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AT&T's Own Metered Billing Plans Move Forward
Users in trial markets not told of caps until AFTER signing up?

Time Warner Cable may have slightly buckled (for now) on their plans to institute low caps and high overages, but AT&T is still testing their own metered billing system in Beaumont, Texas, and Reno Nevada. A DSL user near Lake Tahoe complains to GigaOM that users in this market aren't told about the caps until after they sign up for service. AT&T has been fortunate to have Time Warner Cable as a PR firewall for consumer complaints, though the plans are largely similar. Like Time Warner Cable, AT&T wants to charge users $1/GB overages, though AT&T's highest cap is 150GB -- 50GB higher than Time Warner's top proposed offering. However, AT&T's 150GB cap is only for users within range of U-Verse -- AT&T customers on vanilla DSL connections get caps ranging from 20GB to 80GB a month.

Update: AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom tells us that existing customers in the two trial markets who exceed 150GB in a month become part of the trial automatically. If that happens, those users get the 150GB cap, no matter what tier they've signed up for. AT&T says they also warn customers at 70% of an account's maximum usage, and have provided these trial markets with usage monitors.
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Lokro
Premium Member
join:2002-12-28
Loveland, CO

Lokro

Premium Member

blah

Just a matter of time before all these companies band together and set up this metered billing so we can't complain by switching broadband providers.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO
·Google Fiber

me1212

Member

Re: blah

You never know, some may not just so they can make money off the costumers that switch from the ones that do.

Now if metered billing was like: $10 for 10m a month and $0.20 per GB then I think people would be more ok with it, it is just the way these two are doing it that gives a bad name.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Re: blah

The problem with that business model is that the customers who would switch to avoid the caps are the ones who want to consume large amounts of bandwidth, thus making them more expensive customers. In the case of TW, with their "we can't afford to do it right" network issues, losing those customers is probably a bonus rather than a problem.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212

Member

Re: blah

Not all who would switch are big users, and for the ones that are just put them on a PAYG plan, some(like me) would switch if their ISP was crazy like that even if I only used 15GB per month.
vinnie97
Premium Member
join:2003-12-05
US

vinnie97

Premium Member

Re: blah

said by me1212:

Not all who would switch are big users, and for the ones that are just put them on a PAYG plan, some(like me) would switch if their ISP was crazy like that even if I only used 15GB per month.
Not crazy per se' but greedy.
jtorre69
join:2005-12-26
Hollywood, FL

1 recommendation

jtorre69

Member

Re: blah

Its not greed, it's based on principal. Why are caps being placed in the first place?? It's not because of high bandwidth consumption. They are simply protecting the pay tv model. If they place caps I will change providers. If there is no alternative, I will do without.

one_bored_si
join:2003-03-10
Montebello, CA

one_bored_si

Member

Re: blah

You sir are a brave man, I wish you well.

JoeBobJr
@charter.com

JoeBobJr to jtorre69

Anon

to jtorre69
said by jtorre69:

They are simply protecting the pay tv model.
What pay TV model is AT&T DSL protecting?

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

KrK

Premium Member

Re: blah

said by JoeBobJr :
said by jtorre69:

They are simply protecting the pay tv model.
What pay TV model is AT&T DSL protecting?
U-verse. Duh. Before U-verse "No caps, no throttling." After U-Verse Telco-TV "Caps are REQUIRED".
rid0617
join:2003-07-20
Greer, SC

1 recommendation

rid0617 to jtorre69

Member

to jtorre69
That is my opinion. I will not deal with caps, I will not pay overage charges. Tired of corporate greed. I lived without internet, I can live without it again. Some can't but when your pushing 60 you can live without anything that gets too expensive.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

1 recommendation

fiberguy2 to Camelot One

Premium Member

to Camelot One
said by Camelot One:

The problem with that business model is that the customers who would switch to avoid the caps are the ones who want to consume large amounts of bandwidth, thus making them more expensive customers.
Not always true. I'd switch just for the principle of it. The reason I pay Sprint $99 a month for my cell phone service is I'd rather not be surprised with a bill, nor is "my experience" going to be ruined by always feeling bad anytime I press the CALL button on my phone. I'm always going to feel rushed, if I'm going over my minutes, how much it's going to cost, etc. In the end, I feel even worse becuase I paid for, say, 450 minutes, and often go under.

