AT&T (NYSE: T) will soon begin offering unlimited broadband data services to its wired U-verse Internet customers, an offering that does not have any caps on usage. As FierceTelecom Editor Sean Buckley notes, the offering is an effort by AT&T to keep wired Internet customers from fleeing to cable operators like Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA).
However, AT&T customers have to shell out an additional $30 a month to get the unlimited U-verse data plan. (A potential attraction is that a user can to switch unlimited home Internet data or add TV service at any time -- even in the middle of their billing cycle.)
AT&T's move toward unlimited Internet service for its wired customers follows the carrier's similar offer of unlimited wireless data services for its mobile customers. In January, AT&T revived its unlimited data service plan for wireless customers, which gives the carrier's smartphone customers unlimited talking, texting and data for $100 per month for the first line and $40 per month for each additional line. However, the carrier is only offering the service to its customers of AT&T DirecTV or AT&T U-Verse TV.
But unlimited data is clearly a compelling offering: AT&T recently reported that its wireless unlimited data service now counts more than 2 million users.
Thus, AT&T's move to offer unlimited service over its wired U-verse Internet service likely is an admission that customers clearly desire Internet service without any caps -- despite the fact that a large number of Internet users don't even know what Internet speeds they receive. As Buckley points out, Parks Associates found that 43 percent of subscribers do not know their current broadband speed.
For more on AT&T's latest move toward unlimited data, see this FierceTelecom Editor's Corner.