Get Broadband for less that Dial-up!

[jrdavid68]

SBC to Offer High-Speed Internet for $15

SBC Slashing Price of High-Speed Internet Access to $15 a Month, Latest Aggressive Move


NEW YORK (AP) -- SBC Communications Inc. is cutting the price for high-speed Internet access to $15 per month for new subscribers who sign up online, marking another aggressive move to add and retain customers in advance of the big telephone company's push into cable TV service later this year.

The promotional rate for SBC Yahoo DSL Express, which requires a one-year contract and lasts for 12 months, is priced well below what many dial-up Internet services as well as rival broadband providers charge.

America Online, the biggest dial-up provider with more than 21 million subscribers, charges nearly $24 a month for a far-slower connection. Rival providers of DSL and cable-based broadband generally charge from $30 to $45 a month.

The DSL price cut comes two months after San Antonio-based SBC reduced the month fee for unlimited local and long distance calling from $49 per month to $40.

That's well below what rivals such as Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. charge for the same bundle, and competitive with what many cable companies are charging for phone service using voice-over-Internet technology.

Both moves can be seen as a campaign by SBC to hold off cable TV rivals who sell phone and Internet service long enough for SBC to launch new technologies and services starting later this year.

SBC, which owns Cingular Wireless in partnership with BellSouth, is spending billions to rewire large portions of its copper-based phone network with fiber-optic cables so it can introduce cable television and speedier Internet connections.

The company hopes to lure subscribers with next-generation services, particularly interactive video using IPTV technology, which melds the Internet with TV programming.

"We believe the company intends to drive further subscriber growth ahead of its video rollout and fend off cable competition," John Hodulik, telecom analyst for UBS, said in a note to investors. "While we do not expect this pricing strategy to be implemented across the industry, SBC's move may force the cable (companies) to get more aggressive."

The $15 rate for DSL brings entry-level download speeds of between 384 kilobytes per second to 1.5 megabytes per second. The price will revert after one year to the regular fee, currently about $30.

As part of the promotion, SBC also is offering a speedier connection of up to 3 Mbps for $25 a month, also for a one-year term. The regular rate for that service is currently $40.

[RickM]

The bottom line is that for the few extra bucks people can afford to have a higher speed. Once you get used to it at work or wherever else you can't live without it.

DSL still has a bad reliability and customer service rap. I had to deal with SBC for a neighbor and it had to be the worst experience I've ever had.

Of course if it's the only alternative to Dial-up it's the way to go.

[stevepaa]

When we were too far from a box for DSL and cable was not available, Sprint came through with microwave access. It works great at $44 a month.

[Neilk]

And for $25 a month (which is $5 less than I am paying) I can double my speed to 3 Mbps. I think I will give them a call.

I just got back from a week in France. I hadn't kept up with DSL technology, so I was surprised to see that you could get 18Mbps down/1Mbps up service for about $55 a month. Sounds awesome. Come on SBC, give us some higher speeds!

[jrdavid68]

Originally posted by Neilk
And for $25 a month (which is $5 less than I am paying) I can double my speed to 3 Mbps. I think I will give them a call.

I just got back from a week in France. I hadn't kept up with DSL technology, so I was surprised to see that you could get 18Mbps down/1Mbps up service for about $55 a month. Sounds awesome. Come on SBC, give us some higher speeds!

Ohh baby!! Give the big boys a little time as they are all in the process of laying out fiber. Speeds will be in the 25Mbps down range and will be delivering tons of content - video / voice / data.

[jrdavid68]

Originally posted by RickM

DSL still has a bad reliability and customer service rap. I had to deal with SBC for a neighbor and it had to be the worst experience I've ever had.

Of course if it's the only alternative to Dial-up it's the way to go.

How long ago was that?

May make a difference where you live too. I have been involved in a number of DSL setups in the Bay Area and the only problem I ran into so far is a user that forgot about an extra jack in the house that required a filter (had another computer attached with a modem). Once the filter was on, everything was a go.

[FrayAdjacent911]

I'm hoping this will prompt cable providers to drop the prices on their broadband access. I'm paying like $45 a month, and probably get about 3Mbps, sometimes a little more.

I'd pay $25 a month for 3Mbps!

[84porsche]

I have Earthlink DSL now at home and paying I believe around $39 a month so if they are dropping that low, I may consider switching.

[dporsche74]

had charter cable it sucked it was over 50 bucks a mo. and extra 100 dollars for TV,, 150 dollar media bill yuck
i switched to SBC and its 25 bucks and never any problems and faster speed, too and switched tv to directv for 40 bucks, alot better deals if you look around

[Moneyguy1]

Cable companies seem to think they can do no wrong and people will buy anything they have to sell. Not only will I not give COX the right time of day, but who can trust a company with a TV spot claiming that HDTV is free?

What needs to be done is more, not less regulation of providers. A bit of competition would be welcome as well. There are really no national standards.

However, there are some areas that have "cable" service provided b y the power company fed through the house wiring. Fascinating idea.

Write to Congress, urging some rules with theeth be instituted on the industry.

