Oh, Look. SBC's DSL Rate Was Promotional After All
from the who-would-have-thunk-it? dept
While the press and various pundits claiming that there is real competition in broadband have gone wild talking about how cheap DSL has gotten lately, some of us keep trying to remind people that these super cheap DSL rates are promotional rates only and unlikely to last. Years ago, when I first signed up for cable modem service, they offered it for $20/month for the first six months. Yet, no one at the time was talking about a “price war” on broadband. However, when the telcos offer nearly the same thing, suddenly it’s a big deal? In the meantime, for all the press that SBC, Verizon and others received for offering these cheap promotional DSL rates, how much attention will they get for cutting back on the promotion? That’s right. Now that the FCC has basically cut out a lot of the competition, it appears that SBC is quickly scaling back that promotional price that got them so much attention. So, from now on, it’s only available for the first six months, instead of the first year. Obviously, this is SBC’s right — but considering all the glowing coverage about those “cheaper DSL” plans, which were basically free advertising for the telcos, will anyone cover them cutting back the deals?
