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quote: AT&T to offer $20 'naked' DSL service
Updated 1/15/2007
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
Cheaper high-speed Internet service is coming.
Within a few months, AT&T is expected to start charging $19.95 a month for "naked" DSL, meaning you don't have to buy any other AT&T (T) service, including phone, to get that rate.
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AT&T plans to offer both services for at least 30 months. The clock starts as soon as the media giant starts selling them in any of the 22 states where it is the incumbent local phone company, including California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
Why so cheap? Three words: Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC, which has broad regulatory control over the U.S. telecommunications industry, recently approved AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. To get needed votes from the FCC's two Democratic members, AT&T agreed, reluctantly, to offer these DSL bargains.
AT&T is required to roll out the $19.95 offer within one year and the $10 rate within six months. ...
Under the terms of the FCC agreement, AT&T is required to offer naked DSL for $19.95 in markets that are at least 80% upgraded for broadband.
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While AT&T, for example, charges $45 for naked DSL, it sells a bundle that includes phone and DSL for just $28 a month.
Cable TV companies do the same thing. If purchased separately, Time Warner charges $45 a month for its high-speed cable modem service and $49.95 for digital phone. A bundle of both — plus TV service — costs $99.
Comcast's service is among the priciest: It charges almost $58 a month for stand-alone broadband.
Kimmelman, for one, thinks AT&T's new DSL pricing will help "discipline" broadband pricing. Once AT&T's $19.95 rate for naked DSL is broadly available, other broadband providers, including cable, "will be hard-pressed to keep hiding behind a higher price."
quote: November 27, 2007
AT&T quietly rolls out reasonably-priced unbundled DSL
Posted by Chris Soghoian
Over the past month, AT&T has quietly started to offer reasonably priced unbundled "naked" DSL Internet service to customers around the country. The company's website makes no mention of the service, nor do its Internet phone sales representatives offer or even discuss the service. Customers wishing to sign up will need to call a specific department at AT&T to request the secret plan. Two tiers are offered, a 3Mbit down/1.5 Mbit up plan for $28.99 per month, and a 1.5Mbit down/768k up for $23.99. Those who opt for the stand-alone DSL service will be able to avoid paying the myriad of mandatory fees associated with a phone line.
The service is available to customers in at least the following states: AL, AR, CA, FL, GA, IN, IL, KY, LA, MI, MO, OH, NC NV, SC, TN, TX
Customers wishing to sign up for the service should do the following:
* Call the AT&T Dry Loop department directly at 888-800-4095.
* Ask to switch to "DSL direct".
* If they give you a hassle, say it's a retention offer.
The Real AT&T
(Credit: EFF)
The Federal Communications Commission ordered AT&T to begin offering stand-alone DSL service as one of a handful of conditions that allowed for the merger of SBC Communications and AT&T in October 2005. While it technically met the conditions it agreed to, the services were offered at such an obscenely high price that few actually opted to drop their telephone service.
The company has been widely criticized in the past for its unbundled service pricing structures. Back in 2006, the company began offering stand-alone DSL for $44.99 a month. At the same time, the company offered bundled DSL service for $29.99 a month, but subscribers were also required to purchase telephone service in a package that totaled about $46 a month. Customers could essentially save $1 per month by choosing to go with the unbundled Internet service.
In December of 2006, the company agreed to offer a low priced bundled DSL service, as part of several conditions negotiated with the FCC in order to complete a merger with BellSouth. While technically meeting the promises it made to the FCC, the company did its best to make it almost impossible for customers to locate information on the much hyped $10 per month DSL plan. Furthermore, at 768Kbps down and 128Kbps up (compared to the 3-6Mbit down speeds that the company advertisers on its website), the service barely qualified as broadband.
As part of the same BellSouth merger deal, AT&T also agreed to offer reasonably priced unbundled DSL service to customers in the 22 states that it serves. The company is required to offer the service for 30 months. After that, it can force everyone to go back to bundled DSL.
According to a number of postings by users on the Fatwallet and DSL reports web forums, AT&T has been quietly offering the previously announced unbundled DSL for at least one month. Two services are offered, a 3Mbit down/1.5 Mbit up plan for $28.99 per month, and a 1.5Mbit down/768k up for $23.99. These prices are roughly $3-5 more expensive than the bundled plans. However, customers will not need to pay $12+ per month for the required phone service as well as the myriad of mandatory phone related taxes and fees. That is, for the first time, DSL subscribers can actually save real money by ditching their phone line.
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