Here in Tucson, COX wants the City to drop {or negotiate to a lower amount) the taxes charged to them. Too bad the customer does not have the same right to "negotiate" a price for services.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I have been using SBC DSL for over 2 years - no problems at all. Nice speeds for $24.95 a month. Similar experience to Earthlink DSL which I had for 3 years prior to SBC. Earthlink charged $49.95 a month.

[widebody911]

I have SBC DSL and it's only marginally more reliable than my dial-up was. It's my own damn fault - I've been too lazy to really browbeat them or switch providers.

I get hard drops at least 2x a day, sometimes it doesn't come back for up to an hour. Other times it just slows to zero throughput - I technically have a link, but there's no bandwidth.

[88BlueTSiQuest]

Originally posted by RickM
The bottom line is that for the few extra bucks people can afford to have a higher speed. Once you get used to it at work or wherever else you can't live without it.

DSL still has a bad reliability and customer service rap. I had to deal with SBC for a neighbor and it had to be the worst experience I've ever had.

Of course if it's the only alternative to Dial-up it's the way to go.

What needs to be remembered is that not everyone has an alternative to Dial-up. Even in this day and age, there are communities that don't have any broadband providers at all, except satellite at extremely high prices.

I was stuck with dial-up for years($23 a month even...), until just recently when we finally moved to a area that had cable internet.

Just keep in mind, that when some people complain about internet speeds, they aren't necessarily cheap... They just have no other reasonable options(I don't consider $59-69/month for 500kb satellite, + 2 year agreement and $600-1000 equipment purchase as reasonable).

[id10t]

I love my Alltel DSL. Went from sub-28.8 (21.something was most common) to 56k to DSL in a 2 month period - drunk driver took out the Big Box out by the road or something. Only down time I've had is with extensive storm damage (2 hurricanes). Oh, and they don't block ports, so I can run my personal web server, my own mail, dns, etc. and have ssh access from anywhere in the world.

[88BlueTSiQuest]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
but who can trust a company with a TV spot claiming that HDTV is free?

HD is free. It's OTA, Over The Air. All you need is an HDTV or HD ready TV and the HD box(not a Cox Box). Hook up the box to your TV and hook that up to an antenna(or antenna straight to TV if it has an ATSC tuner) on your roof, poof Free HD programming.

Sure you have to have a Dish or HD cable to get shows like HD Discovery, and HD Premium channels, but the original statement holds true, as HD CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, etc... are all broadcast for free.


Now I will agree that Cox mis-advertises their digital cable, and claims it to be better than satellite. From what I remember Cox has limited bandwidth, and can only supply a 240i via coax, where as satellite is a full 480i resolution, non-progressive DVD quality(non-HD for both of course).

Just to compare. That 240i that digital cable can offer is less than the 400 lines of resolution an SVHS can offer, and still slightly less than a standard VCR at 250.

OTA broadcast with a good antenna are close to 500 lines of resolution.

[Moneyguy1]

88

Everything you say is correct. The problem is not only does COX make that claim "over the air", but except for PBS, all other HDTV offerings are only available through subscription (HBO(1 channel), STARZ(same thing) etc. And, just to get their HDTV box, the charge is an additional $10 a month. And, there are NO local stations available in HD through COX as of this writing. Altogether, there are nine HD channels available, and most of them are already premiums.

The only thing I find objectionable about satellite is the need for a separate box for each and every set at $5.00 per month per box. It doesn't seem like a great technological leap to overcome this shortcoming.

I think it is kind of funny and wonder how long before the public catches on..

One can only hope....

[serge944]

I have Comcast cable internet, which does their promotional $25 a month for 6 months. All you have to do is threaten to cancel service and they will continue billing you the reduced price. It helps if you can fake a Russian accent, of course. I've been paying $25 for the past year and a few months...

[RickM]

Originally posted by 88BlueTSiQuest
What needs to be remembered is that not everyone has an alternative to Dial-up.

Satellite is typically an option. But I've heard mixed reviews from subscribers of that technology as well. Plus it's not cheap.

As mentioned above, it all depends on the area and the options available. Some Cable cos are great and some $uck A$$. Same with the other technologies as well.

[Neilk]

Wow, I found a deal here that won't cost me a dime. That damn RickM has posted a few deals here that couldn't say No to.

I called SBC yesterday and they upgraded my DSL to 3Mbps for the same price I am paying now ($29.95) and they are sending me a new modem to replace my 6 year old Alcatel modem. I couldn't get the $24.95 price since I was an existing customer.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by FrayAdjacent911
I'm hoping this will prompt cable providers to drop the prices on their broadband access. I'm paying like $45 a month, and probably get about 3Mbps, sometimes a little more.

I'd pay $25 a month for 3Mbps!

My DSL ISP, Verizon, had the drop on this and I didn't see the writing on the wall. They announced a rate increase, but would sign existing cust's less LESS than before on a 12 mo. contract.

I've been duped. I won't forget that. You can't trust any corporation to do anything less than rape the public for a nearsighted bottom line.