Because of that, my over all feeling about using the service diminishes becuase I now feel like I got even less now since I would have paid for X amount of use and becuase of "fears" I ended up using even less. Because of a CAP, now they are making even more money out of the less use due to these fears.

For this reason, and even though I do not go over the Comcast 250 cap, for example, I'd switch in a heart beat if there was metered billing. As it is, I have Qwest for DSL and Comcast for their Modem service.. if Comcast became a thorn in my side, ... bye bye!

Also, as for your TWC statement.. considering it costs about $7 a month per HSI sub, they're far from losing money. To lose a subscriber would in fact hurt them, not help them. Those that do 'over consume' are far outweighed by those who under consume... and THAT is what Congress needs to be looking at.

lovswr
join:2001-09-15
Riverview, FL

1 edit

lovswr

Member

Re: blah

said by fiberguy2:

said by Camelot One:

The problem with that business model is that the customers who would switch to avoid the caps are the ones who want to consume large amounts of bandwidth, thus making them more expensive customers.
Not always true. I'd switch just for the principle of it. The reason I pay Sprint $99 a month for my cell phone service is I'd rather not be surprised with a bill, nor is "my experience" going to be ruined by always feeling bad anytime I press the CALL button on my phone. I'm always going to feel rushed, if I'm going over my minutes, how much it's going to cost, etc. In the end, I feel even worse becuase I paid for, say, 450 minutes, and often go under.

Because of that, my over all feeling about using the service diminishes becuase I now feel like I got even less now since I would have paid for X amount of use and becuase of "fears" I ended up using even less. Because of a CAP, now they are making even more money out of the less use due to these fears.

For this reason, and even though I do not go over the Comcast 250 cap, for example, I'd switch in a heart beat if there was metered billing. As it is, I have Qwest for DSL and Comcast for their Modem service.. if Comcast became a thorn in my side, ... bye bye!

Also, as for your TWC statement.. considering it costs about $7 a month per HSI sub, they're far from losing money. To lose a subscriber would in fact hurt them, not help them. Those that do 'over consume' are far outweighed by those who under consume... and THAT is what Congress needs to be looking at.
fiberguy I have to respectfully, disagree, with your assessment that USWorst is the best of the RBOC's. In my opinion that distinction falls to Verizon (ne. Bell Atlantic). Furthermore in my opinion, it is a close race between SNET (Southern New England Telephone & USWest as the all around worst regional telecommunications company on the face of planet Earth.

My fondest memory of US West was in '99 or '98 when they went on strike. They were the always the slowest to respond, fix/resolve their issues. I know a lot of that had to do with the fact that they had/have the largest geographical area, but the attitude of the typical US West employee is what, IMHO, reserved a special collective place for them in Dante's Hell.

edit: My response was to a fiberguy post below. I have no idea how the response got way up here.

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s to Camelot One

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to Camelot One
said by Camelot One:

The problem with that business model is that the customers who would switch to avoid the caps are the ones who want to consume large amounts of bandwidth, thus making them more expensive customers. In the case of TW, with their "we can't afford to do it right" network issues, losing those customers is probably a bonus rather than a problem.
It's not a bonus but a risk that the ISP is taking. They may get rid of the so called high bandwidth customers but the ISP's make money on other things as well like advertising and videos. They may cut down on the expense of upgrade costs but they are taking a risk of losing money from other things.

You can't say there high bandwidth users since I believe that is a myth. The internet is growing and expanding every year. You can do more now on the internet then you could 10 years ago. The problem we have is some companies are having a hard time keeping up with that expansion. Japan can offer 10-20 times more the speed we can, have almost terabyte caps, and all at the same price. We really have to look at what the underlying discrepancy is and how to solve it.

The question would be, is it really beneficial for the ISP's to have caps and for people to use the internet less?
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: blah

One of the big differences between US and the rest of the world is that we have the most offering in the video line. We have FAR more channels available than other countries and there is a desire to protect the video business. Video, currently, is what anchors business. You can certainly see that in the fact that Telephone was chomping at the bit to get into that business. Also, Satellite is still dumping money into essentially what is an outdated delivery model to stay alive. The thing that holds satellite together, in my opinion, is their HD offerings right now AND they are an alternative to people who don't like cable, or those that owe cable money/bad debt.

