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AT&T To "Pause" Gigabit Internet Rollout Until Net Neutrality Is Settled

Posted by samzenpus on from the lets-see-what-happens dept.

An anonymous reader writes AT&T says it will halt its investment on broadband Internet service expansion until the federal rules on open Internet are clarified. "We can't go out and just invest that kind of money, deploying fiber to 100 cities other than these two million [covered by the DirecTV deal], not knowing under what rules that investment will be governed," AT&T Chief Randall Stephenson said during an appearance at a Wells Fargo conference, according to a transcript provided by AT&T. "And so, we have to pause, and we have to just put a stop on those kind of investments that we're doing today."

10 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. yeah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why should we upgrade when we don't really have to?

    1. Re:yeah... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because if they don't, someone else will.

      This is a joke, right?

      No, someone else WON'T, and that's the whole problem. The vast majority of the U.S. has one, and only one, decent low-latency broadband provider. The big ISPs divided it up that way on purpose where they could. Heck, they even said testified as much to the FCC, even though dividing up the country that way is an illegal anti-competitive practice.

      I'm all for market solutions... when there is a real, competitive market. There isn't, in most of the U.S.

  2. Yeah right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, right, AT&T. You were totally about to give us awesome internet but the big bad government stopped you? Please.

    1. Re:Yeah right by halfEvilTech · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Kind of hard to pause something the said they wanted to do. Which means they didn't even start it. Maybe notes on the back of a napkin. But that would be giving them to much credit.

      This is about holding customers hostage on promised upgrades and throwing a tantrum over possible Title II reclassification. Even though they already enjoy the benefits of Title II (subsidies) without having to be classified as such.

    2. Re: Yeah right by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They exist to make a profit.

      No, they don't. Everyone always get this wrong. Companies exist to provide a product or service. Profit is the byproduct of this existence and which allows the company to continue to provide the product or service.

      Didn't you watch Elmer Fudd when you were growing up? (As a side note, I find it hilarious it is explicitly stated that as a result of having more efficiency the company can pay higher wages. How naive we were back then)

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  3. It was mostly lies to begin with. by andywebs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They were never going to widely deploy 1Gbps anywhere, in the first place. They had stated to share holders that their capital expenditures would hardly go up to implement this in 35 cities, meaning they weren't really going to be doing very much anyway, other than uncapping existing fiber from dsl speeds.

    http://www.dslreports.com/show...

  4. Dear Taxpayers, Screw you! - ATT by duck_rifted · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We pay for infrastructure expansion with our taxes, and ATT is legally obligated to spend that money as mandated. Considering that they are blatantly telling us that they refuse to do that, I think an audit is long overdue.

  5. The modern day "Chewbacca Defense" by MetricT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "We're going to stop doing that thing that we've been promising for years that we were gonna get around to doing one of these days, but never actually got around to doing, because OBAMA"

    It's sad, but adding "Obama" to any argument has become the modern day equivalent of the "Chewbacca Defense", and has been used to rationalize some profoundly stupid decisions. Even sadder, because it seems to work.

    I'm a moderate (r)epublican, and it's *lonely* nowdays. The intelligent ones liked David Frum have been muffled or sidelined. Meanwhile, the Wingnut Brigade as personified by Ted Cruz is always on the lookout to shoot the public in the foot for the sake of rich people.

    1. Re:The modern day "Chewbacca Defense" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As good as your post is, I can't help but add that for over a decade now the Democrats are the moderate Republicans.

  6. Re:Regime Uncertainty by sjames · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If there was any indication that their 'plans' were ever more than paper, we might not laugh so much at the concept of pausing them. That's like taking time out from your sleep to get a quick nap in.

    I was going to cure cancer and create the fountain of youth today, but I had to put those plans on hold because the Easter Bunny told me that some retail stores would be open on Thanksgiving.