AT&T Quietly Introduces $10 DSL Plan

AT&T quietly introduces $10 DSL plan
Offer is part of merger concessions

By Peter Svensson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

NEW YORK — Without any fanfare, AT&T Inc. has started offering a broadband Internet service for $10 a month, cheaper than any advertised plan. The DSL, or digital subscriber line, plan introduced Saturday is among the concessions made by San Antonio-based AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission to get its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp. approved in December.

The $10 offer is available to customers in the 22-state AT&T service region, which includes former BellSouth areas, who have never had AT&T or BellSouth broadband service, spokesman Michael Coe said Monday. Local phone service and a one-year contract are required. The modem is free.

The plan was not mentioned in a Friday news release about AT&T's DSL plans. On the AT&T Web site, a page describing DSL options doesn't mention the plan, but clicking a link for "Term contract plans" reveals it. The plan is also presented to customers who go into the application process, Coe said.

The service provides download speeds of up to 768 kilobits per second and upload speeds of up to 128 kilobits per second, matching the speeds of the cheapest advertised AT&T plan, which costs $19.95 per month in the nine-state former BellSouth area and $14.99 per month in the 13 states that were covered by AT&T before the acquisition.

more: http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/06/19/19att.html