While the internet is growing, it's not growing as much as people think it is. Really, it's still the same internet that it was a long time ago. Other than it's moved more into a higher data use, it's still just the internet. The amount of data, removing video, that a consumer can use is about the same. People still email, surf the web, chat, maybe cam with others... and they can only do so much with their focus as 10 years ago. What HAS changes are video rich sites like Youtube.

Faster speeds are really only beneficial when content is heavier, which it is getting. But, the more people that try to put information on the net.. it doesn't matter. People can only consume/view so much content at a time.

Caps are not necessary. I will concede that they are there to protect a business model.. but I'm going to contradict myself for a quick second. Caps ARE necessary, but not to the majority of people. They DO need to define what "too much" is for residential. Until the networks can be built out, they have to still manage what they have to offer. Caps, in my opinion, are okay, for now, but only for now. They need to come off in the near future.

Companies like AT&T and other telco's that basically own their connections through and through are doing it out of pure greed. Those that have to buy their connections DO have to manage their costs. However, caps are not the answer, really. The best way to deal with protecting profits to be able to invest into the network.. RAISE THE PRICE OF THE INTERNET. Be honest. Dropping the prices so they have a better price to market, ie: the loss leader, is pure crap. People come here DAILY and admit how important the internet is to them and all it does for them. Well? .. time to price it accordingly. An internet connection, for speeds above 1meg, should be priced more along the line of $60+ per month.
Lazlow
join:2006-08-07
Saint Louis, MO

Lazlow

Member

Re: blah

fiberguy

Without commenting on the rest, monthly caps do NOT address the problem that ISPs are facing today, congestion. Both hardware and transit costs are based entirely on Peak bandwidth. So any GBs(no matter how many) downloaded during off peak hours costs the ISP absolutely nothing (0) extra. If they actually want to address the issue they have the option of using a proticol agnostic throttle during peak usage hours. This would actually address the issue.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: blah

Lazlow, I rarely ever agree with you, as in the case now.

What addresses the issue is simply putting money into the network where it needs to be invested.

The amount of money generated by the industry which is knows as "the internet" is plenty enough to expand capacity and get rid of these bottlenecks.

This issue, to be honest, is FAR more complex and lengthy than I care to get into with anyone on BBR. So, I'll leave my point at that.
Lazlow
join:2006-08-07
Saint Louis, MO

Lazlow

Member

Re: blah

Fiberguy

I agree with you that if they would reinvest in their network the congestion issues would go away. That just do not seem to want to do that. I also agree with you that there is plenty of money being made(so it is not like the money is not available).
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: blah

There is one thing, now, that is most absolutely for certain.. they are in fact trying to protect their other business lines.. which I don't disagree with. (Talking last mile carriers here for a moment)

There is a VERY simple solution to this problem... and no one will like what I have to say. If Video is being cut into, for cable, and phone is being cut into for the telcos, by their internet services, then simply raise the price of stand alone internet services.

In any business, you need to have a certain base line invoice per customer to survive. If everyone ditched video and telco from the providers, took only internet and got their vid/tel from net providers, then the carriers could not survive off the diminished revenue, and that's a fact. What happens is the cost to operate JUST (or primarily) an internet service goes up.

Simple solution: Raise the base price of the internet. Very easily, too.. and again, no one will like this. But, if you are just an internet customer only, then you should be paying far more for internet, upwards of $60 to $80 per month for internet. With another service, then apply a bundle discount.

It still costs to maintain a last mile network no matter what services go through the lines. People don't like to hear the truth, but the truth is simple.. they lose revenue, then the other services now all the sudden cost MORE to provide.

In the name of competition, this has set pricing points in dishonest ranges for the purpose of advertising. Cable has largely always been honest about pricing their internet at the $45 mark while DSL plays the marketing game by pricing DSL at the $20 mark. This is why most don't want to un-bundle the phone from DSL and why ATT priced DSL alone at $1 less than phone/DSL combined.

The providers need to be honest about pricing their products... however, again, in the name of competition, and to risk collusion charges, they're in a mess and having a hard time digging out of it as well. In a way, this is why I have always said that competition can be both good AND bad for the consumer.

