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Protest the @HOME & ROADRUNNER proposed rate increases!

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Doug

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May 1, 2001, 4:11:48 PM5/1/01
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AT&T Broadband (http://www.attbroadband.com/services/) is planning to raise
Cable Modem rates in June by as much as $6 per month according to this
NEWS.COM article: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-5777498.html

There is still time to complain and maybe we can prevent/avert this rate
increase. The AT&T Broadband Chief Executive Officer is Dan Somers and he
is located in AT&T's Colorado offices. You can reach his office directly at
303-712-7412 to voice your complaint (sorry, I don't have an Toll-Free
number for his office).

Basically, as they have added more subscribers to the system, service levels
have decreased. If anything, the price should be getting CHEAPER NOT MORE
EXPENSIVE.

Please pass this information on to anyone else you know that is either an
@HOME or ROADRUNNER subscriber.

Thanks and good luck!
Doug


Michael Walsh

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May 1, 2001, 4:42:49 PM5/1/01
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Doug wrote:

This is a somewhat stupid effort. The main effect of a large number of
people protesting a price increase would be to convince AT&T that
they really had people hooked.

If the increase perturbs you then you should look for an alternate
supplier.

Mike Walsh


Jack Frost

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May 1, 2001, 5:05:39 PM5/1/01
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well for the service i get the 6 dollar hike would still be cheaper then
comparable dsl....go figure..ill prolly just stay on board along with most
of the people.

Jack
"Michael Walsh" <mp1w...@home.com> wrote in message
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Magic

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May 1, 2001, 5:25:15 PM5/1/01
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>This is a somewhat stupid effort. The main effect of a large number of
>people protesting a price increase would be to convince AT&T that
>they really had people hooked.
>
>If the increase perturbs you then you should look for an alternate
>supplier.
>
>Mike Walsh
>
>
Sort of like the mafia, pay up or else. Not exactly a good way to do
business. Isnt the price supposed to go down, since there are more and
more subscribers ?

Les

Hooda Gest

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May 1, 2001, 5:55:42 PM5/1/01
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Please do not broadcast limited interest articles across multiple
newsgroups. Noen of these groups are concerned with the policies of a single
corporation, they are technical and support in nature.

Thank you.


"Doug" <dou...@com.home> wrote in message
news:8MEH6.58003$122.11...@news1.rdc1.md.home.com...

Michael Walsh

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May 1, 2001, 6:46:04 PM5/1/01
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Magic wrote:

Nope. The price goes down when there is more an more competition,
or perhaps if the monopoly condition gets so bad that the government
decides to take some sort of action.

It is sort of like going to the movies, you pay up or go somewhere else.

Mike Walsh


Michael O'Pezio

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May 1, 2001, 9:38:48 PM5/1/01
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$6 or $60, I don't care. I'll never go back to dial-up. Cable is worth
any or every penny.

Mike

"Doug" <dou...@com.home> wrote in message
news:8MEH6.58003$122.11...@news1.rdc1.md.home.com...

William P.N. Smith

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May 1, 2001, 9:08:25 PM5/1/01
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n...@spam.invalid (Magic) wrote:
>Sort of like the mafia, pay up or else. Not exactly a good way to do
>business. Isnt the price supposed to go down, since there are more and
>more subscribers ?

No, with the cable companies, those normal logical pricing structures
don't work. They drop available bandwidth, lay off tech support, and
raise prices to compensate. 8*|

--
William Smith wp...@compusmiths.com N1...@amsat.org
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

Cyrus Afzali

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May 1, 2001, 11:38:19 PM5/1/01
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No, because they've always been selling it at a loss. People are going
to have to realize they're not going to get cable speeds at $40 a
month. It once cost more than that for 28.8 and 56K access when you
consider phone line and ISP charges combined. Bandwidth and
infrastructure costs haven't dropped enough to give everyone the kind
of bandwidth cable offers for the prices now being paid.

zo...@mit.edu

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May 2, 2001, 8:28:46 AM5/2/01
to
Doug wrote:

>AT&T Broadband (http://www.attbroadband.com/services/) is planning to raise
>Cable Modem rates in June by as much as $6 per month according to this
>NEWS.COM article: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-5777498.html
>
>There is still time to complain and maybe we can prevent/avert this rate
>increase.

