AT&T Ditches Metered Billing Trials Without Telling

[Marcus Yam]

Internet is a super highway again.

AT&T Ditches Metered Billing Trials Without Telling : Read more

 

[unrealpinky]

Finally some good news out of AT&T, but I'm still glad I ditched their DSL service.

 

[skittle]

AT&T probably didnt make(steal) enough money as it would have liked from its 'light' Internet users.

 

[JasonAkkerman]

I have AT&T Uverse at home with an 18Mbps connection and it has gone down on me maybe twice in the four years I have had it. I recommend it to my friends, the service is great.

I also have AT&T wireless. The only reason I have it is because the rest of my wife's family is also on it so the calls are free. Their 3G coverage is spotty at best, and when you do get it it's painfully slow . The things they do to WinMo loaded on their phones borders on sadistic(added software and configuration). I cry a little every night.

 

[fausto]

they probably lost customers and that changed the math.

see community rating it's ok for internet, phone and netrflix....just not ok for healthcare. we can't all pay a fee, use a service or not use it but make it cheaper for everyone else.

with reduced numbers of customers and more leaving ATT saw the writing on the wall...we make more money charging 1 fee and keeping everyone hooked than loosing people to the competition.

 

[matt_b]

Hopefully the other ISP's out there watching will ditch any thought of doing/continuing the same thing. Now if we can get the likes of Comcast to ditch capped monthly transfer limits - we'll be set!

 

[Hiniberus]

AT&T Responding to negative PR? If that were the case they'd have closed down and re-opened under a new name, with a new CEO and better billing information and such.

 

[megamanx00]

Heh.

 

[bk420]

Metered billing of internet usage is retarded and should be banned at all expense. AT&T has to do this 'cause they're to big to fail with an antiquated network. i.e. AT&T can meter-charge you for all dropped data packets...

NO THANKS.

I'm happy not rely on them for ANY internet-mobile-tv needs.

 

[TheKurrgan]

Perhaps the people tested that jumped ship to cox may have had something to do with it too.

 

[bpislife]

Or should I say metered billing

 

[bpislife]

Now only if Comcrap gets rid of internet billing

 

[Onus]

So, those of you moaning about metered billing think you should pay the same for a 64 oz. drink as someone else pays for 12 oz., or the same to fill up a 25 gallon gas tank as someone else pays to fill up a 10 gallon tank?
That's absurd on its face. If the rates are too high, that's another matter; switch ISPs (if you can; but that's a separate problem), but don't complain if you pay more to use more.

 

[bpislife]

Problem is that Comcast doesn't offer anything beyond the 250GB. While I don't use it, it still is a limit. If you hit that limit they shut you off. AT&T at least allows you to pay more to get more. Comcrap doesn't. The second I get the chance I will ditch Comcrap. Until then, it is Comcrap or dial-up and there is no chance I will switch to dial-up.

 

[baterz_up]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]So, those of you moaning about metered billing think you should pay the same for a 64 oz. drink as someone else pays for 12 oz., or the same to fill up a 25 gallon gas tank as someone else pays to fill up a 10 gallon tank?That's absurd on its face. If the rates are too high, that's another matter; switch ISPs (if you can; but that's a separate problem), but don't complain if you pay more to use more.[/citation]

Why wouldn't people complain about being placed in a plan that charges them more???
And sorry but the cost difference between 12 and 64 oz outweight the cost difference between 12 and 64 gigs of bandwidth

 

[baterz_up]

^ Forgot to mention the price diff between gas and bandwidth, which is even more so exagerating

 

[viometrix]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]So, those of you moaning about metered billing think you should pay the same for a 64 oz. drink as someone else pays for 12 oz., or the same to fill up a 25 gallon gas tank as someone else pays to fill up a 10 gallon tank?That's absurd on its face. If the rates are too high, that's another matter; switch ISPs (if you can; but that's a separate problem), but don't complain if you pay more to use more.[/citation]


you are a moron. we pay for tiers of speed, and that does get different pricing, but if i go a whole month without using my internet, does that also entitle me to a refund? i pay for that ability to use my internet at the speed i pay for, if someone else pays the same amount they are entitled to it too, if they use less so be it. but it is absurd we pay to connect at a certian speed and now they are imposing how much data e can use, all in the interest of curbing piracy...which is not the isp's job.

so again jtt283, you are a class A idiot. we pay for connection speeds, not data usage. so we are not complaining we should get more or less than what anyone is paying at their desired pricing teir for speed, we are complaining about data caps. i buy all my games digitally, and play alot of MMO's and have often exceeded data caps, yet i am not stealing or pirating. so dude get a clue.