But.. like I said.. you take the millions of consumers with internet, slap another $10 charge on the price of it, per month, multiply, and I think you have MORE than enough to invest into bigger networks.. then, ultimately, the price will/should fall again. We've also had 10 years, or about, under our belt to understand what the internet is doing for us as a society. They KNOW what to put into the network to accommodate what people want from it. If the people want a better network, and one that works for them, when or if a price increase, with in reason, comes about (and I'm not talking about caps and meters) then they need to be ready to pay for it and also be reasonable in the process. Nothing, comes from nothing. Consumers have to be willing to pay for what they get, and right now, many are not paying enough.

jsz0
Premium Member
join:2008-01-23
Jewett City, CT

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to Camelot One
TWCs caps were simply too low. It was clearly a revenue generating scheme -- not a method of driving unprofitable customers away. I do entirely agree though -- caps done properly should only effect the top 1% at most and exist as a "take it or leave it" system. When you have one customer using 10x the bandwidth of a average customer it's pretty easy to see how losing that customer's $40/month or whatever is more desirable since you can hold off on upgrades until you're making 9 * $40 off average customers and reaching the same capacity level. (either at the edge or locally on the HFC side)

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

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to Camelot One
The profit margin for cable companies on broadband is attractive. Basically, a customer, even a high usage customer, is profitable, and losing them to the competition is a huge negative.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72 to Lokro

Premium Member

to Lokro
said by Lokro:

Just a matter of time before all these companies band together and set up this metered billing so we can't complain by switching broadband providers.
We'll see what they say when Netbooks and 4g are ubiquitous. Sure, ATT and VZW won't offer plans to compete with their terrestrial broadband options, but I guarantee that Sprint will use WiMax to compete with terrestrial cable and DSL offerings.

At the current pace of price competition and innovation that's going on in the wireless industry, vs stagnation and collusion in the copper/coax industry, we may just see unmetered (albeit slower) wireless broadband right around the time all of the carriers adopt metered broadband on a national scale.

And that's assuming the Dems in Congress don't threaten price regulation.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212

Member

Re: blah

There is one capless mobile wireless internet provider I know of, granted its a reseller.

jadebangle
Premium Member
join:2007-05-22
00000

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to Lokro
said by Lokro:

Just a matter of time before all these companies band together and set up this metered billing so we can't complain by switching broadband providers.
Its time to stop using the internet...
Your choice
Your world
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

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Member

to Lokro
Isn't that called collusion? I agree that they would WANT to do this, but it's not supposed to be legal to do so...

lurker9
@bellsouth.net

lurker9 to Lokro

Anon

to Lokro
just a thought...
what happened with AOL in the late 90's? they were charging for broadband. but, people were fed up when they were being charged for the mandatory downloads.

whenever you go to a web page, there is some actual content there - and the junk advertisements. who is going to pay for that? is the advertising a free download? or somehow excluded from the caps? if i have to pay - should i just go and block sites like doubleclick.net? if so, how will those sites stay alive? will i have to pay to both the ISP AND my currently favorite blogging/news site?

can i browse ebay? ebay emits a lot of javascript to my browser for the nice Ajax/Web 2.0 technology. how is that going to work? can i turn it off so i can browse longer?

and how about the monthly mandatory microsoft security patches? "can't play internet - have to choose between a safer computer and ebay"

and who is going to help out with the VPN charges to my office. or webex's? or gotomypc.com to fix my infected computer? are we going back to the old days where a virus was designed to simply incur billing? like the old dialup modem viruses of the 90's?

how about the basics of the internet. everyone needs an IP address - and usually they get it via DHCP. who is going to pay for that traffic?

I can see a day where AT&T/TWC is a little short on funds, and "accidentally" causes every DHCP address to expire every 60 minutes, causing a huge amount of network traffic - pushing some people into an "overage" situation.

According to economists, protectionism doesn't work. Anti-protectionists say it wouldn't work with the outsourcing of jobs (think telecom) in the USA (now we buy everything except beer and hookers from china). Protectionists would have preferred to have all of the (think telecom) jobs remain in the USA - but "smarter" people knew better. are we simply protecting our free internet? or is there proof that by making an unlimited good (jobs/internet data) scarce (thru outsourcing/caps) a better experience/society?

in the end - the data caps are similar to leasing your car- or more precisely - your cell phone bill. with the exception of rollover minutes, you pay for xGB per month. at the end of the month, you lose your unused portion. kinda like with the lease - unless you drive exactly 36k miles for a 3 yr lease, you lost money. if you drive 36001 miles, you lost money. that is how these plans are being structured. also, if you drove 35999, you lost money.

