Our-verse

Last week, Stop the Cap! reported AT&T customers in Connecticut were being told to dump their long-standing DSL service in favor of a forced upgrade to AT&T U-verse. Now some Texans are in the same boat, only that “free upgrade” AT&T offered ended up costing one angry customer $337.

The Star-Telegram found Judith Hedges, who reports she was bullied and intimidated by AT&T’s increasingly threatening letters warning if she did not upgrade her Internet connection to AT&T U-verse, her DSL service will be summarily disconnected.

AT&T pulled the plug last week, leaving Hedges without Internet service.

Consumer reporter Dave Lieber writes, “AT&T has found a new way to lure customers to its supposedly faster U-verse service: Force them to take it.”

As AT&T installs U-verse fiber to the neighborhood service, the company has decided to stop investing in its older DSL technology, and when conditions are right, the company sends letters to their existing DSL customers imposing an “upgrade” to U-verse.

Hedges suspected the threatening letters were part of a high-pressure sales pitch to add TV and phone service, services she did not want, so she tossed the letter away. Big mistake.

AT&T is giving out different answers as to when and why they are forcing DSL customers to switch to U-verse. One told Lieber the company is now introducing forced upgrades wherever U-verse becomes established, another told the reporter the choice remains with the customer as long as the company does not decommission its DSL service in a particular exchange.

AT&T told the newspaper “the large majority of existing customers we’re reaching out to can upgrade to the same-speed package on U-verse without an increase to their broadband bill.”

But that does not always turn out to be true. Hedges signed up for the “free upgrade” to get her service back and promptly found it was more expensive than what she had. In fact, the company loaded her first bill with add-on equipment fees, installation charges, surcharges, taxes, and fees:

• AT&T U-verse temporary promotional rate: $29.95
• Internet Gateway fee: $100
• Installation: $149
• Taxes, fees, and surcharges

The total price for Hedges “free upgrade?” $337. AT&T will reserves the right to bill her a late fee if her check is not forthcoming.

“Apparently, this is the world we live in,” Hedges says. “And AT&T reigns supreme.”

Verizon FiOS standalone broadband customers choosing the company’s standard service will see rate increases of $10 a month starting June 17, but those upgraded to the company’s premium speed tiers, which are getting much faster, may not see any rate hike at all.

The Verge received word from an anonymous Verizon employee who passed along the rate hike information that will apply to broadband-only customers:

• Standard 15/5Mbps service: (Was $54.99/mo) now up $10 to $64.99
• 50/25Mbps service: (Was $74.99/mo for 25/25Mbps) remains $74.99
• 75/35Mbps service: (New offer) $84.99
• 150/65Mbps service: (Was $94.99/mo for 50/20Mbps) remains $94.99
• 300/65Mbps service: (Was $199.99/mo for 150/35Mbps) now $204.99

All new pricing requires a two-year contract (month-to-month service costs $5/mo more) and home phone service with Verizon (or pay a $5/mo surcharge). Speeds of 150 or 300Mbps require a 2-4 hour service call and upgrade fee of $100 for new equipment unless you are on a two-year contract, are a new customer, or already have Verizon’s 150Mbps service. Customers living in multi-dwelling units served by VDSL and not fiber-to-the-apartment will pay the new higher price for standard service, but cannot receive the new enhanced speed tiers.

With the majority of Verizon customers paying only for standard speed service, Verizon will pocket significantly higher revenue for broadband. But customers need not pay for more expensive a-la-carte broadband. Verizon offers significant discounts for customers who sign up for triple play packages on phone, Internet, and television service. Bundled customers continue to get the most bang for the buck, but not if you don’t use the services Verizon wants to sell.

Jonathan Takiff, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News says he isn’t buying at the prices Verizon is charging.

I also was disappointed with the announcement that Verizon will continue to offer entry level FiOS Internet running at  15/5 Mbps. If the operation has such superior technology and capacity, why not flaunt it and give us casual users more headroom?  Even with its old school coaxial cable network, Xfinity service starts at 20 Mbps down.

Clearly, Verizon hopes  to up-sell customers to a higher, more profitable tier. And they’re using that grandiose 300 Mbps offering as an attention getter, to get folks thinking more aspirationally. Kinda like the way a car company throws a high powered, ridiculously priced, super flashy sports car into the showroom mix. Makes you go for the bigger engine in the econobox.

[…] What’s a good deal for Internet service on a global basis? In front-running Japan, the  average service runs at 61 Mbps and costs 27 cents per megabit, per month. While not quite as dramatic,  Internet services in South Korea, Finland and France also make U.S. providers look like stingy bastards.

Customers promised big savings from dropping their old Verizon plans found tricks, traps, and speed reductions.

Beware of telemarketers bearing gifts.

Frontier Communications has embarked on a sales push to convince customers adopted from Verizon Communications to “upgrade” their grandfathered Verizon broadband plans to new offerings from Frontier.

But Stop the Cap! has received more than a dozen complaints from customers who discovered their broadband speeds were slashed, sometimes significantly, after taking Frontier up on one of their offers.

