WiMax arrives in Anchorage
Posted on June 27th, 2008 in Alaska Business, Technology |
AT&T quietly rolled the announcement on their homepage recently that WiMax is now available in the Anchorage area. Reading the fine print, it’s obvious they’re not reaching everywhere in town yet. The $19.95 price point looks attractive at first, but you can quickly deduct they are trying to rope you in on the low end bundle deal with local and long-distance plans then tacking on the less-than-interesting 384K Internet option. As much as I am really excited about WiMax, this really stinks.
I had high hopes that our friends at AT&T would get progressive and really drive hard to be a leader in the Internet business. Sure, we’re a tiny town and consumers don’t amount to much - but we could all get behind a company that REALLY broke the mold (and mildew) of the same old bait of $19.95 for crappy Internet speeds. I’ve said it many times before, give us our IP connection and make it fast, open and unrestricted - and we’ll pay you for it.
Maybe I jumped the gun with this blog post, as I am still waiting to hear from AT&T for details on plans, pricing and areas of town that are eligible for WiMax today. Who knows, I could be totally off base and they’re planning a complete Internet revolution for the Anchorage market - but I’m not holding my breath just yet. Check out the current WiMax information on www.attalascom.com.
Kevin’s $.02
AT&T Alascom is sitting on a golden opportunity to really own this market - and here is the formula:
- Unbundle the old technology from the new
- Who uses long distance on a landline?
- Offer truly high speed connections
- Anything less than 4Mbps is insulting
- Bundle the new technologies
- Think: iPhone phone/data plan with WiMax unlimited usage
6 Responses
From the AT&T website: “19.95 applies to 384 Kbps speed bundled with local and long distance”
First off, I could run to the Library and get information quicker than having a 384 Kbps connection! No! Seriously! I am so pissed off with this SHIT! 384 Kbps! It’s criminal that they can even charge for this! We are so far behind with internet it’s ignominious!
It’s bad enough that they can expect to charge $20 for this, but the fact that it requires local and long distance service as well is atrocious! This is also without taking into account the high probability of download and upload caps and the absurd overages that come with them.
Note to everyone: Get off your ass and let companies know this shit won’t fly! People forget that they control the market; you do, it’s called spending!
384 Kbps…I could create more bandwidth chopping wood!
Wow! I’d say your name sums it up. I have to agree with you wholeheartedly, that we need to speak with our wallets. It’s past the point of embarrassing, annoying and ridiculous… Maybe you could chop some wood for me, I could really use that extra 384K over here! *cough* MTA rip-off *cough*
But! Where else do you get “10 Mbps of web space!” with your internet connection! (that’s from the Alascom page) Now if someone could just tell me what 10 megabits per second of web space is, I’d be even more excited!!!!
Wow, great catch. I sent a note to AT&T, let’s see if we can at least get the verbiage correct. Next, we’ll work on getting the right plans/solutions!
I use Clearwire right now, which I think is some flavor of WiMax. I chose it because it’s not a bundle. I hate bundles. I think if ATT could offer the 2M D/L and something decent for U/L speeds, they’d have my business. Well, they’d also have to toss in unlimited D/Ls and U/Ls like Clearwire (thought CW does monitor upload useage, and calls you on it if they deem it “excessive.” I’d hope there would be no monthly fee for long distance, just usage, but that’s probably too much to hope for.
Anyway, I think AT&T could own this town if they’d do what you and the commenters above suggest: give us faster internet for a fair price. Is it really too much to ask?
I currently have WiMax at home, and I LOVE it!! Look, you guys are doing the same old Anchorage thing, and waiting for someone to spoon feed you info through advertising. CALL AT&T BEFORE YOU BLOG!! That should be anyone’s motto. I have a 2Mbps D/L and 1 Mbps U/L from them, and it’s great. Apparently, if you’re a business, you can get even faster, like 3Mbps! The price is great, and the service is excellent. What more can I say? Styop wondering if they have more speeds and decent pricing, and CALL THEM! They definitely do!
Krista