AT&T generally haven't required contracts (been with their DSL service in South Austin before moving to Mueller in 2010, U-Verse since. Dealt enough with Roadrunner in the years before that).

My understanding/assumption is they're giving a three-year price lock-in for the one-year contract as a way to compete against Google Fiber. With all of the vibe in Google's direction, they don't want people to sign-up today for Gigapower, then, if Google launches in an area in June (making up a date), they don't want to immediately lose everyone because Google has the social power.

In any event, in Kansas City, Google had a big ramp up, with paid pre-registrations to determine which areas would get service first (highest density area would be first connected... biggest bang for their buck first), etc. Since I've heard nothing about any of that, I can only conclude it will still be awhile before anyone in Austin has GF.

Todd,

Have you seen any effects from the "AT&T Internet Preferences" that you have to select to get the $70 deal?

To quote from their web site :


When you select AT&T Internet Preferences, we can offer you our best pricing on U-verse with GigaPower because you let us use your individual Web browsing information, like the search terms you enter and the web pages you visit, to tailor ads and offers to your interests.

You won't necessarily receive more ads when you are online, but those you do see may be more suited to your interests.

(...)

You might receive these offers or ads online, via email or through direct mail.


To me, this sounds like one is giving them permission to analyze all internet traffic and/or insert additional ads into web pages.

Does the Google Fiber agreement in Kansas City include similar language - allowing Google to monitor and tailor ads to you?

Hey there. I was worried about the clause as well. I haven't had any ads populate that weren't already there (Facebook, YouTube). I asked around and what they're doing is subsidizing the costs of the service by selling the bulk of the information. I.e. What Austin browsers for the most. All in all, haven't seen any changes.

Yup exactly, it wouldn't add more ads but "enrich" the data, akin to how once you search for "ethically-sourced diamonds" in Google, every ad on every page for is for the same "ethical jewelry" store.

If everyone in Austin is looking up college football stuff, we (and everyone else in Austin who buys the data and acts on it) are more likely to see ads for NCAA gear, etc.

Ignoring the privacy concerns, it could be spun as a win for both sides—ads that might actually benefit us, marketing folks could see a better return, companies with ad space see a better click-through.

While it is a bit concerning to me, I'm rather glad they give us the option versus just making it part of the agreement period.

NMSol, to my knowledge Google Fiber has no similar conditions as far as their ISP offerings go. Of course, whenever you use any of their services (GMail, or Google Search while logged in) they use information you type in to serve you ads, but this is limited to use of their own web sites, and does not apply to others.

The fact that AT&T uses the innocuous term "internet preferences" and pretty much hides the fact this means "opt-in to ad monitoring of all internet traffic" is slightly repulsive to me.

Where are you located in Mueller. I am on the 4200 block of Berkman and ATT says its not available at my location.

4200 Mattie, but install has been pushed since there was apparently something mis-spliced in the neared fiber box.

Thanks Brandon.
AT&T is sending an engineer out in 5 - 7 days to check our eligibility for Giga power.

I am at 4416 Berkman and have att uverse Gigapower.