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AT&T is promising to offer cheaper Internet service to poor people if it's allowed to buy DirecTV. This is similar to a promise that helped Comcast gain government approval of its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal.
Qualifying residents in areas where AT&T's top speeds are below 5 Mbps (that's not a typo) will be offered DSL service of "up to 1.5 Mbps, where available" for $10 a month, AT&T said in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission last week. It'll be $5 a month for the first year before rising to $10 for the next three years. AT&T is proposing a four-year commitment in total.
In areas where AT&T's top speeds are higher, the company said it "will offer a broadband wireline DSL service at speeds up to 5 Mbps to households in AT&T's wireline footprint for $10 per month for the first 12 months of service (rising to $20 per month for the remainder of the term of the commitment)."
Original Submission
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2015, @12:07AM
Makes it free or else you get no deal.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by gnuman on Thursday July 09 2015, @04:31AM
Free? Who cares. $10/mo is fine, but no 4-year-limit. In perpetuity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2015, @07:03AM
"Makes it free or else you get no deal."
yes, precious, makes it free!
A lot of the poor in the USA, even the homeless, will have a laptop or smart phone and lay around free wireless place A,B,C while sipping on expensive coffee. To give up one or two coffees a month wouldn't kill most of them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 09 2015, @08:56AM
I had a friend live homeless in california, they arrested him when some guy got stabbed in the neck with a pencil on the same street he was walking down 5 days later. His defense was that he was playing games online using the mcdonald's wifi at the time of the stabbing. Unfortunately the prison destroyed his laptop so there was no evidence either way. After 6 months he finally had a trial, the judge let him go because there was no evidence.
The point is, yes some homeless do use wifi.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 10 2015, @03:06AM
Its not like they'll actually follow through with it anyway. Telcos have a reputation of not carrying through with their promises; see: all involved with the government broadband loans 10+ years ago, Comcast's same claim previously, etc.