24 replies to this topic

[Scot]

http://www.pcmag.com...,2381893,00.asp
http://www.automated...-usage-at-150gb

By Roger Cheng

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- AT&T Inc. (T) said Sunday that it would begin to cap DSL data usage for its customers and begin to implement charges for anyone who goes over the limit.

The Dallas telecommunications giant said that customers who went over a limit of 150 gigabytes of data a month three times would be charged $10 for every extra 50 gigabytes of data they consume. Customers on its higher-end U-Verse Internet service have a limit of 250 gigabytes. AT&T will impose the new limit on May 2.

AT&T's move represents an expansion of its policy to charge based on usage, following last year's move to a tiered pricing structure for wireless data. The service providers have been juggling the explosion of demand for video, gaming and other bandwidth-intensive applications running across the networks with the cost to ensure there is sufficient equipment to smoothly handle the traffic. As in mobile, AT&T says the change in policy is to ensure the quality of the customer experience.

"We are committed to providing a great experience for all of our Internet customers," said spokesman Mark Siegel.

AT&T said that it would alert customers multiple times if they are near or exceeding the limit, including proactive notifications when a customer hits 65%, 90% and 100% of their monthly allowance. Similar to its wireless service, the carrier would provide tools to allow customers to check on their usage.

The carrier said that less than 2% of its customer base would be affected by the policy. The company plans to send notification of the change later this week.

[Random]

I saw this before and was appalled. Really hope other companies don't pick this up.

[iargue]

Where the fuck are you at FCC? I'm trusting you to tell them to fuck off.

This is a move for money, and nothing else.

[jcrdude]

Comcast did this silently, and suffered no ramifications. I'm foreseeing this go through without any real backlash except from the users

[Kyle]

I am completely against this in all regards. It is unacceptable.



With that said, I feel like the limits they set are very reasonable. I know that it is a starting point from which they will slowly constrict, but at least they didn't begin with a crazy low amount of data cap.

[Propitiatory]

except from the users

I hope they have enough impact... I'm definitely looking for new service now... -.-

[Warriors]

Old news...but really this is shit..This is when government, FCC, or any other organization will stop this bullying by big businesses. As for who uses AT&T, they absorbed the primary phone company in California and the surrounding states back in the 90's and basically owned all the telephone crap and then starting to AOL..A lotta people still use it I guess..

[iargue]

AT&T is an ISP to things other than phones? The fuck?
NEWS TO ME!
Who still uses DSL anyways ... need to get their ass out of the 2003-2007's

Dsl > Cable in alot of cases :|

[Warriors]

Dsl > Cable in alot of cases :|

This. DSL is way faster in my area and thus reigns supreme over Cable..However, I want a T1 =/

[iamlost26]

I think I mentioned this earlier, but Comcast did impose this a few years back, and as a punishment, I tried really hard to hit the cap every month. I have never succeeded (probably because I'm more obsessed about saving electricity than downloading 24/7), but it goes to show you that 250GB is A LOT of bandwidth. Not agreeing with what they're doing, but just saying that the cap is at least reasonable.

[Yakko]

I really don't care because I haven't used anything near 150GB in a month before.

[GeorgeBright]

I don't use AT&T, but even if I did I doubt I'd be using that much bandwidth.

[iomega]

Wait a minute, American's started off with unlimited bandwidth?

[Cory]

1. You're not going to hit the cap.
2. If you do hit the cap you deserve to be paying more than the people who aren't.

[Scot]

Wait a minute, American's started off with unlimited bandwidth?

We make up for it by having speeds comparable to 3rd world averages (until the past few years) while everyone else enjoyed 100/100mbps

1. You're not going to hit the cap.
2. If you do hit the cap you deserve to be paying more than the people who aren't.

Bandwidth costs are almost negligent. This is an example of telecoms trying to make more money while doing as little as possible improve customer experience. It is likely a move against the rise of streaming video content like Hulu and Netflix, whose video on demand model makes it easier for people to break away from traditional scheduled programming. AT&T and Comcast can't compete by selling overpriced cable tv packages so they attack the delivery system.

