Internet nightmare: AT&T sells DSL to your neighbors, but not to you

[Commentary] Nearly a decade after AT&T promised the US government that it would bring broadband Internet service to 100 percent of its wireline telephone territory, many people who are desperate for AT&T Internet face a maddening problem. They can get AT&T phone service through the DSL-capable copper cables coming into their homes, their neighbors have DSL Internet service from AT&T, but they themselves cannot get wired Internet service because AT&T claims its network is full. There are people out there who have been refused DSL service. Together, these stories highlight a confounding situation involving minimal oversight, miscommunication, and millions of customers left with sub-broadband speeds or no Internet service at all.

AT&T won’t build out this network unless the Federal Communications Commission approves the merger because its current TV service is losing money, lagging behind competitors in the cable and satellite industries. That might sound counterintuitive, but the company says owning DirecTV will allow it to sell its own TV-and-Internet bundles in areas where it doesn't today, generating more revenue and making the new construction worthwhile. (AT&T actually sells bundles including DirecTV already, through a partnership with the satellite company, but would presumably make more money if it owned DirecTV itself.) Since the fixed wireless network will exist mostly outside AT&T's wireline territory, there will be more uncertainty for people who have been waiting years for AT&T to provide Internet service. There is a chance the fixed wireless service could reach Meitrott, but she isn't counting on it.