SBC is cutting the price of its DSL service to $15 per month for new subscribers who sign up online. It`s another aggressive push by SBC to pick up new customers as it prepares its push into cable TV service later this year.
The promotional rate, which is below what many dial-up services charge, is branded as SBC Yahoo. Most DSL and cable TV Internet services are priced from $30 to $45 per month. AOL dial-up charges $24 per month for a much slower connection.
With more than 5.6 million DSL lines in service, SBC is the nation`s largest DSL provider.
"When consumers do the math, they`ll quickly realize that our latest online offer for SBC Yahoo! DSL is the best value on the market," said Scott Helbing, senior vice president-SBC Consumer Marketing. "We`re giving consumers great prices, choices and convenience at our always-open online store, not just for DSL but for our growing portfolio of communications and entertainment services."
The online residential customer offers for either SBC Yahoo! DSL Express (speeds of up to 1.5Mbps) or SBC Yahoo! DSL Pro service (with speeds of up to 3Mbps) include a $99 instant credit toward a $149 SBC Yahoo! DSL Wireless Home Networking kit, a $179 laptop home networking bundle, or a $99 DSL modem.
"The online advantage we`re giving consumers also benefits us," Helbing said. "Web transactions allow us to lower our cost of doing business. Plus we improve customer satisfaction because a growing number of consumers want the convenience of always-available self-service over the Web. And most important, we grow our business because we can offer consumers the values that motivate them to switch from cable Internet or upgrade from dial Internet access," Helbing said.
Two months ago, SBC cut the price of its monthly unlimited local and long-distance telephone service from $49 per month to $40, competitive with what many cable companies are charging for their telephone service.
SBC has been spending billions to rewire large portions of its copper-based telephone network with fiber-optic cable that can carry vast amounts of video as well as high-speed Internet and telephone services.
It`s expected to offer interactive video services that essentially combine the Internet with TV programming.
