"Extra Access Plan" Dial-Up Service to Offer Full Range
of Features at One Affordable Price
ISDN Internet Access Price Significantly Reduced
SAN FRANCISCO, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to bring a full range
of popular features to customers while maintaining one of the most reliable
networks in the industry, SBC's Internet companies today announced plans to
repackage their dial-up Internet service offerings as a new, full-featured
Internet package for residential and business customers, and to drop the price
of its 128 Kbps ISDN access by 40 percent.
The new dial-up service, called Extra Access Plan, will be effective
August 1. Extra Access Plan will provide customers of Pacific Bell Internet
Services and Southwestern Bell Internet Services with Internet access on one
of the most reliable networks available, as well as a host of additional
features like personal home pages and extra e-mail boxes, which will be added
throughout the year (see attached fact sheet for details on features and
availability).
Extra Access Plan will be introduced August 1 at a monthly price of
$21.95* for 150 hours of Internet access, with additional use available for
$1.80 per hour (about three percent of current customers use more than 150
hours monthly). Under the companies' current pricing, basic $19.95 customers
would have to pay an extra $16.75 for the features they will get for an
additional $2 in the Extra Access Plan.
"With the explosive growth of our companies and the Internet in general,
we recently evaluated our service and pricing to ensure that we can continue
to provide reliable, top-quality Internet services while also offering the
best value for our customers," said Steven Hubbard, president and CEO of SBC's
Internet companies. "Our research shows that consumers' top priority is fast,
reliable and easy-to-use Internet access. To maintain and expand one of the
best networks in the business, we're investing 67 percent more money in our
network this year than we did last. Our new pricing and service structure
will help us to ensure that all of our customers will continue to enjoy
quality, dependable connections.
"At the same time, we're adding a full host of features, like personal
home pages, 56k access, and, soon, extra e-mail boxes, at a single, affordable
price, making Extra Access Plan a tremendous value for our customers," Hubbard
said.
Customers will also be able to choose the Extra Access Annual Value Plan,
paying $219.50 annually for 150 hours of Internet service monthly, an average
of $18.29 per month. Customers who order the Annual Value Plan before August
1 will receive a year's worth of Internet service for $199.95, an average of
$16.62 per month.
Extra Access Plan will replace all current dial-up service plans.
Customers will receive information on Extra Access Plan this week, though the
service and new pricing structure will not be available until August 1.
Also available August 1 is a new ISDN service for $29.95 per month* (down
from a standard price of $49.95). The ISDN Extra Access Plan includes 150
hours of surfing at 128 Kbps, providing high-speed Internet access, plus all
the benefits of Extra Access Plan, at an all-time low price. An ISDN Annual
Value Plan also is available for an annual payment of $299.95, an average of
$25 monthly.
"ISDN currently is the only high-speed ticket to the Internet that is
universally available. Our new pricing for ISDN Internet access makes it that
much more affordable for business and consumers," Hubbard said.
In preparation for the launch of the Extra Access Plan, SBC's Internet
companies are now adding server capacity to provide space for personal home
pages for all customers. Increased e-mail capacity will be added to provide
two additional e-mail accounts and two additional aliases for all customers by
November 30. These measures will ensure that the new features will offer the
same reliability customers have come to expect from Pacific Bell Internet
Services and Southwestern Bell Internet Services.
"SBC's Internet companies now serve more than 300,000 customers, making us
the 12th largest ISP in the U.S.," Hubbard said. "Customers are looking for
reliable, full-featured Internet service that is easy to use, and we believe
that our growth can be attributed to attention to these areas. Our network
continues to get A and A+ ratings from Inverse Network Technologies,** and The
Washington Competitive Group just found our customer service to have the best
overall quality. And our new and improved dial-up service now includes a full
range of popular extras as standard features."
