AT&T Raises Prices After Saying Merger Would Make Things Cheaper For Consumers

[orangecrush]

Source: Huffington Post

AT&T Raises Prices After Saying Merger Would Make Things Cheaper For Consumers



AT&T's DirecTV price increase begins on July 26 for new customers and, according to USA Today, it's not the company's only price hike.

AT&T also increased its monthly "administrative fee" twice in the most recent quarter, hiking up the fee 76 cents to a total of $1.99 per month for cellphone bills, USA Today reported.

The telecom company also updated two of its unlimited mobile plans last week, tacking on $5 to its cheapest plan (for a total of $70) while dropping a subscription to HBO which it previously offered for free, according to Ars Technica.

The Justice Department attempted to block AT&T's purchase of Time Warner in federal court, arguing in an antitrust case that the merger would create a media monopoly and lead to higher prices for consumers.



Read more: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b3c0fb4e4b09e4a8b286bf7?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000621

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[Sherman A1]

1. Thankfully

I’m done with them.

[orangecrush]

2. Good to hear!

That is the most effective way of fighting back.

[Sherman A1]

6. It's very nice to have ended

My U-Verse account. When I did the customer service representative with whom I spoke asked a few questions as to the why’s. I told him that we had increasing prices, a modem that had to be rebooted several times per week and internet speeds at less than 20% of what they supposedly offered. Even if Spectrum ran at that 20% rate it would still be twice their top end which I never saw. He asked about cell phones trying to hold onto something and I said sure if you can beat 2 lines for $60.00 taxes and fees included. He simply said that he couldn’t and wished me well.

[cstanleytech]

9. I had AT&T as well for 18 years as they were the only option here until a small local cable

company finally installed their service and I ditched them as they wanted 60 bucks for 12mb service vs the 40 for 100mb from the cable company.
It might be a different story had AT&T shown an interest in upgrading their service here but when I called about their fiber service they said they have no plans to expanding it to the more rural towns such as the one I am in any time within the next few years.
Funny thing is they keep trying to get me back but the speeds they have are so slow that they would have to cut the price below 10 bucks to interest me.

[Demsrule86]

39. It is not just the rural towns. I am moving near Cleveland...Bedford Ohio...I called them as they

had a nice offer, but I asked them the Bandwidth. the lady ignored me..finally the second time she told 20. 20? She said but it is a direct line...blah blah...I am like why did you bother with fiber optics when clearly you don't update anything.My neighbor told me this has been the same for at least the last ten years. I said no. Luckily we have Spectrum. While they can be annoying at times...there internet here is very good...and my speed is the fastest it has ever been.

[Matthew28]

3. Greedy bastards

[MoonchildCA]

4. We are cutting the cord.

My husband just ordered Roku boxes today. We'll save close to $2000 a year. $2000 dollars for TV! Is that crazy, or what? We're trying to save for retirement--that will be almost $20k over the next 10 years, plus interest.

[Sherman A1]

7. I need to learn more about the roku thing

I plan on just going to streaming at the end of the 2 year price guarantee.

[bettyellen]

12. I'd recommend Fire TV from a amazon. And Terrarium is a good app to use.

You can find out more on Reddit.

[Sherman A1]

19. Thank You

I will be doing my research over the next year and appreciate your thoughts.

[bettyellen]

29. Yeah, check out s/terrarium and also see if they have subreddits for rocku or fire....

As much as Reddit is a dump, it’s amazing for reviews and help for all sorts of tech things. Terrarium is a feee program where you can stream some great content (but I don’t think it works w Roku or IOS/apple) and it’s developer actually uses Reddit to inform users of updates and issues, it’s helpful.!

[MoonchildCA]

18. We are still under contract with directv.

We moved last October, and even though we've been customers for over 15 years, we had to sign a new contract at the new house. We thought it was up in a year, so we were going to wait it out to switch, but it turned out to be a 2 year contract, so we decided we'll just pay the $300-something penalty, and get out early. It will pay for itself in 2 months, so it's still worth it to us.

My husband has been researching for months, and talking to people with the system. There is so much free content available, even news. We already pay for Amazon and Netflix, and there are pay channels like Sling or Pluto for $15 - $25 a month, where we can get many of the channels we watch on cable, like CNN, HGTV, MSNBC, the list goes on.

I have this feeling that once more people realize what they can get for little money, cable tv will be a thing of the past.

[Sherman A1]

20. Thanks

As I go forward with the move to streaming all the information I can get is of help.

