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Internet100 plans not qualifying for Autopay Discount?

RAIST515O
RAIST515O Posts: 200 Contributor
edited August 5 in Suggestions and Feedback

More of a PSA kind of thing because of the restrictions for getting on this plan now... but also a concern as well.

This was a standard tier for YEARS before the standard tier got bumped to higher bandwidth caps (was previously even lower at 60mbps as well).

But... since in today's markets the only way to get on any sub 300 tier is to qualify through some form of special assistance... it is apparently now being treated as a promotional rate or something, which does not qualify for the $5 Autopay Discount.

Recently, the old school INTERNET100 tier was sort of "revived" as a remedy for people losing their ACP benefit because Congress did not refund the program.

Not exactly an ideal replacement... no matter what the situation, a lot of people's bill would still go up at least $5. And that is only in the scenario of someone at full $85 for INTERNET300, less the $30 ACP benefit and not using AutoPay for an additional $5 discount. If using Autopay, losing that additional discount takes the bill from $50 to $60.

...for a substantial drop in performance to boot.

I think Spectrum has been missing out on a real opportunity, especially now with all the competing FWA 4G/5G access options coming online that offers plans with BASE rates coming in as low as $45 for anywhere from 60-120mbps down, and up to $70 to exceed 300mbps down bandwidth.

Granted... FWA is done through cellular... so there can be the throttling that occurs with the funky QCI ratings that get assigned to the MVNO brands—but the mainstream Verizon/ATT level players are managing to be be pretty competitive on this front, especially when it comes to the more casual users that don't really need big bandwidth caps and are simply looking for a bargain.

The old INTERNET100 plan should really be brought back as a regularly accessible tier again... and let it qualify for the $5 autopay discount.

It really could compete in this space even at $60 ($55 with autopay applied).

Think about all it can support, while being competitive against a wireless solution:

Still decent enough latency for more demanding tasks--it is virtually the same as the current 300/500 tiers (the limitations of the hybrid system are the problem here, not the bandwidth caps)--while still a decent enough bandwidth cap to support normal gaming/Netflix usage.

Sure... 4k streaming may get sketchy for multiple screens and such... but for 1080p, casual gamers, lighter fare—it works just fine.

Even though those 60GB+ game downloads may take a good bit longer to pull down--you are still pulling down at north of 40GB/hr at 100mbps.

And it is still a wired service, which is an important pro when comparing against FWA solutions in the same bandwidth category.

This discussion has been closed.