AT&T to hike phone rates (10%-25%)

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

If you get local phone service from AT&T, you might be seeing a stiff price hike come Jan. 1.

The telecommunications giant has begun notifying customers that it plans to raise monthly rates for its basic landline phone services by between 10 percent and 25 percent. The company is not planning on raising prices for customers who get a bundle of services, such as local, long-distance phone services and TV, nor those who get DSL or TV only. And the rate hikes don't affect its wireless plans.

But the rate hikes will affect about half of the 6.5 million residential phone lines that AT&T provides in the state, including those of its lowest-income customers.

... The notice of the price hikes follows the company's announcement earlier this week that it had posted a $3.2 billion profit in its most recent quarter on $31.3 billion in sales. The company also reported, though, that revenue from its voice services fell 8 percent year-over-year to $9.3 billion.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10798659

[LSparkle]

1. I have never been happier with my decision to switch from AT&T ...

The day I paid my final bill to that wretched group
was a good day. I feel vindicated even more knowing
that they won't be able to get even MORE of my hard-
earned cash.

[JeanGrey]

6. I just switched to them and I'm very happy.

I was paying miserable Earthlink a fortune for DSL that was slow and out half the time. Plus my home phone was over 55 a month and we paid 5 a month for a long distance carrier plus I think 5 cents a minute. I am getting my same home phone with unlimited long distance plus the fastest DSL of AT&T, free virus protection, and the guy who came to my neighborhood to do something on the switch came to my house and helped me set it up (he broke in on my phone call to customer service) and actually GAVE me a router/dsl modem combo free because my other didn't work. Plus I got 100 cash back, and my monthly bill is now 73.95 for BOTH.

We are really happy.

[LSparkle]

9. I had been with AT&T for 10+ years but have had credit problems

and after signing up for UVerse TV and setting up
an appointment, they informed me by letter that they
couldn't connect me. (I'd told them I was willing
to go "insta-pay" which I thought was the only
condition but the letter said something to the
contrary.) The fact that my cable company (with
which I've only been for around 5 years) didn't
make similar demands -- and was able to connect
me within days, not weeks -- made me switch to
them.

Many people are hurting right now, and I felt like
AT&T's "dis" was the last straw. I thought that
customer loyalty would count for something but ...
I guess not. Good riddance to them, even if I
may be paying a bit more for my cable internet/
phone/TV bundle (which may not be the case, after
AT&T raises its rates).

[JeanGrey]

17. I can't afford to pay more. So I'm glad I have better service

for a lot less money. My internet has been very fast compared to Earthlink.

I hope you get your credit problems worked out. :-)

[MercutioATC]

31. I honestly only switched to AT&T so I could get an iPhone...

...but they seem OK so far...

[kansasblue]

2. Got to pay the lawyers for when retroactive immunity is overturned.

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/10/17

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Thursday challenged the constitutionality of a law aimed at granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president's illegal domestic wiretapping program.

[msongs]

3. California PUC = the worst corporate whores on the planet, they give ATT anything in exchange

for what I dont know.

I would demand that ATT announce its advertising budget and slash that instead of raising fees and rates. Who the heck needs to be swamped with ATT 's constant big bucks propaganda anyway.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/obama2008.htm

[xxqqqzme]

29. '...The PUC plans to cease regulating local phone

service costs by Jan. 1, 2011.'...

Now that sentence is worrisome.

[MercutioATC]

4. I haven't had a land line in years.

I realize that not everybody can afford cell service, but if one has a cell, one really does not need a landline too.

[Coventina]

7. Our cell phones have no reception inside our house.

Plus, we can only afford dial-up internets, so we're stuck with a land-line for now...

[Goldom]

5. Heard same thing was coming from Qwest

Already was paying over $50 a month, and I barely ever use the phone. Decided to switch to Vonage, now only paying $15!
(No, I'm not an ad. Just glad to be saving something like $350 a year. And the service is just as good as far as I can tell)

[w4rma]

8. Wages are stagnant, equipment isn't more expensive than it used to be. Why aren't prices dropping?nt

[Indenturedebtor]

10. That's how the free market works

Profits increase exponentially where competition is nullified. You pretty much have to move to get different cable/phone service.

[olddad56]

11. good bye AT&T

I live in Sacramento and I have Surewest for internet and cable TV. I still have AT&T for my local phone, but I've been very happy with Surewest, so this is my incentive to bundle the phone in with my other Surewest components.

[dweller]

12. eat the poor

"The telecommunications giant has begun notifying customers that it plans to raise monthly rates for its basic landline phone services by between 10 percent and 25 percent. The company is not planning on raising prices for customers who get a bundle of services, such as local, long-distance phone services and TV, nor those who get DSL or TV only. And the rate hikes don't affect its wireless plans.

But the rate hikes will affect about half of the 6.5 million residential phone lines that AT&T provides in the state, including those of its lowest-income customers."


dp

[Karenina]

14. And prevent them from communicating...

[geomon666]

13. Well somebody has to pay the guys listening in on your calls.

I mean get real.

[midnight]

15. It doesn't matter what carrier I use. AT$T owns the wires. My

service is constantly being interuppted with tapping, static, and or calls completely dropped. Sometimes is sounds like a wind up crank noise from those old movies when they used to place calls over seas. I have complained for years. Same old song and dance.... Nothing gets taken care of...

[Solly Mack]

16. poor put upon telecoms

[Eurobabe]

18. Screw ATT, I've got magicjack, love it!

Before that I had Vonage for 5 years.

VoIP phone is the only way to go.

[Javaman]

19. Whew! I just dumped their asses for a wireless T-moble router...

10 bucks a month. no hidden fees. works great. :) unlimited local and long distance.

[Marie26]

20. Just use a cell phone

Landlines are almost passe.

[llmart]

32. Except there are still many places.....

including my neighborhood where you can't get a signal.

[MelissaB]

21. I'm loving my packet8 for $200 year.

:)

[nichomachus]

22. I've had Vonage for four years -- love it.

The best part is that I've moved twice. Each time, I just grabbed my Vonage modem, hooked it into my cable modem, and I had phone service immediately in my new home with my old number -- even though I had moved to a new city.

$25/month including Mexico and Canada and very low rates to call Europe. Also, all features, such as voicemail, etc. are included and not add-ons as with Time Warner.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. Ditto. I am very, very happy with their service. No complaints at all.

[Randomthought]

27. Me too!

and we just got on to the city wireless internet for a third of the price of comcast!

[musiclawyer]

30. Vonage is great

I got rid of AT&T in April because their local package was still very expensive and local long distance would not alow you to call outside the pre-fix, even 10 miles a way or a cell phone. The only time vonage has been down is when comcast cable internet was down. The only downside of no land line is you can't order sports packages or movies from DirecTV.( I won't go to comcastcable tv because I can't get Fox Soccer and GolTV )

[kohl]

24. ATT rate hike

go figure. Everyone is dropping their long distance plans and using their cell phones. Now ATT is raising local rates to make us pay anyway. I think I will disconnect local service too.

[babylonsister]

25. This is why I dumped AT&T the last time. Whoever my alternate

provider was, they sold out - to AT&T, so I'm back where I started.
I'd love to sign up with Vonage, but doesn't that mean I'd have to have a lot of faith in my ISP? That's ComCast, thus my quandary.

[lonestarnot]

26. Hasta la bye bye biatchspies!

[Doctor_J]

28. No land line for 2+ years.

I will never again have one.

[IndianaGreen]

33. This will hit the elderly in a disproportionate way

Most seniors rely exclusively on land lines.