“Whenever you call Frontier customer service, they always have an offer for you that they claim will save you money and I fell for it,” Tim Falston says.

Falston has been a Stop the Cap! reader since he learned Frontier Communications was buying out his Verizon landline in 2010.

“Frontier promised me nothing would change after they took over from Verizon, but of course a lot changed when I agreed to switch to a new bundled service package Frontier was offering for my phone and Internet service,” Falston writes.

Falston thought he was keeping his 8Mbps DSL service Verizon had been selling him for nearly five years, only now he would save at least $10 a month bundling some of Frontier’s other products into his package. A few days after signing up, he found his broadband speeds were lacking. It turned out Frontier reduced his speed to just under 3Mbps. A few days later, the company also mailed him a new DSL modem/router that he later learned came with a monthly fee that more than wiped out his “savings.”

“This was the worst decision I ever made, and Frontier never warned me the package I was signing up for cut my speeds more than half and stuck me with a modem I don’t want or need,” Falston said.

Unfortunately, when Falston called Frontier to switch back to his old plan, he was told it was no longer available and he had to choose from Frontier’s current services that came with higher prices and term contracts.

Surprise! Modem rental fee!

“It’s bait and switch and should be illegal,” Falston said. “I was told that everything about my service was to stay the same if I agreed to their bundle, and I think they figured most people have no idea about speeds and just accept what they are given, but I was never told about the modem or the rental fee that comes with it, and my old Verizon equipment worked just fine.”

Frontier won’t even sell Falston 8Mbps service, even though he had it for half a decade.

“They want to sell me 3Mbps and tell me that is all my line will support,” Falston complains. “That was after I finally convinced them to talk to me — the account is in the wife’s name and Frontier blocked me because of ‘security reasons’ until they spoke with her.”

Stop the Cap! recommended Falston schedule a service call and speak to a local technician about the problem. Experience shows employees on the ground far away from the customer service department can often cut through Frontier’s red tape. That worked for Falston who quickly got his old Verizon plan back after the technician made a few phone calls from Falston’s home.

“The tech shook his head and said he deals with these problems all day long and has managed to get customers back on old plans Frontier’s customer service says are long gone,” Falston said. “He told me specifically ‘do not change any plans you signed up for with Verizon — all of the offers from Frontier come at higher prices and fewer features.'”

So if Frontier has an offer you cannot refuse, refuse it anyway, at least if your old phone company was Verizon Communications. You are probably better off with what you have today.

Despite claims from some of their competitors that customers don’t want or need super-fast broadband, Verizon Communications is taking broadband speeds to the new level, upgrading service to as high as 300Mbps in selected areas.

Our friends at Broadband Reports had the scoop on this a few weeks ago, but now it’s official: speed -and- price increases for Verizon are on the way for the company’s fiber optic network FiOS.

Many customers will see their broadband speeds double or more in June. At the same time, the company has been sending out letters informing customers of price increases, often $5 a month for those not locked into service contracts.

Verizon's Speed Upgrade Chart (Courtesy: Broadband Reports)

Verizon’s new top tier of 300/65Mbps will be introduced in areas that have Verizon’s Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON). Pricing has not yet been announced.

The company is targeting its speed upgrades to premium broadband customers who subscribe to faster tiers. Customers on Verizon’s standard 15/5Mbps tier will see no changes in service.

This scrap copper wire is as good as gold

While telephone companies continue to suffer repeated outages from copper wire thieves, the growing problem of copper theft has now begun to impact cable-TV providers and even electric service in some areas.

Over the Memorial Day holiday, thieves were busy stripping phone, cable, and electric wiring from utility poles, underground conduit, and even buildings. Windstream suffered significant losses in the greater Tulsa area late last week when thieves sliced through wiring supporting phone, television, and broadband service, quickly spooling it up on pickup trucks to be hauled to copper recyclers, often to finance drug habits.

Windstream reports the problem of copper wire theft is growing and becoming more widespread, especially in out of the way places where thieves are not likely to be caught in the act. The Tulsa-area copper capers are characterized as semi-professional because thieves are starting to use professional tools to quickly slice through wiring and can scoop up 1,000 feet or more of cable in minutes.

Copper theft has even become a problem in office parks, where thieves are stealing high voltage electrical cables, often at the point where they attach to buildings. One Albuquerque radio station was off the air for nearly 14 hours after thieves ripped the radio station’s electrical wiring right off the building and out of the underground conduit.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KOKI Tulsa Thieves cut copper and knock out cable 5-25-12.mp4[/flv]

KOKI in Tulsa takes a look at the latest wave in copper cable theft — stealing cable television -and- telephone wires that disrupt phone, TV and Internet service all at once. (Warning: Loud Volume) (2 minutes)

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KOB Albuquerque Copper thieves knock local radio station off the air 5-30-12.mp4[/flv]

KOB in Albuquerque talks with a nearby radio station taken off the air when cable thieves cut the building’s electrical wiring and yanked some of it right out of the ground.  (2 minutes)