[Noitidart]

I play Halo man how much bandwidth does that consume per hour? (online/multiplayer play of course)

[WharfRat]

We make up for it by having speeds comparable to 3rd world averages (until the past few years) while everyone else enjoyed 100/100mbps



Bandwidth costs are almost negligent. This is an example of telecoms trying to make more money while doing as little as possible improve customer experience. It is likely a move against the rise of streaming video content like Hulu and Netflix, whose video on demand model makes it easier for people to break away from traditional scheduled programming. AT&T and Comcast can't compete by selling overpriced cable tv packages so they attack the delivery system.

This is exactly what it is. While 250GB/month may be quite a bit, I think that it's testing the waters before moving to a full tiered system where they charge by usage. Although I like the concept of pay per use, I think I'm one of those users who benefits most from the unlimited data cap system.

I don't use AT&T but if they were to start charging me for every 50GB I use, there better be rollover bandwidth damn it!

[Scot]

I play Halo man how much bandwidth does that consume per hour? (online/multiplayer play of course)

very, very little

[Xwee]

if it weren't for their $60 a month unlimited talk and text I'd soooo change companies, (i'd change to verizon if it was available here <3)
As it is, I think I'll stay with the company, i doubt i'll use that much bandwith, not to mention there aren't that many good prepaid talk plans for any of the companys around us.
That is Unless you count
Family Talk - Wal-mart's and probably shitty as hell.
Straight talk- No interest in this, have heard bad things about it.
OTher thatn that all we have is US cellular, and I doubt they have prepaid plans...
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCK means I'm stuck with the dragon.

[Noitidart]

This is exactly what it is. While 250GB/month may be quite a bit, I think that it's testing the waters before moving to a full tiered system where they charge by usage. Although I like the concept of pay per use, I think I'm one of those users who benefits most from the unlimited data cap system.

I don't use AT&T but if they were to start charging me for every 50GB I use, there better be rollover bandwidth damn it!

HAHA rollover bandwidth, im sure it's something they'll come out with.

[Cory]

@Cody, ISPs in Australia have been doing this for years... We never actually had "unlimited" Internet.

Most of the US already has capped data plans too but people don't read the fine print to realize it. It may be advertised as unlimited but at the moment the only major cell phone carrier that has truly unlimited data is T-mobile. They throttle after a certain amount.

Same goes for internet providers. Most already have a 100 gig or whatever cap. AT&T just happened to change to this plan recently which caused some commotion.

[WharfRat]

@Cody, ISPs in Australia have been doing this for years... We never actually had "unlimited" Internet.


There are 2 ways of working this system. Most ISPs use the shaping method, where once you reach your cap, your speeds are dropped to 128 or 256k (depending on your plan). At the start of your billing month, your speed is automatically restored.

The other method is charging extra with no speed loss which appears to be the method opted by your ISPs in the US. This is where you get charged for the excess, over here the charge is metered out per gigabyte.

In all honesty, 100gb is more than suitable for nearly everyone. Even with all the movies I have obtained, I haven't managed to reach my 100gb cap (although I dont watch hours of streaming media either). Over here there IS a tiered pricing system, starting at 30/month for basic access. I pay 100/month for a 200gb limit (download only)

One thing to check with these plans is WHAT is being metered. Most ISPs meter BOTH download AND upload... So your 100gb limit doesnt necessarily mean you can download 100gb...

In reality, it's probably an attempt to kill Internet piracy. I known some people uploading more than 1TB a month... With bandwidth caps in place, those seeders won't be as willing to share for that long.

@Noitidart, When I had my XBox360, I used to play alot of Halo online. An average game uses approximately 50mb/hour

Yeah.. I know the phone carriers use the shaping method over here. (Until recently when AT&T switched to a pay for excess plan)

I'm actually pretty sure that my ISP has a shaping method going on as well... I normally don't break 100GB/month but there have been months in the past where I certainly did and there have been months where I saw my internet speed drop dramatically to the point where I'd call and ask wtf was up. I don't really know if those two months coincided but I would be willing to bet that they do.

You're absolutely right about the piracy thing. People aren't going to be willing to seed all that data if they are being charged per GB of it.

[Ladida]

Wow.. My ISP has a 10GB cap.. It was implemented a year or so ago when we got another fiber optic. But then it only costs the equivalent of USD$10 per month to get unlimited, so I'm not raging much.. Still extremely pissed about the data cap at 10 freaking GB.

[frostz]

well..its a good thing that i don't download huge files..