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by Animats 3662 days ago
It's a very valid assumption to make given that mobile data quotas are increasing and metered broadband connections are most likely going to be a thing of the past.

The trend is in the other direction. AT&T now has data caps even on DSL lines. Almost all "unlimited" plans really have some limit.
1 comments
leogiertz 3662 days ago
Isn't fiber being rolled out across the US?
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jedberg 3662 days ago
Yep. And it has a cap too. In fact, that cap is so low that if you max out your connection for just over two hours you'll be over the cap for the month.
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leogiertz 3662 days ago
Seems like AT&T are increasing the caps and adding the option to have an "unlimited" version: http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/03/att-boosts-data-caps...
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jedberg 3662 days ago
That calculation was based on the new "increased" cap.

And yes, for $30 you can have unlimited bandwidth. And for $30 more you can opt out of them scanning and recording your activity for ad targeting.

So now the price has literally doubled to have decent internet. How can they get away with that? Lack of competition.

And that is what this thread is really about. Until there is some competition, we won't see ubiquitous, cheap, high-speed internet.

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duncan_bayne 3662 days ago
> And for $30 more you can opt out of them scanning and recording your activity for ad targeting.

Ouch, is that actually a thing with American ISPs these days? :(

That said I haven't asked _my_ ISP whether they do that.

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jedberg 3662 days ago
I think AT&T is the second one to admit that they do that and then charge you money to get out of it. The first was a small local ISP that didn't offer any way out and quickly backed down after pushback from their customers.

Chances are the other American ISPs do it, they just burry it in the terms of service. So AT&T figured out they could make some extra cash off of their privacy conscience customers who don't know how to use VPN.

And chances are they still collect and aggregate the data, they just don't retarget you specifically.

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blakeyrat 3662 days ago
Not in my area. Verizon was working on it, then they threw in the towel and sold all their non-mobile business in Washington State to Frontier, who has made it crystal clear they won't be doing any more fiber roll-outs any time soon.
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