Dial-up prices catching up with times
If you're using AT&T dial-up because it's a cheaper way to access the Internet, you may have a decision to make. The company is set to raise prices as much as 60 percent next month. Adriene Hill has more.
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Scott Jagow: Who uses dial-up anymore? Well, if you do, AT&T is about to charge you more for it. Chicago Public Radio’s Adriene Hill reports.
Adriene Hill: Still connecting to the Internet the old-fashioned way? The cost of dial-up Internet service from AT&T will jump as much as 60 percent a month for customers in the 22 states it serves.
Chris Comes is a spokesman for AT&T in Illinois:
Chris Comes: We wanted to stay in line with some of our competition. You know, our dial-up rates are definitely competitive.
Forrester Telecom analyst Sally Cohen says the increase does put AT&T on the upper end of the dial-up cost spectrum, but it’s not out of line. And she doesn’t think the move signals an upward trend in dial-up costs at other companies.
Sally Cohen: I think that the premium tier of dial-up services, right around $20 or slightly over, will stay at that price point to be competitive with some of the lower-end DSL services in the same market.
Cohen says most AT&T dial-up customers, including those who don’t have access to DSL, still have other lower-cost dial-up options.
I’m Adriene Hill for Marketplace.