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AT&T last week announced it has increased its quarterly dividend by 2.40% to 42 cents per share, the 26th year the company has increased dividends quarter after quarter.
On February 1st, something else will increase by up to 10 percent: their U-verse rates.
Depending on the package selected, rates will increase $3-5 dollars a month for most cable-TV packages, $5 for many slower speed broadband products, and $5 a month for its unlimited calling package. New customers will find some savings to offset the increases if they opt for faster broadband products: Max (12 Mbps) and Max Plus (18 Mbps) both decrease $10 per month, to $45 and $55 respectively, and the new 24Mbps Max Turbo service drops from $75 to $65. Existing customers will not see price increases on broadband service, but they won’t enjoy any price decreases either.
Standard retail pricing as of February 1, 2010 will be: U-Basic- $19/mo., U-family-$54/mo., U-100-$54/mo., U200-$67/mo., U200 Latino-$77/mo., U300-$82/mo., U450-$112/mo.
New U-verse TV customers will now face a one-time service activation fee of $29.
AT&T said that the “modest price adjustments that we’re making are far outweighed by the additional value we’ve added to U-verse TV in the last year alone.”
Customers have expressed mixed reactions to the price increases and decreases on AT&T’s U-verse forums. A far bigger problem for many of them are the company’s “bait and switch” tactics, alleged by several angry customers. From rate quotes $30 less than what actually shows up on customer bills to referral rewards that never materialize to rebate nightmares, AT&T customers in several parts of the country report ongoing problems getting what they were promised.
Other stories of interest:
- Time Warner Cable Raises Road Runner Rates in Northeast Ohio/Western Pennsylvania Region – $50 for 7Mbps Service
- AT&T U-verse Introduced in Central Illinois & Corpus Christi, Texas
- Time Warner Cable Increasing Rates in South Carolina
- AT&T U-verse Celebrates 2 Million Customers With New 24Mbps Speed Tier in Austin, San Antonio, and St. Louis
- Louisville, Kentucky Says Hello to Cable Competition from AT&T U-verse, But Long Term Savings Remain Elusive
Most customers would probably prefer that AT&T strip off that $2 of “additional value” which they’ve appraised at $20, and enjoy a cheaper, neutral bandwidth pipeline.
[...] with additional rate increases announced this week by AT&T’s U-verse, the much-heralded savings promised by AT&T and its various astroturf elements have become only [...]