join:2000-06-30
Anchorage, AK | Re: Stuck I'm not a DTV fanboy - but from someone that had both (and if you are an HD head) the picture quality is starkly different.
Getting your TV feed via copper to the home and IP technology still leaves a lot to be desired, IMO.
But U-Verse Internet rocks! | |
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| | Looking forward to this... What a Merry Christmas this'll be. I have yet to have my pay restored, but instead I find out this morn the Evil Empire will be increasing rates  .
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|  maartenaElmoPremium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
kudos:1
·AT&T U-Verse
 ·DIRECTV
| Wow. I am so surprised. And here I thought that the telco companies would do things so differently from the cable and satellite companies....
This is huge, no one could have seen this coming!
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" | |
| | | Broadband in the US = Big fat Joke I can only repeat what i been preaching in the past ad nauseum. As long as no real competition in the US exists there will be no pressure on providers to relax pricing.
Here in Germany I pay 85€ a month for Unlimited EVERYTHING (TV Phone Internet), including unlimited POTS calls to 75% of the world (USA included) with a 50mb/10mb unthrottled unrestricted internet connection. In the Spring of 2010 another provider in the State of Bavaria comes online offering 100/100 with Flat-rate phone service for €29.95.
Many naysayers in the past have responded that the USA is so much bigger then Europe with so many more people, and therefore cant provide fast and cheap internet even in its urban zones. Fact is Europe is over 1 million square kilometers larger than the USA and has over 400 million more population. Other than greed there is no reason why the No. 1 Country in the world, as America likes to call itself, shouldn't be able to enjoy the same. | |
| | maartenaElmoPremium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
kudos:1 Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
·DIRECTV
| Re: Broadband in the US = Big fat Joke Well... a little more nuance is required. First, Europe may be larger, but you are probably counting the great Russian Plains as well, which has just as much broadband as the Mojave Desert in the U.S. - Virtually none.
Second, broadband in North/West Europe and Scandinavia is awesome. Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Danmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland all have great broadband.
But then there is the UK. They have decent broadband in the bigger cities, but it is expensive, and even slow compared to the U.S. No 50/10 connections there.
And then there are Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. Great countries to visit, I have been to all of them except for Portugal. Their broadband is mostly slower then that of the U.S., in Portugal you will be lucky if you can get a 768 Kbps connection in your village, and even Lisbon itself doesn't have connections much faster then 3 or 5 Mbps.
Greek broadband is an absolute joke, and so is that of Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia. Granted, they are not the booming economies that Germany and France have been for the last 50 years, but still, it makes your statement incorrect.
That said, I ab-so-lute-ly agree with you with pricing. There are too many companies and local governments in the U.S. that all want a piece of the pie. Where European broadband companies still have their large, unionized workforce, most companies in the U.S. utilize sub-contractors to do the work. The former has the advantage that you will have skilled workers for a long period of time, the latter has the advantage that you can easily break the contract and get rid of them - but the flip side of that is that they are much more expensive then regular employees (which depending on which union, are much harder to get rid of).
The way the U.S. "big shot" companies operate is vastly different then Europe. And there are advantages and disadvantages to both.
For instance, when I lived in The Netherlands I had pretty decent broadband, but to call the Help Desk you had to call a 20-cents-a-minute number. Also, you could not get an installer to come out on Saturdays, Sundays or in the evening. You needed to be home, basically take off the entire work day, and then they could plan you in for either "morning" or "afternoon".
My last TWC visit was on a Sunday to troubleshoot my picture quality, and when my AT&T line got crossed with another line (and thus we received calls meant for someone else), they came out at 7PM on a friday, and then again the next saturday morning. Granted, they had to come back because they screwed something up even more, but nonetheless.
I have no experience with Germany in that regards, but in The Netherlands getting anything done in a weekend or evenings..... is almost an impossibility.
And the reason for it is quite clear: Union wages are higher when an employee needs to work in the weekend or in sunday, and thus higher for the broadband company.... where in the U.S. they simply hire a sub-contractor that isn't part of any silly union, and pay a set price for work regardless of the time.
Bottom line, there are many differences between Europe and the U.S., and population and/or square kilometers are not always the deciding factor on whether broadband can be made available or not.
That said, I pay $135 for cable and internet, which gets me about 70 HDTV stations and 200+ regular SD stations (how many HD stations does Germany have again?) and another $25 for my Vonage, which also allows me to call 75% of the world's population, including India, China, most if not all of Europe.
Sure, its $160 a month down the drain. But with the current exchange rate, we are talking about EUR 110. And yeah, its just a 15 Mbps connection, but the difference isn't enourmous..... and yeah, Boise, Idaho may not have that much broadband, but neither does Lisbon, Portugal... Bratislava, Slovakia, Dublin, Ireland, or Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" | |
| | | | | Re: Broadband in the US = Big fat Joke Don't forget Poland!
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Splat | |
| | | | | said by maartena:Second, broadband in North/West Europe and Scandinavia is awesome. Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Danmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland all have great broadband. But then there is the UK. They have decent broadband in the bigger cities, but it is expensive, and even slow compared to the U.S. No 50/10 connections there. And then there are Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. Great countries to visit, I have been to all of them except for Portugal. Their broadband is mostly slower then that of the U.S., in Portugal you will be lucky if you can get a 768 Kbps connection in your village, and even Lisbon itself doesn't have connections much faster then 3 or 5 Mbps. Greek broadband is an absolute joke, and so is that of Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia. Granted, they are not the booming economies that Germany and France have been for the last 50 years, but still, it makes your statement incorrect. Russia shouldn't be counted as Europe. It's mostly an Asian country. OTOH, I'm not sure if most of the population lives on the European side or the Asian side of the country.
