AT&T Bows 'Straightforward' Multi-Gbps Fiber Pricing

AT&T Fiber pushed speed, reliability and security in a virtual event Monday announcing advanced speeds, new pricing plans for multi-Gbps and initiatives to address the digital divide. It announced new no-contract 2- and 5-Gbps plans for residential and small-business customers.

As of Monday, about 5.2 million customer locations in “parts” of some 70 metro areas, including Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles, will have access to symmetrical 2 and 5 Gbps tiers, said the ISP. The company has achieved up to 10 Gbps in lab tests, said Chris Sambar, vice president-broadband technology management.

The provider plans to continue rolling out the service across its current fiber footprint this year and as part of its expansion strategy to cover 30 million customer locations by year-end 2025. Coverage today includes parts of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

To streamline offerings, AT&T is rolling out what it calls “straightforward pricing” for AT&T Fiber accounts. New customers won’t have equipment fees, contracts, data caps or price increases at 12 months, said Rick Welday, general manager-broadband. Included in the plans are AT&T ActiveArmor security, “next-gen Wi-Fi” and HBO Max at no additional cost, he said. Fine print on the news release said customer speeds aren’t guaranteed and the single device wired maximum is 4.7 Gbps.

Executives cited a growing need for speed and reliability due to hybrid work trends and a growing number of connected devices in the home, pegging the average number at 13, according to AT&T-commissioned Recon Analytics data. Consumers and small businesses are consuming more data than ever, and AT&T expects data consumption to jump from “megabytes to terabytes.” Multi-Gbps speeds let connected devices run at their “fastest possible speed,” said the company.

The opening service tier, Fiber 2 Gig, is $110 per month plus taxes, $225 for businesses. Fiber 5 Gig ($180 monthly, $395 for businesses) can support “dozens” of connected devices “at top speed,” AT&T said. Such tiers include Wi-Fi 6 support, HBO Max (consumer accounts only) and ActiveArmor internet security. Customers must opt in to autopay and paperless billing.

More than six in 10 Americans bought a new connected device over the past year, with smart TVs the most popular, said Jeni Bell, AT&T senior vice president-broadband sales and marketing; videogame sales reached a record $4.4 billion last summer. She cited the rise of augmented reality, virtual reality and the advent of the metaverse -- “experiences that rely on fast, reliable internet to create the magic.” Bell noted the COVID-19 pandemic freed creators “from the bounds of traditional production settings.”

Addressing the digital divide, AT&T is participating in the affordable connectivity program (see 2201140067), by expanding and upgrading its network. Eligible households will have a benefit in coming weeks of up to $30 per month, up to $75 on qualifying tribal lands, on the superfast tiers, the provider said.

AT&T is also addressing the digital divide in education through its Connected Learning initiative to help students learn inside and outside the classroom. It’s opening more than 20 Connected Learning Centers across the country. It’s also enabling high-speed fiber connections to more than 2.75 million U.S. business customer locations.