Taking a cue from T-Mobile’s un-carrier playbook for wireless, AT&T is aiming to bring simplicity, reliability, and affordability to its new multi-gigabit home broadband internet plans. With pricing transparency, AT&T is promising no hidden fees for its faster 2Gbps and 5Gbps fiber internet plans for homes and businesses, which the carrier dubbed as Hypergig. The “un-ISP’s” new plans will now cover nearly 5.2 million customers in more than 70 metropolitan areas, and AT&T hopes to expand its coverage to more than 30 million customers by the end of 2025.
“Starting today, we’re rolling out straightforward pricing across our consumer AT&T Fiber portfolio,” AT&T said of its new ISP plans for fiber customers. “For new customers, this means no equipment fees, no annual contract, no data caps, and no price increase at 12 months — just the fastest internet, plus AT&T ActiveArmor internet security, next-gen Wi-Fi, and HBO Max included on our fastest speed plans at no additional cost.”
All of AT&T’s fiber plans come with symmetrical upload speeds, which would make it ideal for creators working on large files like videos, for busy executives on conference calls, and gaming and virtual reality applications.
The pricing transparency and no data caps features come at a time when more Americans are working from home either fully or partially due to the ongoing health pandemic. As more Americans embrace remote or hybrid work structures, faster speeds and the removal of data caps will be important considerations for home broadband internet plans. AT&T’s move to get rid of data caps could help the company attract customers from other providers, like cable service Xfinity from Comcast. To avoid Xfinity’s data caps, customers can opt to pay an additional fee for unlimited data use, though Comcast had temporarily suspended data caps during the pandemic to generate goodwill with customers.
AT&T announced that its Fiber 2 Gig plan will cost $110 per month plus taxes for home and residential customers, and its Business Fiber 2 Gig plan will $225 per month plus taxes for business customers. The faster Fiber 5 Gig plan will cost $180 per month plus taxes for home customers, and businesses can expect to pay $395 per month plus taxes for Business Fiber 5 Gig. All fiber plans at 1Gbps and above come with a free Wi-Fi 6 gateway — which combines a modem and a router in one unit — with no contract or rental charges, said AT&T Senior Vice President, Broadband Product Management & Strategy Cheryl Choy.
AT&T did not include taxes in the advertised prices of its plans, but its pricing transparency should make it a lot easier for customers to understand their bills, as any applicable fees are already included in the cost. Traditionally, most cable and DSL services come with a two-year contract that locks in the advertised rate for the first year. The bill can jump to a new rate for the second contract year and beyond, making it more expensive for homes.
The fiber carrier stated that it was able to reach speeds up to 10Gbps during testing under ideal lab conditions. AT&T also claimed that its fiber network has 95% reliability.
It’s unclear if AT&T will be able to bring even faster 10Gbps speeds to residential and business customers in the near future as part of its Hypergig ambitions. For now, AT&T stated that fiber is its driving focus for home Internet, which is a different strategy that that of competitors Verizon and T-Mobile, both of which offer wireless in-home Internet that make use of new 5G networks. Choy said that fiber is still the fastest choice for customers today, and that’s where AT&T is focusing its resources. Additionally, all plans come with AT&T’s ActiveArmor security suite to protect all your connected devices for free at the modem level, negating the need to have different tools and software installed on each individual device, Choy added.
In addition to rolling out its Hypergig network, the company stated it is working both to expand its 1Gbps fiber footprint as well as upgrading its existing 1Gbps fiber infrastructure to supporting multi-gig speeds. All of AT&T’s plans, including today’s Hypergig 2Gbps and 5Gbps offerings, will be compatible with the Affordable Connectivity Program, which could result in a savings of $30 for low income families or up to $75 for those living on tribal lands, Choy said. Bundling discounts will also be available for select customers who also have AT&T wireless service.
Even if you’re not a fiber subscriber, you may still be able to benefit from AT&T’s faster Hypergig speeds in other ways. Because fiber is the backbone for mobile Internet, we can potentially see even faster wireless network speeds in the future as a result of today’s upgrade.
To see if you’re eligible for AT&T’s fiber plan, you can visit att.com/fiberfast. For information about AT&T’s new faster fiber speeds, you can visit attt.com/hypergig.
AT&T also claimed that it is keeping businesses connected to faster cable by providing service to more than 675,000 business buildings, offering more than 2.75 million business locations nationwide access to faster internet speeds.
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