[LiberalArkie]

22. And put up an outside antenna. You will be surprised what is available vs what is listed.

[Demsrule86]

40. Hulu is worth getting if you like network TV

You get it the day after the show airs...no commercials. I love lethal weapon although they just fired the main character...

[shanti]

52. if you had directv

then you will want directvnow, the streaming version of directv. they just now got the dvr part of it working, and are raising the rates $5 across the board. i got directvnow in dec. of 2016 when they were offering a free appletv with 3 months service free AND HBO, for $35 (the go big package). it's not offered for $35 anymore, but i'm grandfathered in so still get the same price. it all depends upon what you want to watch. i tried the other services - hulu, amazon fire, sling, etc., but prefer directvnow to all of them. ymmv.

the only thing i miss about regular directv is the dvr so that i can skip commercials. with streaming on directvnow, you can't skip them now, i just mute them.

[MoonchildCA]

55. I looked into Directv now, as I was doing my research.

We’re just kind of over it now—the whole directv/at&t thing. We’ve been customers for so long, and we’ve paid them so much money over the years. It’s really a racket. The good deals go to new customers while their loyal customers rates go up and up.

I just don’t want to give them my money anymore.

We’ll try some alternatives for now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll change my mind at a later date... we’ll see.

[NBachers]

26. I've had Roku for years, and I am very happy with it.

[Demsrule86]

41. I like ROKU also.

[NickB79]

32. We use Sling; they gave us a free Roku box when we dropped DirecTV

So the Roku is in the bedroom, while I can use my Xbox in the living room. $30/mo for more TV than I can watch, plus Netflix and Hulu to round it out, and that's only $50/mo for entertainment. Wife's happy, kid is happy.

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

[SWBTATTReg]

8. Yes, and ATT got its hands slapped earlier in the past when it said it would bring lower prices, and

the FCC said that NO, they wouldn't. This was another attempt that they had made in buying another company.

Lie after lie. And prices don't drop. It's constant.

[barbtries]

10. who could have seen that coming.

we are so screwed. we must win in November. even then, it will be generations righting the ship, if it can happen.

[orangecrush]

37. THIS!!!

[pwb]

11. Anybody remember monopolies?

Now the government encourages mergers. The bigger the better for pukes.

[Bengus81]

15. Monopolies and anti-trust lawsuits.......

Gone the way of the Dinosaur just like Republicans are trying to do to unions. Hell our ENERGY provider was just given the green light to merge with a HUGE energy company in Kansas City--KCP&L.

Here in Kansas we already pay some of the highest rates in a five state area and our company,Westar is trying to get a rate increase BEFORE the merger is done near the end of this year. As part of the increase they want to tack on a FEE for those customers who have solar panels. No...you can't make this kind of SHIT up.

These asshats in this State trip all over themselves to keep Republicans constantly in office and this is what you get.

[bdtrppr6]

13. Really?!

Whoda thunk?

[Bengus81]

14. Hell COX is as bad as these SOB............

While they don't do cell they NEVER pass up the chance to FUCK over customers each and every Feb with another round of rate increase for EVERYTHING they offer. They NEVER skip a year even in the Bush economy disaster that started in late 2008.

I still have basic cable which will get the ax in the next couple of months for an outdoor antenna. It's BS to pay them about $45 per month and watch nothing but commercials. Until some suitable alternative comes around for HSI I'm stuck with them. I looked at Hughes sat Internet and it's price is a joke. I guess if your out in the country you might not have another choice.

[still_one]

16. While raising the cost of TV could be argued from the providers, the administrative fee is pure

greed

It adds no extra service or benefit to the consumer, just to pad your bill

[rocktivity]

17. You must have been insane to think they'd tell us the truth

rocktivity

[orangecrush]

38. ...

[noneof_theabove]

21. here is the math....

They lowered the quality and upped the price.

Therefore the "value" sank.

So a lower value can be interpreted as "cheaper".

Didn't say anything about "less expensive".

Learn to read "word salad with a legalese drizzle".

[Sam McGee]

23. Can I get some help here?

We'd like to cut the cord to DirecTV -- we are in a rural area where DirecTV is the only show in town. Our local electric coop provides broadband Internet at up to 150Mb that is fast and reliable.

I have a Roku box on both our TV sets. When we replaced our older TVs with new smart sets, I discovered I could connect the TV sets to my wireless router and stream our Netflix account.

So -- could someone point me to websites that tell me all about cutting the cord and streaming news, sports, weather, movies, and the like over my Internet connection -- everything or almost everything I can get on DirecTV?

Thanks for the help.

