AT&T pushes home broadband plans up to 5Gbps

AT&T said Monday that it’s rolling out multi-gigabit fiber to consumers across 70 cities, and simplifying the company’s existing metro pricing to boot.

Customers in parts of Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles now have the option to choose symmetrical 2Gbps or 5Gbps fiber, the company said Monday. (Symmetrical plans mean that customers receive the same speed both for downloading and uploading data.) AT&T is currently working to upgrade existing fiber customers to those plans throughout 2022, too, the company said.

Specifically, AT&T will charge $110 per month for the new 2Gbps plan, or $180/mo for the 5Gbps plan. Business customers can receive the new higher-speed options for $225/mo or $395/mo, respectively. The 5Gbps plan also includes a free subscription to HBO Max as well as AT&T’s ActiveArmor security service, the company said.

To see if you’re eligible, you can visit AT&T’s availability page. AT&T’s fiber internet page claims that the cheapest plans begin at $55/mo for 300Mbps service.

AT&T also said that it’s moving to a “straighforward pricing plan” for new customers, where the company won’t charge separate fees for equipment, and has eliminated data caps. AT&T also won’t increase the price at 12 months, the company said.

What’s next? AT&T also said that it has 10Gbps technology up and running in its labs, signposting the next upgrade. AT&T didn’t say when that would happen, however.

Will AT&T’s announcement put pressure on its its fiber rivals to adjust their own plan pricing? Google Fiber offers 2Gbps plans for $100/mo. Comcast offers symmetrical 3Gbps fiber plans in regions across the country for $300/mo, which is substantially more expensive. https://www.pcworld.com/article/607768/att-pushes-home-broadband-plans-up-to-5gbps.html