 

[Onus]

I'm not referring to getting your rates jacked for the same usage; that's wallet-rape, as someone called it.

 

[mikepaul]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]So, those of you moaning about metered billing think you should pay the same for a 64 oz. drink as someone else pays for 12 oz., or the same to fill up a 25 gallon gas tank as someone else pays to fill up a 10 gallon tank? That's absurd on its face.[/citation]
I think it's OK to moan when the deal used to be "Bring any size cup and fill it as often as you like". Getting less and maybe even paying more is like getting the short end of the stick and finding razor blades sticking out of it...

 

[NuclearShadow]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]So, those of you moaning about metered billing think you should pay the same for a 64 oz. drink as someone else pays for 12 oz., or the same to fill up a 25 gallon gas tank as someone else pays to fill up a 10 gallon tank?That's absurd on its face. If the rates are too high, that's another matter; switch ISPs (if you can; but that's a separate problem), but don't complain if you pay more to use more.[/citation]

Your example is a very poor one sir. Your examples are of something that is permanently consumed. You do realize there are tons of services that are a flat based fee no matter how much that service is used right? A better comparison to the internet would be a gym membership but that wouldn't fit your twisted logic. With a gym membership you can go to and use the gym equipment as much as you please.

When the internet is being used it takes up bandwidth with a gym its the exercise machines/equipment. These however are renewable as once someone cease to use the internet or uses less more bandwidth is free to others just like when someone is done exercising in the gym whatever they used is now open. Your examples however cannot do such they are simply consumed. If something happens to make a burst of usage to both of my examples the ISP can always improve their service to meet the demands just as a gym can order more of the equipment to meet its members needs. After all we pay them for a service and it is their responsibility to provide such.

 

[JamesSneed]

Yup jtt283 doesn't get it at all. The way they did metered billing was to make some extra cash. So to your analogy if you drank your 12oz drink and needed another you didn't get charged for a second 12oz drink but instead you got charged per oz which ends up being a lot more for each subsequent 12oz's. Also, those who used a lot less didn't get a rebate they had to pay there monthly subscription for their speed tier which isn't equitable at all.

The real issue at hand is that the top 1% of ATT's broadband customers use 21% of the bandwidth but instead of trying to resolve that issue they thought they would make a little extra cash.

 

[frozenlead]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom] don't complain if you pay more to use more.[/citation]
Use more what? Electrons? AT&T doesn't see a significant increase in their electric bill no matter how much data I download. They don't see an increase in much of anything except how much data is being passed through their network...which doesn't cost them anything extra, because they're running all the equipment already anyway! They just want to juice you for your cash while sitting on the same amount of hardware they already have. They want more and more users to squeeze through the same tube, instead of just getting bigger ones proportionally with how many users they have.
Say you built a steel mill. Your blast furnace serves you well for many years, right up until you reach maximum output capacity - what do you do, tell your customers they're only allowed 10 tons of steel per month? No way. If you were smart, you would start building a bigger furnace BEFORE you hit capacity on the one you have. AT&T seems to lack this prediction ability, and is instead charging you more while they play catch-up.

 

[mr_tuel]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]So, those of you moaning about metered billing think you should pay the same for a 64 oz. drink as someone else pays for 12 oz., or the same to fill up a 25 gallon gas tank as someone else pays to fill up a 10 gallon tank?That's absurd on its face. If the rates are too high, that's another matter; switch ISPs (if you can; but that's a separate problem), but don't complain if you pay more to use more.[/citation]

Unlike gas or soda, there is an unlimited supply of data. To put a cap on how much data I can consume is stupid.

 

[Shez]

*Uses extinguisher on jtt283 after all that flaming*

 

[TunaSoda]

What about all those convenient stores that say "any size coffee $0.99"