AT&T Lures Dialup Holdouts with Discount DSL Service

Press Release - June 17, 2007

AT&T Inc. has begun offering a special new $10/month tier of DSL service, making good on a promise that the company made when it acquired BellSouth Corp. late last year.

The $10 service is guaranteed for the next two-and-a-half years, but is restricted to new AT&T/BellSouth broadband subscribers who sign-up online. It is being seen as an attempt to edge out cable rivals in the ongoing conversion of cost-conscious dialup holdouts.

“That would be attractive to any casual user,” commented Jerry Dunlap, the president and CEO of ISDN-NET, which competes against AT&T in the DSL market. “It may certainly give people an alternative to cable.”

Downstream bandwidth of 768-kbps is more than sufficient for basic web surfing, according to Dunlap, but will likely fall short of the mark for online gamers and people who frequently download music and video.