SBC Continues The Broadband Land Grab

Miscellaneous

from the free,-free,-free,-free,-free dept

SBC continues to show how seriously they take the “land grab” aspect of signing up new users for broadband services these days. While their cheap prices have already helped them pick up new users faster than cable suppliers, they recently lowered their prices even further, making it $15/month (cheaper than many dialup plans) for the first year. Of course, this is only a promotional plan, and it’s likely the prices will go up, but cable providers have still been slow to react. There have been some, informal, reports that customers who call up and point to SBC’s super cheap plans can get better deals on cable, but there’s been no official move in that direction. Still, SBC continues to punch away, recognizing that if they sign them up now, they’ll be more likely to keep customers by offering a full suite of offerings, from phone to broadband to TV (and, oh yeah, mobile phone as well). So, on top of the $15/month promotion they’re apparently offering another promotion that gives people free DSL and free satellite TV for three months if they’re switching from cable. And, yet, the cable companies still go on and on about how the services they offer are more important than speed or price. Other than Cablevision, who seems to recognize the importance of the land grab, the other providers seem to be slow to react. And, while they’re out (mistakenly) celebrating the Brand X decision, they’re going to find it’s tough to get people back. The one thing that might save them, however, is the simple fact that most of the DSL providers seem to be making other mistakes at the same time. It’s really a race to see who can screw up this market first.