Cell phones are the same. it is a radio signal that is always there. they don't turn off the cell towers at midnight - nor do they ignore over-congestion. they add more cell towers to certain areas to handle the traffic. do you think ATT has the same cell capacity in times square as it does in downtown reno, nv? i would believe that times square has more capacity - and i haven't been shown a plan to increase my cell bill to upgrade reno to the same level.

if you have a voice, speak out. their plans doesn't make sense for the consumer at all. but, once it is in place, the internet will be too expensive for me.
slckusr
Premium Member
join:2003-03-17
Greenville, SC

slckusr to Lokro

Premium Member

to Lokro
add a cap lose a customer.

add a cap and offer me television service you'll keep a customer.

My local cable company doesnt have caps, and offers me tv service ( less of a need to stream my tv shows,even with my disliek of my local cable company i dont want to have to worry abotu what im downloading,playing,doing on my internet)
Gman94
join:2007-11-01

Gman94

Member

Have fun, US.

You know what's sad? It makes me feel good to know that Canada isn't the only country getting totally screwed by their ISPs nowadays.

GO failmerica
@telus.net

GO failmerica

Anon

Re: Have fun, US.

Its funny the usa is starting to shift to a canadian style F U system. Telus's limit 60g shaws limit 60g. Conspire much? It's clear the the goal is to force people to pay for tv rather then entertain themself's on the Internets. Thats why i hope verizon rolls out fios all the way to the great white north so one day we can have broadband(3mps is not longer considered such)

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

1 edit

Transmaster

Member

So Much for watching

TV on their system. I watch a great deal of off shore television and these caps would put an end to that. I wonder when Qwest is going to try forcing this crap on us.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran

Premium Member

Re: So Much for watching

Given that both AT&T and Qwest are members of anti-neutrality astroturf group Hands Off the Internet (AND they don't hide behind fronts), I'd say "soon."
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: So Much for watching

said by sivran:

Given that both AT&T and Qwest are members of anti-neutrality astroturf group Hands Off the Internet (AND they don't hide behind fronts), I'd say "soon."
I'd honestly have to disagree. Qwest, formerly US West, has been the BEST of all major providers at keeping their hands off of the internet product. They, of all, offer the most tools and support for people to use their services the way they want. They also don't have in place, like the others did, that you have to have a business account in order to use static IP or reverse DNS.

The biggest problem with Qwest is the former CEO raped the company and now they're having a hard time beefing up their system to keep up with the rest.

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I DESPISE Qwest as a phone company. However, honestly believe that with their current attitude towards the customer that of all providers, if they were given any money by the govt to help build out and enhance their network, they, of all of the providers, would offer the best services and options of all of them. (let the daggers fly now) I know everyone that has a beef has their own personal reasons.. but so far, Qwest/USWest, was the first to offer DSL, they had the most features before others, they were the first to disconnect the phone line from the DSL line, they were the first to do away with forced contracts for internet services, they offer the most transparent support for networking with DSL.. they just made some other bad mistakes in their time is all.

I honestly hope they do well. Right now, I'd say they are the least of the evils out there.
viperlmw
Premium Member
join:2005-01-25

viperlmw

Premium Member

Re: So Much for watching

I would also point out that Qwest has no video offering (other than Directv, which doesn't really count) to compete with online video. CEO Ed Muller made it clear about a year ago that Qwest will NOT be doing tv. He intends Qwest to be the pipe, as much as you can milk out of copper, for online video use, primarily on the download side.

On a side note, WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING IN DENVER about selling the IXC business? That's basically selling classic Qwest, and reverting back to US West, but with NO video, NO wireless, NO yellow pages, and TONS of debt. WHAT THE HELL!!!
HexCalamity
join:2005-03-16
Salem, OR

HexCalamity to fiberguy2

Member

to fiberguy2
said by fiberguy2:

... they were the first to do away with forced contracts for internet services, they offer the most transparent support for networking with DSL.. they just made some other bad mistakes in their time is all.

