AT&T hits Reno, NV with tiered broadband trials
AT&T is taking cues from Time Warner Cable and Frontier Communications by implementing a tiered broadband service for customers in Reno, NV - whether they like it or not. Lucky them, eh? Broadband customers will be limited with certain caps depending on their tiered pricing plans and will be charged per gigabyte exceeding their plan. According to AT&T, this has been a long time coming and it has already begun ironing out details with the FCC. Per the filing:
In particular, AT&T plans to initiate a broadband Internet access usage trial in Reno, Nev., beginning in November. Consistent with AT&T’s belief that consumers should have clear information about the capabilities of their broadband Internet access services and any meaningful limitations on those service, AT&T will be providing written notice to customers involved in the trial explaining that their broadband service will be subject to a certain monthly usage tier for the total amount of data they may send and receive, as well as a per gigabyte charge in the event they exceed the usage tier.
Meaningful limitations on services? Right. The tiers are going to range from 20 GB to 150 GB per month and exceeding those caps will cost $1 per gigabyte over the limit. While these caps are far greater than the ones offered by some competitors, AT&T customers might feel a little constrained despite the fact that hitting numbers like 150 GB per month can be pretty difficult (you’d have to do a lot of video, downloading and torrents). The consolation? If you don’t want to be part of the trial, you can get booted from AT&T’s services without having to pay an early termination fee.
Tags: AT&T, AT&T Reno Nevada, broadband, FCC, Frontier Communications, internet, tiered broadband, Time Warner
So let me see if I have this right, if you live in Reno and have ATT and don’t want to take part of this trail they will simply cancel your service and waive your ETF’s forcing you to find service elsewhere. I am not a lawyer but something just sound a little fishy or illegal here.
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What a load of crap. I mean, AT&T JUST fired up some new backhaul too: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/98652
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Its not illegal in the contract it says they have right to change their services when the are fit but also they have to let out of the contract because they are changing the terms in which where agreed upon
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This is why FiOS will dominate the US broadband landscape.
Also, go FCC for green-lighting whitespace!
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Yeah, it sucks. I’m on a dry loop here (DSL without phone service) and I wasn’t ever signed up for a contract. Guess this means I’ll have to move over to Charter, since I use 1.5GB a day, I don’t want to pay $1 per GB.
Reno needs Verizon FiOS!!!
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lol are they serious 150GB. I work from home & am a radiology consultant & clients send me image files some 5-800MB SEVERAL times per day. I easily get very close to that cap each month. I make no bones about NOT being an AT&T fan but this is a bit ridiculous. They should just offer an unlimited tier (or business DSL) & make it a cafe style billing system.
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What ETF is there on a dsl account? AT&T has been running ads here claiming a 2yr price lock with no contract if you sign up for new dsl service, not Uverse mind you. No contract=no etf, right?
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Even at 1.5GB, you’re still only do 45GB a month. How can someone go over 250GB a month?? And I do a LOT of data every month myself. A LOT! And with that said, I don’t see the outrage. I think I’d be fine for 150GB a month…(as if that’s a low no. lol)
Crunch
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At&t, what happened? This is a massive step backwards for your company. And with technology getting cheaper everyday, I do not understand “WHY” the additional charges for overages on a supposed “UNLIMITED” connection. This will most definitely hurt online media retailers that provide unlimited video on demand service providers, Internet gaming, internet streaming services i.e. Justin Tv and internet radio, telecommuters that rely on their unlimited internet connections, the adult on-line movie industry, and the list could go on to fill a dictionary of the reasons why internet should NOT be capped.
I have, and had have the 6Mbps service for years. I was honestly happy with paying $50 a month for the unlimited service.
Then the cost dropped to $44.00 (even sweeter price)a month, and those people that had that service got grandfathered into having that service while AT&T removed the 6Mbps service all together.
Then, 6Mbps came back at a $34.99 price (lowest yet) and now you want to cap the unlimited-ness of the deal?
I was happily paying $50 a month for unlimited 6Mbps, UNCAPPED. If AT&T can bring that back that would be greatly appreciated.
BTW, you got all the tons of new customers due to the fact that AT&T internet was not metered, when other company’s were starting to meter usage.
AT&T has always offered options, and I am sure they will make the right decision.
Thanks for reading my rant.
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