AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that his customer just aren’t interested in ultra-cheap internet service. AT&T is required to offer $10 DSL throughout 22 states, a concession made to the FTC as part of a deal to acquire BellSouth. AT&T has been accused of hiding the $10 DSL option, which, apparently, they did for the sake of their customers. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Randall Stephenson: We haven’t made it difficult to find. To be honest with you, that’s not a product that our customers have clamored for. We still have $15 offers out there in the marketplace, even $20 offers, for 1.5 megabit speeds. Those are really kind of the minimum speeds that give a good user experience. So I don’t want to necessarily offer up a product where the user experience is not what I would consider really state of the art. That $10 product is kind of in that mode.

Um, Randall, 1.5 mbps is hardly “state of the art.” If your customers don’t want 768 kpbs for $10, they will buy the more expensive plan; but that is their choice to make, not yours. We understand that $10 DSL represents a monumental threat to your telecommunications empire, but that’s the price you paid to gobble up BellSouth.

Q&A: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
(AP Photo/John Raoux)

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