AT&T Rants and Raves

ATT decided to stop offering unlimited data plans to new customers today. I'm going to ride the Anti ATT sentiment for a bit.

I have several complaints about AT&T that I need to explore here on my blog.

I have had the phone number 541-913-2328 on the AT&T network since January 1999. It was my primary business line for the eight years I ran a web application development company. I have had my complaints, but remained a loyal AT&T customer.

As time moves on and I do more business with AT&T I increasingly get frustrated with them.

I have 4 mobile phone lines:
  • My primary number - IPhone - AT&T Service
  • My secondary number - Android (Google I/O 2009) - AT&TService
  • My third number - Blackberry - AT&T Service (My daughter has this phone)
  • My business number - Blackberry - Verizon Service.
I am not a phone user. I talk on the phone with co-workers and clients only as required, I get straight to the point and get off the phone.

I am a heavy mobile browser, application, email and SMS user.

I also rely on my Verizon Blackberry for Internet when I travel, by tethering. Before I gave my daughter my AT&T Blackberry, I had tethering turn on for it as well. When I traveled with my daughter we would use both, but when I was by myself the Verizonnetwork was always more reliable and had faster connections. I couldn't justify two tethering bills.

Maybe I'm not an average user?

I have a couple of areas I'm going to explore to express how I feel about AT&T over the next couple days:
  • AT&T Android vs. AT&T IPhone
  • AT&T Network compared to Verizon Network
  • AT&T Mobile at Sasquatch Music Festival
  • AT&T Business and Residential DSL
It frustrates me that ATT doesn't understand me as a user and the don't offer services and pricing plans that reflect my needs. Beyond not understanding, they actually seem to work against me.

I have long felt that the traditional Telecom Good Ol Boy network was bad for the open Internet. They just seem to be stuck in in the old days of the telecommunication industry. They don't get the Internet and understand how to change.

I worry that the American telecommunications industry will contribute to the decline of the United States as a competitor in the global marketplace by suffocating innovation in the name of profits.