Expert Overview of AT&T Internet's Services

AT&T offers wired broadband Internet over both DSL and Fiber networks throughout much of the US. They currently have the strongest network footprints in California, Texas, Florida, and 19 other states and offer service to a population of 122.8 million. In addition to DSL and fiber Internet service, they also offer digital TV, digital landline phone service, and satellite TV via their ownership of DirecTV.

AT&T Internet Vs AT&T Wireless

AT&T Internet and AT&T Wireless come from the same company and in some cases can be combined for customers who wish to do so. AT&T also owns satellite TV provider DirecTV, and often offers bundle deals and unlimited mobile viewing perks for customers who subscribe to all three services. This practice, known as “zero-rating,” allows customers to view mobile DirecTV content and not have that data counted towards their monthly data limit.

AT&T DSL And Fiber Network Specs

DSL and Fiber, the core technologies used to deliver AT&T Internet, have some core differences. The big one is that DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, uses twisted copper phone lines to deliver data as EF (Electromagnetic Frequency) radio signal. You can think of this as “analog.” Fiber, on the other hand, uses distinct pulses of light over ultra-thin fiber-optical strands to communicate the on/off nature of binary data. You can think of this as “digital.” As you might expect, light travels much faster than radio waves, and delivers an Internet connection that is 10+ times faster than DSL as a result. For most AT&T Internet customers, DSL will be the available technology, since fiber is expensive and not yet widely rolled out. The backbone of the network is always fiber, but it’s expensive to build fiber out to individual homes, which leaves data traveling the “last mile” over twisted copper phone lines. DSL service is often compared to cable, although the two have some key differences as well. The main one is that DSL is slightly slower in terms of download speed, but delivers an overall more consistent connection since it doesn’t utilize bandwidth sharing as a network management strategy.

AT&T Corporation And Company Details

While Comcast is the “Kleenex” of Internet service people tend to think of when they think of home Internet, AT&T rivals them in network size and actually beats them out in terms of revenue as of 2018. While Comcast comes from a TV service background, AT&T has their roots in Bell Telephone, the original telephone provider in the US and the world. The AT&T brand as it’s known today was born from the “baby bells” court-ordered breakup of the 1982 due to an antitrust lawsuit that considered the company a monopoly due to their massive infrastructure ownership. AT&T currently maintains a complex corporate holding structure that includes a wide variety of acquisitions, from Cricket Wireless to DirecTV. Holding companies for their Internet services have traditionally been broken up regionally — AT&T Midwest and AT&T Kansas, to cite a few examples. As of 2018, AT&T is broadly reorganizing into the following divisions: Business Solutions and International, AT&T Entertainment Group, and AT&T Mobility. [1]

AT&T Internet Reputation

AT&T is based on copper DSL technology, and as such faces some network issues in rural areas where they are often the only option. This leaves many customers frustrated as they feel that they have no other option, even if AT&T’s local plans might be more expensive or less high-performance than the cable and fiber plans available in more urban, central areas. AT&T uses data caps, also known as “usage-based billing,” to manage network traffic on much of their DSL network. These caps are disliked by “cord cutters” and other customers who feel that they should not have limits placed on their access to the Internet “pipe.” Regardless, usage-based billing has become a trend in the Internet access market, largely as a response to increased bandwidth use by major OTT (Over the Top) streaming services such as Netflix and Youtube. Data reports from sources like Akamai and Sandvine routinely indicated that streamed video accounts for as much as 70% of all Internet traffic in North America, and that number is expected to continue growing as OTT becomes the standard for entertainment delivery. As of 2018, AT&T ranked #13 on Netflix’s ISP report card. While this is the last spot on the list, since only 13 providers make the scoreboard at all, AT&T is considered a reasonable option for customers who want to consume streamed video content.

AT&T Internet Customer Satisfaction

Among 104,175 ratings collected to date for AT&T Internet, 41.1 percent of customers gave AT&T Internet a favorable rating. These results are not surprising considering the broadband industry overall, which maintains an average favorability rating among all providers close to 48.4 percent. Similarly, while AT&T’s ACSI rating tends to be low, it’s not unusual in context of the broadband industry, which has low ratings similar to airlines.

AT&T Subsidized Plans

As of April 22, 2016, AT&T offers “Access” plans for low-income consumers who participate in the SNAP (U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance) program. Customers who meet the criteria for service can get basic home wireline access at discounted rates. [2]

AT&T Availability

AT&T has a sprawling network of fiber and phone lines across the US, as the company originates from the “Baby Bell” court ruling that required AT&T to split into several companies (one of the notable ones being what is now Verizon). Their DSL coverage leverages this extensive telephone network, while their fiber efforts have been focussed in urban and suburban areas with dense populations. AT&T is a common alternative to cable for residential customers, since most houses have been hooked into a telephone or cable TV network at some point, making it easy for ISPs like AT&T to deliver Internet over these connections.