AT&T offers $10 aDSL, if you have a secret ring decoder
In typical “letter of the law but not the spirit of the law” fashion, AT&T will now give customers the $10 a month aDSL, called FastAccess DSL Lite, that was mandated by the FCC as a condition of the merger with BellSouth. Problem is that very few people have succeeded in actually signing up for the plan, since the link to it is not labelled as such and the plan is not being promoted. Interesting that a few days ago Digital Daily linked directly to the page where you could sign up for the $10 DSL, but as of today, that page points you to the bellsouth homepage, where if you put in your phone number it states that FastAccess DSL Lite costs $19.95 per month. According to the Consumerist, people calling to get this AT&T $10 DSL are getting the runaround, and the plan is not publicized in any AT&T promo literature anywhere. According to the article, “We’ve been hearing that consumers who try to sign up for the plan are getting a sales pitch for a more expensive plan, hung up on, transferred to the switchboard, etc.” Personally, I think anyone in that service area who meets the requirements of either transferring from dialup or signing up as a new AT&T customer should deluge them with requests, and let them know that they’re not the only one with market power. “As far as we (ed- the Consumerist) know the 22 “magic” DSL states are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.”
As my oft-quoted friend Harold Feld points out, the Consumerist article is innacurate in one area. Complaints about AT&T’s behavior re the $10 DSL should go to the FCC, since they’re the agency which has oversight. I also hope everyone who gets the AT&T runaround files a complaint with the FCC Enforcement Bureau re their behavior in the matter of this concession, one AT&T made in order to secure the agreement of the FCC in the merger. Harold also suggested taking the extra step of filing it with the electronic filing system on docket 06-74 so it goes on record with those interested in how AT&T is meeting those merger conditions. Oh, and while you’re at it, if you get VOIP with another provider while using AT&T for your broadband, let the FCC know how that goes too, will you? There’s also a Net Neutrality concession that could very well be violated, if they adhere to that in the same spirit as they’re adhering to the $10 DSL concession.
I hope you state and muni government weenies who are right now fighting for concessions re Statewide Cable Franchises, aka Cable Choice and Competition, pay attention. This is the kind of thing you can expect from the almighty AT&T, if they make concessions re buildout or right of ways or anything else in order to secure statewide franchises in your state, and I doubt if Verizon will behave much differently once the ink is on the paper.
AT&T’s behavior points up the extreme need for all of us to let our congresspeople know how we feel about the Broadband Duopoly and the necessity for a third pipe while the FCC are writing those Spectrum Auction Rules. And while you’re writing your congresspeople, let them know you want our internet to once again be net neutral and device neutral. Only a good dose of healthy competition will stop this horsemanure.
Technorati Tags: AT&T DSL, AT&T Merger Concessions, Net Neutrality, Cable Franchising, Broadband, Spectrum Auction, Cable Choice and Competition
