AT&T offering $10 DSL service

Chicago (IL) - AT&T has begun offering a $10/month DSL Internet service, which, according to a report posted by the Seattle Post Intelligencer (SPI), is part of the concessions made by the company to the Federal Communications Commission in order to get its acquisition of BellSouth approved.

But there is a catch : The plan, which provides a download speed of 768 kb/s and an upload speed of 128 kb/s, is only available to new AT&T DSL customers. Existing subscribers, who are not bound to a 12-month contract, have the option to downgrade their service to 768/128 speeds, but will have to pay $14.99 for this service.

“Current customers do not have access to this $10 promotional offer”, an AT&T representative told TG Daily. According to the SPI, the $10 plan will be available for at least two and a half years. The plan also includes a $50 mail-in-rebate towards the purchase of a $70 or $50 DSL modem and waives the activation fee. However, users to opt to ask AT&T for help to install the service will be charged $200.

AT&T’s website does not highlight the new offer and surfers will currently reveals the link to the offer through a click on the $14.99 “Basic Internet Services” link. AT&T also links to the page through a somewhat hidden link that reads “Get DSL at a Dial-up Price !”, but denies access to further information, if a user is identified as a current AT&T DSL customer.