Much like in real estate, sometimes the price you pay for Internet service simply boils down to location, location, location.
Earlier this week, AT&T rolled out their gigabit Internet service in Cupertino, right in Apple’s backyard. Dubbed AT&T GigaPower, Ma Bell is offering blazing Internet speeds of 1Gbps for $110/month. Of course, if you just so happen to live in an area where Google Fiber is available, AT&T will lower the price to $70/month.
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The Verge reports that similar pricing discounts can be seen all over the map.
The same story seems to be true wherever you look. In Dallas, where AT&T’s headquarters are located, the company charges the full $110. In North Carolina, AT&T launched its gigabit service at $120 a month, but when Google moved in, it dropped the price to $70. This is not to mention that it’s also mandatory for AT&T users paying for the above mentioned gigabit speeds to sign up for “AT&T Internet Preferences” — a web monitoring service that collects users’ search and browser history in order to deliver targeted adverts.
Pricing aside, AT&T’s web monitoring service should certainly raise some eyebrows. Sure, Google’s bread and butter centers on user tracking, but there are a number of ways to keep Google’s eyes off of your browsing habits. If your ISP, however, is doing the tracking, well, that’s a lot more worrisome.
