AT&T Rolls Out DSL, U-Verse Bandwidth Caps

Glad I cancelled my Uverse service last month when I heard they were rolling this out. When the customer service rep asked why I was cancelling I told him it was due to the bandwidth caps and overage charges that they were implementing and he didn't attempt to try talk me out of cancelling. I got the feeling I was probably one of dozens that day who were calling to cancel for the same reason.

Well time to find a new service provider!

I didn't know it would take that long for AT&T to implement one, though being stuck on Comcast I was hoping other ISPs wouldn't follow Comcast's example? marine good luck finding another one.

Didn't AT&T just announce record profits?

Big issue I have with these bandwidth monitors is accuracy. Once with on one week vacation with computer turned off. Came back and it said I used 5gb. BS.

This sucks!!! I switched from stupid Charter and now AT&T goes and does this? I'm out of options. Those are the only two providers in my area.

At&t's networks can't handle all the data from the new wireless Fruit Co. products. They don't want their record profits to go back into their infrastructure. Seems this is a way to lengthen the amount of time that they have to upgrade their network. Glad I'm not a customer.

This is why you need to contact your local congressman/senator and tell them that you do not want government ISP service contracts. Comcast or AT&T can come in and sign a deal with the government that ensures that no one else can build a cable/dsl network in certain areas to compete.

This is absolutely wrong and will not change until you start writing letters. We need competition!

All this does is inhibit innovation... AT&T is taking us back in time not forward.

So? That just means they need MORE profits to keep the shareholders happy. And since no company is willing to compete on price anymore, every single ISP will be capped within 5 years, I gurantee it.

lol...DSL in your country is going the opposite way of that in...well everywhere else. Besides TRUE unlimited broadband, all the european providers try to do is give one faster and faster speeds with which to enjoy limitless internet goodness! ...but we don't have black friday

comcast already does this... as do the phone companies... bandwidth isnt free

yea... not cool. this eliminates advancement in the market in terms of streaming HD movies.

haha this is great when I log in to the website it gives me this error:
The U-verse data measurement report is currently under construction. When completed, you will be notified if your usage exceeds the allowance. Until that time, U-verse customers should not be concerned about their usage patterns for billing purposes.

To learn more about how to manage your usage, please visit www.att.com/internet-usage

I still don't understand how a company can sell a product that is based on a per second speed for a month and not guarantee you that you can use that speed for every second of the month without having to pay additional fees.

Not that I am a big fan of companies doing this, but i have had comcast for several years and at one time was living in a house with a total of 3 heavy internet users and we never had issues with our cap, I would be a little surprised if we went over it more than once or twice. For an example, we had a gaming server which consistently had 20 or so people connected to it, constant torrenting,streaming videos all the time from hulu and espn3, and all of us played games online alot. We never heard a peep about bandwidth usage from comcast. Everyone who is up in arms and cancelling your service over this, I think you are taking it a little too far.

It should be unlimited and discounts given to those who don't go over a certain threshold.

Or, reduce the monthly subscription price significantly and introduce a cap with overage charges, so customers can opt to use less at a discounted price and those who choose to use quite a bit more suffer overage charges that roughly round out to the same average cost as before caps/overage charges were implemented. I could see that as a selling point whereas currently this approach they have acts more as a deterrent.

I'm so happy that I just switched from ATT to Sonic's Fusion: uncapped ADSL2+ and unlimited nationwide phone for $40/mo.

Comcast is different. Comcast has not implemented any overage charge policy. I've done the same as you as far as activity and was nearing 700-900gb each month and never heard a peep from Comcast. They have a monitor that shows your useage so I think for now Comcast has just gotten their feet wet, but hasn't jumped in the pool yet like AT&T is doing.

WOW! I may get charged a lot but at least it's unlimited (and they have been increasing my bandwidth). Sucks to be an AT&T customer!

Unlimited bandwidth is gone.... all this streaming stuff is useless with hard caps in place. Someone I know already had his account suspended for streaming too much Netflix and went way over his cap.

agreed. HD resolutions are expected to double this year, maybe more. Once your streaming HD movies at 1080p or higher, and are using Netflix and Comcast's xfinity service for various movies and tv shows, and yer like me and disabled so I can't really go out and play ball or go bowling lol... well it all adds up.

Maybe this will help: Technology has advanced very quickly since unlimited data services were put on the market. If people were suddenly able to eat a months worth of food in a single meal, all-you-can-eat restaurants would likely impose the same type of "eating" limit.

Has anyone here considered the idea that maybe AT&T isn't doing this just to increase profits? Although I'm sure they are still happy to take your money, they are probably more interested in creating a market based solution to prevent 20% of their customers from hogging 80% of their bandwidth.

I don't think bandwidth caps are going to last anywhere, include here in the U.S. Where I live I only have Century Link and Comcast. Both suck to be honest, but I'm getting away from the point. With talk about the "cloud" and HD stream, you would think service providers like google and even m$ would come up with their own ISP programs and infrastructure. I could be dreaming, but I think if a lot of companies start this very big players are going to come in and offer unlimited usage. As for those of you that live in Europe, your internet options are A LOT better than ours in the U.S., I'll give you that. I guess you guys don't have to deal with the monopolies. LUCKY!

U-verse still tells me I am on an unlimited plan. Is the cap only for some plans?

If they advertise a connection speed w/ a monthly charge, they should have already figured out what the optimal speed is for a given area that there are no hogs b/c it just won't go over the cap even if used the entire month. If they are advertising and selling a speed they can't even support, well then that's like a restaurant selling you an "all you can eat" dinner and apologing 2 plates later that they're all out.

You shouldn't advertise and sell something you can't deliver.

There is fundamental logic to me. And at its core, why we have have government. Our gov't should be the first ones to say to our ISP's that this only hurts everyone in the end game.

Fair enough, cap my internet and I move my cell phone, cable service and internet away from UVerse. No problem for me.

Lots and lots of negative comments. Definitely not a popular move by AT&T. Is there something inherently wrong with a pay for what you use plan?

I just switched back to Charter.

@JohnnyLucky I would normal say no, for many things, however, internet traffic is not expansive to handle and I don't have problems with companies making a profits, in fact I'm mostly a liberal when it comes to economics, however, these companies continue to make statements about record profits and continue to offer less of a service at a higher price. So, from a personal point, I have major issues with the way the ISP is down here in the United States, which includes payment options.