I have an ex-patriot friend living in Burgas, Bulgaria. He currently has 30/30 symmetrical fiber to the home for $50 a month. Of course it's 30/30 inside the country, a little slower to the EU and even a little slower to the U.S., but his speedtest results to U.S. servers was still faster than mine on UVerse ( 18/2). Go figure... | |
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| | | Head up to the NW of Germany and you will find the story much different. | |
|
 HpowerRoflmao
join:2000-06-08
Glendale, CA | Merry christmas and a happy fee raised holiday! Nice way to make everyone enjoy their holiday. And watch, another $5 a month increase in spring. "We have to raise prises to keep our amazing stable and lightning fast *COUGH* FIBER *COUGH* network up." 
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The Internet is about to go down....it is actually. | |
| Reviews:
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FiOS
| if anything, should be cut $5 especially bundled services... these telcos don't know how good they have it JUST TO HAVE SUBSCRIBERS to triple play.. they will have to LEARN THE HARD WAY by way of churn and plain old unsubscribing to overpriced services!
schmucks! at&t does not deserve $60 more a month! | |
| | | Just sad The 6mb dsl plan was at one time just $30 in my area, and that was not a contract price, that was the every day deal. If anythng 6mb should be less now. Comcast and others don't even offer a plan at this speed.
Infact comcasts economy 1.5mbps plan is now cheaper than dsl, that's just wrong uverse has caught up to comcast in crapppy prices. | |
| nishiko7Premium
join:2007-05-01
Pleasant Hill, CA Reviews:
 ·VOIPo
| This is a stupid move by AT&T, but... ... as one (or maybe a couple) posters noted, AT&T does offer a higher quality service compared to most competitors out there. SD picture quality is better, Internet (and thus also TV since it's IPTV) is super super stable, comes with a superior and free DVR on U200 or above.
So, while I think this is a stupid move for AT&T (increases churn), even at $5 more, they are still fairly competitive with most of the "competition". Unfortunately, the extra churn will just neutralize the increase. Idiots.
Plus, UVerse won't be able to compete with raw DOCSIS 3.0 internet speeds anytime soon (though easily can on stability!), so they should leverage prices against that... now they're doing the exact opposite to that. Not smart.
Like some have noted, I've also never understood the pricing of their higher tiers of Internet. Why previously was there only $5 jumps between lower tier speed doubling (6 Mbps and under), but a $20 jump from 6 to 12 Mbps, and another $10 more to the 18. made little sense to me. It's not like the VRAD's 1 Gbps fiber link can't support most users at the higher speed, especially when statistical usage models are analyzed. It's true, this increase take a step at closing this strange pricing gap if it indeed only applies to lower tiers, but they SHOULD have lowered the price of the higher tiers by at least $5 to accomplish the same, in my opinion.
Oh well, fwiw... my two insignificant cents worth... | |
|  MurdocPremium
join:2009-02-08
Manitowoc, WI
·Comcast
·AT&T DSL Service
| Shouldnt we get a discount for the spying? Or are we paying a spy recovery fee?
I also cancelled ATT because of constant pricing increases on just a landline, dealing with tech support,...you better have 90 minutes free to you in that day. I think that immunity just gave them a "blank check" to screw us even more. | |
| | | What was that about competition? As usual law makers swallow the stale BS how allowing them into the pack will create competition and lower prices. That went well as usual | |
| slckusrPremium
join:2003-03-17
Maumee, OH
kudos:1 Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Midwest
| cool Guess ill quit donating the 5$ a month to them for the ability to have 5cent long distance rates.
Net increase 0.
greed doesnt so anyone well, especially when your company is lagging behind publicly and privately maybe roll this price increase into providing better coverage with your faster speeds.
Awee hell its ATT this will just fatten the shareholders wallet. | |
| | Reviews:
 ·Clear Wireless
·Clearwire Wireless
·AT&T Southwest
4 edits | Re: cool said by slckusr Awee hell its ATT this will just fatten the shareholders wallet.
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Reviews:
·Clear Wireless
·Clearwire Wireless
·AT&T Southwest
2 edits | LD affected also I do not have V-Verse or VOIP. Being curious did I miss something in my bill regarding my DSL-ELITE nothing mentioned there. On the POTS side of the bill though I found this:
Important Information
Effective February 11, 2010, the AT&T Unlimited
Nationwide Calling Advantage 4 plan monthly
recurring charge will increase by $5.00. On the
same date, this plan will no longer be offered
to new customers. You may keep this plan until
it is discontinued entirely, or until you move or
change your service. If you move or change your
service, you must select another long distance
price plan. For more information or to discuss
other long distance calling plans, please refer
to the phone number on the front of your bill.
Thank you for choosing AT&T Long Distance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I only recently added a combo that was to lower my POTS additional services that included this. Prior to that I had contemplated dropping POTS altogether and going BARE DSL, looks like when I move next month I'll either go BARE DSL or switch to TW/RR BARE HS same price as AT&T and slightly faster down and slightly slower up, their (TW/RR) max tier here being twice as fast down slightly faster up for $10 more is looking more attractive.
The price point advantage AT&T had, has now vaporized. No longer the best bang for the buck! | |
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