Correction
This story incorrectly described the conditions of a $10-a-month DSL service offer from AT&T. The $10 service is available to qualifying customers in all 22 states, including Oklahoma, where AT&T provides local telephone services. The $10 service is only available online and to new, qualifying customers. The offer expires Dec. 29, 2009.

Cox Communications now has a competitive advantage in two broadband service classes.

AT&T Inc., the nation's largest telecommunications provider, is increasing high-speed Internet rates from 20 percent to 33 percent in Oklahoma and a dozen other states, company executives said Thursday.

The new rates will be effective Feb. 16 for new customers and March 1 for existing customers, officials said.

"The price increase reflects the value of the service and the fact demand and usage have grown at a record pace," AT&T spokesman Andy Morgan said in a telephone interview.

"Four years ago, less than 25 percent of U.S. households had broadband. Today, 50 percent of U.S. households have broadband."

AT&T's rate increases will affect four classes of broadband service:

• Basic Digital Subscriber Line (DSL): now $14.99 a month for 768 kilobits-per-second (kbps) speed, will increase 33 percent, to $19.95;
• Express DSL: now $19.99 for 1.5 megabits-per-second (mbps) speed, will
  rise 25 percent, to $25;
• Pro DSL: now $24.99 for 3.0 mbps speed, will increase to $30;
• Elite DSL: now $34.99 for 6.0 mbps speed, will go up to $35.

The rate increases and the popularity of broadband leave Cox Communications, AT&T's major telecommunications competitor in Oklahoma, with a competitive advantage in two broadband service classes.

In the Cox Economy tier, which offers 768 kbps speed, Cox's rate is $9.95 a month, $10 less than AT&T's new rate for the same speed.

The Cox Value tier, offering speed of 1.5 mbps, is $19.99 a month, $5.01 cheaper than AT&T's new rate for identical service.

Cox's other two broadband service classes, Cox Preferred and Cox Premier, offer higher speeds than AT&T's fastest broadband service.

Cox Preferred, at 9.0 mbps for $29.64 a month, is three times faster than AT&T's 3.0-mbps Pro DSL, which will sell for $30 a month after the rate increase.

Cox Premier's 15-mbps service for $44.64 a month is more than twice the 6.0-mbps speed of AT&T's Elite DSL, which will be priced at $35 following the rate increase.

Cox spokeswoman Christine Martin said Cox Value tier subscribers also may upgrade their service speeds for six weeks a year for free.

Cox Value subscribers can receive 9.0-mbps Cox Preferred service for a week at a time six times a year by logging on and clicking "Speed Preview." For the next week, Cox Value customers will have access to Cox Preferred service automatically, Martin said.

"We wanted our Value tier Internet customers to get a glimpse of the many services and advantages associated with our Preferred tier," Martin said.

"Cox is committed to providing the best value on the best products in the marketplace. We are proud to have the fastest Internet in Oklahoma and the best price for any speed."

Not all of AT&T's 14.2 million broadband customers -- 25 percent of the nation's 57 million broadband subscribers -- will be affected by the rate increases.

AT&T's broadband customers in nine southeastern states will be exempt from the rate increases as the result of an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC imposed a broadband rate freeze of $10 a month for 768-kbps service until 2009 in the nine states as a condition for approval of the merger between AT&T and BellSouth Corp.

The nine states are Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky.

The nation's 57 million broadband subscribers are up 75 percent in number from the 32.5 million subscribers in 2004, according to the Telecommunications Industry Association.

TIA says broadband growth is particularly impressive because there were only 5 million broadband subscribers in 2001.

D.R. Stewart 581-8451
don.stewart@tulsaworld.com