Are service providers using low-end poor-quality services as a way to upsell customers on newer (i.e. more expensive, better ARPU) offerings? Over at Telephony, they`re asking the question.
AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest are all cited for different sins along the same theme. AT&T is allegedly downgrading 2G signal strength to beef up its 3G network, leaving some customers either to be stuck with lower quality 2G service or upgrading to a 3G iPhone. Verizon is supposedly neglecting its DSL network as it puts in FiOS. And Qwest is accused of using interference with its fiber-to-the-node network as a "tool" to urge DSL customers to switch to FTTN.
In Little Rock, Ark., one customer trying to move his landline and DSL service to a new physical address encountered delays in his DSL installation. After three months, instead of getting DSL, he has received a suggestion to upgrade to U-verse VoIP.
Having personally suffered through some of Verizon`s more, ahem, challenging customer "service" when moving to a house within the same zip code as the previous one, this reporter isn`t sure if he would choose intentional malice over poor practices. Certainly, consumer customer service since the "bad old days" of monopoly has suffered.