I honestly hope they do well. Right now, I'd say they are the least of the evils out there.
Thats semantics on their forced contracts. If you don't want to pay 5-10 more a month or with some package deals they require you to sign up for a 2 year contract. Dont get me started on their 8/month modem rental rate either.

I'll admit I'm biased as I've had many annoyances with them in the past and their basic landline costs me $30 just with basic caller id, unlimited local and eh .10 min long distance. Their idiocy with long distance in the past, especially the fee if you didnt use it each month cost them my business for years. Now its just convenience to have their long distance and since they dont charge me a fee I subscribe to it.
rid0617
join:2003-07-20
Greer, SC

rid0617 to Transmaster

Member

to Transmaster
Check out free to air television. I cut the cord to cable and directv and bought one of these. In the SE I receive over 500 channels legal and free. About 200 of them speak English.

doublea
join:2007-06-04
Rancho Cordova, CA

doublea

Member

what a joke

Mark my words ATT I WILL CANCLE if you inpose a cap on me.

150gb for mx 18 internet what a joke?

How come uverse tv data useage is not included in the cap? it uses data too. Infact wathcing/recording 5hrs of hd on your tv uses over 1TB of data on the att network, its all a about the MOLA.

hello local ISP sonic.net

Im not full of hot air, I have an uncapped local alturnative!

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firefox
Premium Member
join:2000-12-03
Sunnyvale, CA

firefox

Premium Member

Low traffic hours

I still don't understand how the caps and overages can still apply if the user downloads/uploads during low-traffic hours. However much I research this, there does not seem to be any granularity or information on this point presented by the ISPs.

•••••••

Uncle Paul
join:2003-02-04
USA

Uncle Paul

Member

Wow

Glad I switched to Comcast recently. We watched 4 streaming movies off Netflix on our Tivo this weekend, downloaded a purchased CD from Amazon, and re-installed/patched Warhammer Online... that's like 30GB or so in one weekend.

Of course I don't know how much I could have done had I remained on the highest ATT DSL offered in my area... 3mb.

••••••

kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL

1 recommendation

kapil

Member

I've said it before...

...and will say it again. Given two options, AT&T will always pick the most stupid one. Always.
vinnie97
Premium Member
join:2003-12-05
US

1 edit

vinnie97

Premium Member

Re: I've said it before...

Yep...first, copper and now, caps. The Deathstar must be breached.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Review them!

As it happened, right after I posted, I saw a message at the top of the page from DSLR asking me to consider reviewing my ISP. I hadn't thought of doing it before, but I think I will now, and I'm going to include a word of warning about this plan for anyone considering getting AT&T. I'd like to encourage everyone else to do so as well. We may be tech geeks here, but our opinions influence a whole lot of other people, so let's make sure everyone who investigates AT&T's service on DSLR is fully aware of what's going on.
anderboy
join:2007-07-23
Leander, TX

anderboy

Member

Better Metering

I, for one, like fair pricing models. But simple caps aren't the solution. They need to charge per-packet based on your link speed, packet size, packet length, QoS priority (if supported), and current network conditions (AKA demand). Unfortunately ISPs want a simple solution, and not a fair one.
The internet really needs a new network protocol that is billing-aware. I'll dub this IPv$.

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trebzon
join:2001-09-03
Grandville, MI

trebzon

Member

AT&T

I have no great love for AT&T or Comcast my only two choices. I will dump AT&T DSL if this hits my market. Will have to go back to Comcast for a reasonable cap.

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hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Do what was done to TW.

Getting to the point where internet is too much BULLSHIT anymore. Isp want to play cap games. Lets all piss them off and unplug for a while see if they start to crying then.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx

Premium Member

Re: Do what was done to TW.

Unfortunately my two choices are AT&T U-verse and Time Warner. There are smaller, independent ISP choices, but they generally resell AT&T, and would require going back to DSL speeds and would require a contract to get passable pricing. I'm not willing to shoot myself in the foot like that yet.

I did take this situaton under advisement when deciding what to do with my phone services though. I went with an independent voice provider, PhonePower, instead of AT&T U-verse Voice. That will faclilitate switching ISPs should it become necessary.

