Cheap DSL That Isn't Quite As Cheap As You Might Have Been Told

Overhype

from the truth-in-advertising? dept

For months now, US DSL providers have been advertising much cheaper DSL service, and it’s been winning them a lot of business away from the cable broadband providers. However, when you look at the details, you might realize that the cheap DSL isn’t quite as cheap as they made it out to be – and, in some cases, it’s quickly getting more expensive. Like other telephony services, some DSL providers are adding additional “regulatory fees” to their DSL pricing. Like most of these fees, they aren’t actually government mandated fees, but are instead a way to sneak in a price increase while still publishing much lower prices. At the same time, SBC is offering a slightly higher priced offering, but with plenty of requirements. If you want the faster service at the cheaper price, you also have to sign up for every other service that SBC offers: local and long-distance telephone service and a Cingular mobile phone plan. If you don’t sign up for all of those, then you have to pay a lot more. There’s nothing wrong with bundling, of course, but all of this comes across as being misleading or dishonest to the customer. Advertising cheap packages that are impossible to get doesn’t make consumers particularly happy about the service they’re getting – and, instead, makes them trust their broadband provider less. While it may be working now in getting them attention and signups, you wonder how loyal those customers will be long-term, as other options appear.