[SATLUG] AT&T $10.00 DSL Ordering - Easiest Way

[John C]

toddwbucy wrote:
> I understand all of that and in fact sympathize with the cost of maintaining 
> and building the infrastructure that makes our high tech lifestyle possible.  
> My beef though is not with the cost but with the deceptive nature of the 
> pricing.  If the Phone company is going to offer DSL service at $10 a month 
> then it should not require that I pay an additional $24 a month for a land 
> line as well.  The fact that they require that I pay for the land line 
> suggests to me that their DSL pricing does not represent the true cost of 
> having DSL.  Instead, their pricing seems to reflect a deceptive marketing 
> ploy which is aimed at maintaining their traditional customer base of land 
> line phone service.
>
> Todd
>
> On Monday 25 June 2007 10:58:39 Don Wright wrote:
>   
>> On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:44:37 -0500, toddwbucy <toddwbucy at grandecom.net> 
>>     
> wrote:
>   
>>> I think the point is that the lines have already been laid.  If one just
>>> wants DSL and not a phone then why can't at&t offer just the DSL without
>>> the phone. Instead if one wants DSL they are offered a bait and switch of
>>> sorts.  It does seem a little dishonest to say that they are offering a
>>> $10 DSL service but only if you pay $24 for the phone as well.
>>>
>>> Todd
>>>       
>> OK, let's look at the costs involved in delivering DSL. There's the
>> bandwidth charged by the upstream provider, the local equipment (which
>> doesn't last forever), the actual copper lines (likewise), and maintenance
>> expenses (the trucks and people) to keep it all operating, plus cash
>> reserves to build out service for future clients.
>>
>> Most of these items are already bundled into the price of the POTS service,
>> which as a regulated[1] monopoly is built into the business plan of the
>> telco. Dry copper pairs, with or without DSL, are not the usual case and
>> thus more expensive to supply[2]. Therefore the cost of DSL without dial
>> tone is almost the same as DSL with dial tone, and therefore not a
>> desirable service to offer.
>>
>> I hate to be devil's advocate[3], but in this case there really isn't more
>> than a tiny amount of evil in this situation.  --Don
>>
>>
>> [1] Sarcasm tags implied.
>> [2] Economies of scale, extra costs of handling exceptions.
>> [3] for this particular Great Satan, at least.
>>
>> --
>> Migraine: All the fun of a hangover without the bother of
>> getting drunk.
>>     
>
>
>   
Hi all,

Let me see if I can explain it from my slanted and heavily biased 
against ATT point of view. Ma Bell is losing subscribers. In order to 
boost those numbers and keep them inflated, they have to do something.

So instead of allowing you to use the twisted pair that is probably 
already running to your house for a landline you're not using, and use 
that for DSL and DSL only, they want you to sign a contract and agree to 
certain conditions in order to get $10 dsl provided that you live within 
the appropriate distance to their CO, if you have their phone service 
(and I wouldn't be surprised if they added a stipulation that you must 
have their $49.95 all distance service).

Let me also mention that at the beginning of the year I signed up for 
ATT's everything package. Biggest mistake that I ever 
made...well...there have been a couple of other big 'uns but this was a 
mistake. For starters, I was paying for, and locked into a contract for 
1.5Mbps downstream speed and what I got was barely over 1.0 Mbps.

I also signed up for one year of free Dish Basic service or 34.99 off my 
bill. Their people told me that my monthly bill for phone, Dish, DSL 
would be between $115 and $120/ mo. Ha!...I never got a bill less than 
$200. I had an attorney friend call them and get me out of it without 
paying any termination charges for misleading me.

If you ask me, they all stink and good luck getting a $10 DSL line if 
you don't have a landline with ATT currently. They just are not going to 
let you do it and there ain't thing one that you can do about it.

I apologize to the masses but that horrific experience and being lied to 
by a company that hides their customer service phone number on their 
website and hides the number and address to their executive offices is 
indicative of how they operate. They are becoming more like AOL in their 
lack of customer support. ***DISCLAIMER*** just an opinion of an angry 
ex-customer.