Oh really. You think that AT&T just decided out of the blue to raise
rates? You really think that letters from users will make them
suddenly realize that the rate increase isn't needed? What buisness
model do you think they are using? Gouge customers until they
complain?

"Smack...what *were* we thinking?", says AT&T

Ron Hunter

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May 2, 2001, 8:42:19 AM5/2/01
to

Yes, definitely, then gouge them some more, and take a clue from the USPS and
cut services every time you raise prices....

--
Ron Hunter rphu...@home.com

Michael Nguyen

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May 2, 2001, 9:54:02 AM5/2/01
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I agree, and the best way to protest against a company is to move to the
its competitor :)

gerry

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May 2, 2001, 9:54:26 AM5/2/01
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[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On Wed, 02 May 2001 08:28:46 -0400, zo...@mit.edu wrote:

e.

>
>Oh really. You think that AT&T just decided out of the blue to raise
>rates? You really think that letters from users will make them
>suddenly realize that the rate increase isn't needed? What buisness
>model do you think they are using? Gouge customers until they
>complain?
>

I don't think they are using the "gouge the customer until they complain"
model. just "gouge the customer".

Interesting - this is occurring shortly after they subsidized modems at
Circuit City and get customers to have a real investment????

Of course, zero competition in Verizon area's doesn't help. 3rd party DSL
providers can't do squat if Verizon won't help.

gerry
.......

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots

gerry

unread,
May 2, 2001, 3:00:19 PM5/2/01
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[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On Wed, 02 May 2001 13:54:02 GMT, Michael Nguyen <powe...@mailhub.icx.net>
wrote:

>I agree, and the best way to protest against a company is to move to the
>its competitor :)
>

In much of MA, there is no competitor. Verizon DSHell can hardly be
considered competition.

Heck, I'm 2000' from my virtual CO and can't get DSL. They feed it with
fiber and WON'T install any fiber->coper DSL bridges.

Jeff

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May 2, 2001, 8:17:03 PM5/2/01
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Before you get really bent about a $6 increase, if that is what it will be,
think of the alternatives. How much faster service are you getting now over
a dial-up connection. Multiply that by $19.95 a month. Every try satellite
service? I did. I was paying $49.95 a month for service not nearly this
fast, and they had a stringent "fair access policy" on downloads. And DSL
is generally around $50 per month.

Jeff W.

"Doug" <dou...@com.home> wrote in message
news:8MEH6.58003$122.11...@news1.rdc1.md.home.com...

Geoffrey Reynolds

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May 10, 2001, 7:01:29 PM5/10/01
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On Tue, 01 May 2001 21:25:15 GMT, n...@spam.invalid (Magic) wrote:

As to looking for alternate suppliers, there aren't any where I live.
DSL isn't available, the best I can do with a modem connection is ~32K
(and ties up the phone line), and satellite isn't a good option as
it's only 1 way (using the phone line for the return).

There's certainly no law that says the price is supposed to go down.
As long as people (myself included) continue to use the service (and
in fact more people continue to sign up), there's no incentive for
them to drop the price. The problem is that in many areas they have a
virtual monopoly and can charge pretty much whatever they want. What
we need is readily available choices - that is the only thing that
will bring prices down.
--
Geoffrey Reynolds

Mark Cardwell

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May 22, 2001, 7:44:37 PM5/22/01
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Doug wrote:

> AT&T Broadband (http://www.attbroadband.com/services/) is planning to raise
> Cable Modem rates in June by as much as $6 per month according to this
> NEWS.COM article: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-5777498.html

<snip>

The price increase appears to affect customers who were paying $30/month (not
including modem rental). I am already paying $40 without modem rental, and it
sounds like my rates won't go up. We'll see, it's not really clear at this
point. The prices quoted below seem more than fair.

I have Road Runner with AT&T in Atlanta and noticed the following on their page:

"AT&T Broadband is increasing prices for its high-speed Internet cable service
by six dollars for most customers. Customers who subscribe to AT&T@Home and AT&T
Road Runner and lease a modem from AT&T Broadband now will pay $45.95 per month.
Customers who subscribe to AT&T@Home or AT&T Road Runner and who own their
modems now will pay $35.95 per month."

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