Da-Chief
07-22-2008, 08:53
http://i.dslr.net/urls/71/4471.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Hints-That-UsageBased-Billing-Is-Coming-96276)
At the FCC's hearing on broadband yesterday in Pittsburgh, AT&T Senior Federal Regulatory Vice President Robert Quinn said the company would be changing the way way they advertise their broadband tiers, while hinting at usage-based billing. According to Dow Jones (http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807220750DOWJONESDJONLINE000309_FORTUNE5.htm), the new system will change AT&T's current practice of guaranteeing subscribers Internet speeds "up to" their subscribed amount. Said Quinn at the meeting:"When AT&T provides broadband service by speed, it will do so in discrete, non-overlapping tiers," Quinn said in written testimony. "We will strive to provide service within the speed tier purchased by the customer and, if we find that we are not providing service within the ordered speed tier, AT&T will take action either to bring the customer's service within the ordered tier or give the customer an option to move to a different tier."
It sounds great that AT&T wants to eliminate the "up to" marketing lingo, but when a telco lawyer is announcing technical changes in such helpful and obscure terms, you can usually guarantee the changes come with a catch.
In this case AT&T appears to be softly selling the idea of usage-based pricing, which the company last month proclaimed was "inevitable (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95261)." Indeed, the only clear reference Quinn made to such a system was when he noted the new system would "clearly identify any limitations on the amount of usage that may apply to a customer's service plan." I've got calls in to AT&T, and you'll definitely be hearing more about this soon.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Hints-That-UsageBased-Billing-Is-Coming-96276)
More...
At the FCC's hearing on broadband yesterday in Pittsburgh, AT&T Senior Federal Regulatory Vice President Robert Quinn said the company would be changing the way way they advertise their broadband tiers, while hinting at usage-based billing. According to Dow Jones (http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807220750DOWJONESDJONLINE000309_FORTUNE5.htm), the new system will change AT&T's current practice of guaranteeing subscribers Internet speeds "up to" their subscribed amount. Said Quinn at the meeting:"When AT&T provides broadband service by speed, it will do so in discrete, non-overlapping tiers," Quinn said in written testimony. "We will strive to provide service within the speed tier purchased by the customer and, if we find that we are not providing service within the ordered speed tier, AT&T will take action either to bring the customer's service within the ordered tier or give the customer an option to move to a different tier."
It sounds great that AT&T wants to eliminate the "up to" marketing lingo, but when a telco lawyer is announcing technical changes in such helpful and obscure terms, you can usually guarantee the changes come with a catch.
In this case AT&T appears to be softly selling the idea of usage-based pricing, which the company last month proclaimed was "inevitable (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95261)." Indeed, the only clear reference Quinn made to such a system was when he noted the new system would "clearly identify any limitations on the amount of usage that may apply to a customer's service plan." I've got calls in to AT&T, and you'll definitely be hearing more about this soon.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Hints-That-UsageBased-Billing-Is-Coming-96276)
More...