[bettyellen]

30. Go to Reddit and search the subreddits for cord cutters, I'd also see if there's one

For Direct TV and Roku to make sure you’re getting the best out of both devices. Reddit rules for this sort of thing

[Demsrule86]

42. You are so lucky...any electric company could do this but few do...easy and cheap.

Depending on where you live you can get local channels sometimes with Sling or Playstation you get also get cable channels with these services. I also recommend Hulu if you like network shows. You get them the day after and they are cheap. Now local and sports which are often local can be difficult depending on where you live. I am moving near Cleveland and both Sling and Playstation offer local channels. But, a cheap antenna solves that issue no matter what. And I bought a channel master to record programs. I love gadgets. You can also get cloud storage and record stuff through playon although with most services offering a cloud, I don't need to. I have a lifetime membership ...paid the one time fee so if I want to save something I record using playon to my seagate...portable drive...I have 1 TB. I have access to more TV than ever and I pay a fraction of what I used to pay.

[TexasBushwhacker]

45. Here are some I use

Vudu - most movies cost something, but they have a selection of free movies every month.

Tubitv - all movies are free. Some have a few commercials, but nothing like broadcast TV, and the films aren't edited for length or content.

Kanopy - streaming service that uses catalogs from public libraries. You can only watch 4 movies free per month, but they have a lot of good stuff - indies, documentaries, foreign films. My current recommendation is an indie called "Blame".

[Ferrets are Cool]

24. Well, you can't blame them for raising prices...

they are having to pay those outrageous new drumpt tariff taxes on data beamed from their satellites.


and just in case you missed it....
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[Mr.Bill]

27. Not to mention

the bribes they paid Michael Cohen.

[C Moon]

25. I do use them for cell service, but dropped them from internet and landline.

Hope to drop them from cell service soon!

[TexasBushwhacker]

46. I have Boost

Unlimited talk, text and data for $35 a month. Buy your phone or bring your own as long as it's compatible with the Sprint network.

[NCjack]

28. Yes, AT&T lied. Always, the customers get higher bills to help

pay for a merger. But to compensate for higher bills, the customers get an increase in poor service.

[B2G]

31. So did Spectrum. Nt

[dembotoz]

33. very disappointed in charter...they buy time warner cable and boom adopt all the stuff that made

time warner dreadful
currently they can not seem to be able to provision a wet dream in time warner footprint.

[B2G]

34. Yeah. We went with AT&T.

Lesser of 2 evils. TWC is the devil incarnate.

[LibinMo]

35. AT&T Lies so much their employees can't keep the stories straight

I got fed up and dropped all their services years ago. Will NEVER go back to them for anything. My current ISP & TV provider, Mediacom, isn't cheap but they will work with me to change my content in order to lower the rate when I call to gripe about an increase. I've been with them 5 or 6 years now. They never have required a contract.I can cut the cord any time with no penalty. I have wireless with Virgin Mobile (iPhone with unlimited talk text and data for $32.50 monthly) I think they've changed the rate to $50 for new subscribers. My rate is grandfathered in. VM uses the Sprint network and the service is first rate.

[B2G]

36. I think it depends on where you are.

In my area they are light years ahead of TWC/Spectrum in terms of service, reliability and price.

[Firestorm49]

43. Gee, what a surprise. I bet nobody saw this one coming!!!!

[RobinA]

44. Fool Me Once

with your "my corporate plans will help the consumer" BS, shame on you. Fool me nine hundred million times, shame on me.

[orangecrush]

50. Exactly.

[Blue_Tires]

47. So in other words it's just like every other media/telecom merger??

[louis-t]

48. Telecoms (and repugs) have lied since the beginning.

Remember "deregulation of the telecom industry will actually make prices go down!1!!1!"? Has that EVER happened?

[PoliticAverse]

51. Yeah it did. Long distance calling dropped to free even. The problem...

is local monopolies (many explicitly granted by local governments).

[louis-t]

54. That only happened 30 years after deregulation.

And only on cell phones, not landlines. And probably had more to do with advancements in technology than deregulation. Sure, it used to cost 40 cents a minute for a cell phone call, but there were only a handful of cell towers. And by the way, because of new regulations, those old cellphones can't even be used anymore. Too powerful.
And cable prices have never gone down.

[sarcasmo]

49. I need an alternate high speed option for Wi-Fi so I can dump AT&T.

[lunatica]

53. Yes. My wireless bill just jumped up.

I expect my Directv bill will also be higher.

[orangecrush]

56. My cellphone is from Boost.

$50 bucks a month for true unlimited (no throttling) everything.

It's a good deal.