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

1 edit

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Re: Do what was done to TW.

said by djrobx:

Unfortunately my two choices are AT&T U-verse and Time Warner.
Im in the same boat you are in att vs tw. Uverse here will not launch for 5 more years i was told by a field tech here.

i guess we are both screwed.

Alan70
@comcast.net

Alan70

Anon

I was all excited about UVerse almost here....

I've been tracking a new VRAD AT&T installed here with much anticipation and excitement. But now, I feel totally deflated. I will now hold off and keep my Comcast (w/halfway reasonable 250 GB/month cap) instead of instantly jumping to UVerse, at least until I hear AT&T abandons the trial as unsuccessful. I **REFUSE** to support any company that has such low caps unless perhaps it is structured MUCH differently (MUCH lower overage charges... like 20 cents/GB). When these companies get a GB for around 3-5 cents/GB, it is unthinkable how they can turn around and try to charge us $1 or more per GB. Unbelievable!
As others have pointed out, this is ALL about greed and also protecting their video business. Instead of adapting, they end up scr**ing themselves in the long term by such short-sighted, dumb moves. Sad. Great technology hobbled by terrible policies and decisions. I sure hope they change their mind soon. I really wanted Uverse, but not like this. I refuse to support that, even though I usually use only about 50 GB or less per month on average. We need to get some reasonable laws in place.

Murdoc49
Premium Member
join:2009-02-08
Manitowoc, WI

Murdoc49

Premium Member

Att will get another free pass

The big phone companies don't care, big gubment will give them another free pass.
Mike_343
I Need Speed.
join:2001-07-05
Dyer, IN

Mike_343

Member

typical

glad I ditched at&t dsl last week. Now I don't even have to think about thier low 80GB/month cap when it hits my market.

Think about it. I have a dedicated server with a company that I pay around 200/month for 2000GB of outgoing transfer which is connected to about 8 different networks within the datacenter. My fee is 10cents/gb if I were to go over that 2000GB limit. I can also buy 2000GB blocks of transfer for 100/month which comes out to 5cents/gb and this network is alot better then at&t's.

NTT America
Equinix
Level 3
SAVVIS
Internap
Global Crossing
Telefonica
Comcast
dlewis23
join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

dlewis23

Member

Re: typical

Softlayer is $100 for 1000GB, not 2000GB. Even then it still much better.
TebTeb
join:2009-01-28
Reynoldsburg, OH

TebTeb

Member

Hope I can still get WOW!

I sure hope I can get WOW! when I move in 2 months, the only other choices I have are Road Runner and ATT U-Verse.
Vtr_Racing
join:2006-09-04
Pflugerville, TX

Vtr_Racing

Member

Att I will Cancel!

I suppose ATT did not get the hint. If your network cant handle the traffic that you successfully got people to sign on to then maybe you should give up the business and let someone else handle it. ATT, I hope your listening. If not, your going to lose many customers.
SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY

SuperWISP

Member

Metering is the wave of the future

Karl, the fact that AT&T is imposing caps on DSL service, which cannot carry video, puts the lie to your claims that Time-Warner was imposing caps to protect its video business. The truth is that bandwidth is expensive, and becoming more so. (The cost of backbone bandwidth has stopped dropping and has begun to rise, while the cost of the "middle mile" is going up drastically.) The truth of the matter is that consumers are maxing out "flat rate" connections with duty cycles far beyond what was ever anticipated, and causing the providers to lose money. So, the providers are naturally imposing caps and surcharges so that they do not. They must do this; they're not charities.

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beaups
join:2003-08-11
Hilliard, OH

beaups

Member

Video?

Everyone blames cable for protecting video revenues. I agree there is a lot of greed here but do we really believe TW is trying to protect video revenues with THEIR caps? If so, why is ATT capping? And beyond that why are the caps HIGHER in uverse areas?

I can "sort of" understand the capping/metering on cable due to it's shared last mile setup...but what in the world is ATT's excuse?

I still believe some metering/throttling/capping is necessary but these are some real extremes lately.

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seant169
join:2003-07-21
Forney, TX

seant169

Member

not unlimited

Say Bye Bye To Me

ATT

Fast and Furrious

Bit00
Premium Member
join:2009-02-19
00000

Bit00

Premium Member

No justification

Greed pure and simple. The time has obviously come to nationalize data infrastructure and then lease those lines to ISPs.

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