To order the Extra Access Plan, customers in Southwestern Bell regions may
call toll-free 1-800-SWB-INET or, for those already online, visit
http://www.swbell.net/join. Customers in Pacific Bell regions may call toll-
free 1-800-708-INET or visit http://www.dialup.pacbell.net
Pacific Bell Internet Services and Southwestern Bell Internet Services are
full-service Internet providers. The companies, which together represent the
nation's 12th largest Internet service provider, offer a broad range of
simple, affordable and reliable Internet access services to more than 300,000
business and residential customers. Both are companies of SBC Communications
Inc., a global leader in the telecommunications industry, with nearly 34
million access lines and 5.6 million wireless customers across the United
States, as well as investments in telecommunications businesses in 10
countries. Under the Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell and
Cellular One brands, SBC, through its subsidiaries, offers a wide range of
innovative services, including local and long-distance telephone service,
wireless communications, paging, Internet access, and messaging, as well as
telecommunications equipment, and directory advertising and publishing. SBC
(http://www.sbc.com) has more than 118,000 employees and reported 1997 revenues of
$25 billion. SBC's equity market value of $80 billion (as of March 31, 1998)
ranks it as one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.
* Price includes 35 cents per month Global Service Provider charge.
** For the month of March 1998, both companies received "A" or "A+"
ratings for: Average Time to Login, Average DNS Lookup Time and Average Web
Throughput.
EXTRA ACCESS PLAN FACT SHEET
On August 1, Pacific Bell Internet Services and Southwestern Bell Internet
Services are re-packaging their dial-up Internet service with an improved,
full-featured Internet package for residential and business customers. The
new dial-up service, called Extra Access Plan, will provide customers with
Internet access on one of the most reliable networks available, plus a host of
additional features at no extra cost.
Extra Access Plan Includes:
-- Personal Home Pages - This service, available to both dial-up and
ISDN customers, offers 3 MB of disk storage per month with
additional storage optional; 500 MB of data transfer bandwidth per
month; Web-based tools for easy home page creation and updating;
and FTP capabilities.
-- 56K Access - Customers with K56flex modems can access the Internet
at speeds of up to 56 kbps, the fastest speed currently available
over an analog modem. Available to most customers now, 56K access
will be offered to all customers by the end of the year.
-- Award-Winning Customer Service - Extra Access Plan is supported by
Web-based customer service and a help desk staffed by trained
professionals. At the end of 1997, the Washington Competitive
Group found Pacific Bell's customer care organization to have the
highest quality customer support of 13 major Internet service
providers in the country. The same customer care organization
serves Southwestern Bell's customers. Customers may call 1-800-
NET-HELP (SBIS) or 1-800-708-INET (PBIS) or work online to resolve
problems through the online help desk.
-- ISDN - The price for our Integrated Service Digital Network access
is being reduced to $29.95 per month* with an initial $29.95 set-up
fee. ISDN customers receive the same full range of features as
dial-up customers, but with much faster access speeds. ISDN line
and usage charges are not included.
Coming Soon:
-- Extra E-mail Boxes - Two additional e-mail boxes will soon be
available at no additional charge, allowing customers to use
separate mail boxes, user IDs and passwords for family members or
employees. A total of 10 MB of disk storage is included.
Available by November 30.
-- Extra E-mail Aliases - With the additional e-mail boxes come two e-
mail aliases. Customers can pick a mailbox alias (or nickname) up
to 24 characters for any of their existing mailboxes. Aliases are
ideal for customers who use e-mail for more than one purpose
(social, business, associations and groups), letting different
groups of people send e-mail using different addresses. Available
by November 30.
-- Roaming Access Service - Customers who are out of town on business
or vacation can access the Internet in 100 major cities throughout
the United States at the rate of $2.40 per hour,* without
additional long-distance charges. Using local dial-up numbers,
customers can use Extra Access Plan just as easily from the road as
they do at home. Roaming is currently available to Southwestern
Bell Internet Services' customers and will be available to Pacific
Bell Internet Services' customers by November 30.
* Price includes 35 cents per month Global Service Provider charge.
SOURCE SBC Communications
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Related links:
http://www.sbc.com
CONTACT:
Lori Sinsley, 415-356-1039, or Jason Hillery,
314-982-9160, both for SBC Communications
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