08/15/11 2:47 pm
Robin, good to hear from you. I know that we give the same type of discount to our landline customers for phone services. With our TV product being relatively new I am not aware of such a program. Would you please allow me some time to research? Terri
Terri Gualano
AT&T - Alabama
Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs
I responded with:
Terri,
Thanks for the quick reply. Please be advised that the Comcast offer is for internet/broadband access only, not for TV service. What I am looking for is a discounted rate for low-income families on internet access, which in AT&T's case would be the DSL service, not the U-Verse service.
Hope this clarifies my e-mail.
Thanks,
Thanks for the quick reply. Please be advised that the Comcast offer is for internet/broadband access only, not for TV service. What I am looking for is a discounted rate for low-income families on internet access, which in AT&T's case would be the DSL service, not the U-Verse service.
Hope this clarifies my e-mail.
Thanks,
Her response:
08/15/11 3:06 pm
Yes it does.
Terri Gualano
AT&T - Alabama
Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs
08/16/11 9:03 am
Unfortunately our Lifeline is only extended to phone services. Comcast is testing Lifeline for DSL in limited markets. Hoover is one of the lucky ones. Terri
Terri Gualano
AT&T - Alabama
Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs
Huh? What? Did she understand what I was asking? I needed to clarify, so I sent out this e-mail:
Terri,
Thanks for your reply.
My original e-mail was to request a meeting with the AT&T representative who I could talk to about implementing a program like Comcast's in Hoover. If you are not that person, could you direct me to the correct person?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Robin
Thanks for your reply.
My original e-mail was to request a meeting with the AT&T representative who I could talk to about implementing a program like Comcast's in Hoover. If you are not that person, could you direct me to the correct person?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Robin
Well, that should clear it up, right? Nothing more than a request to meet with someone to discuss a possible discounted program for internet access in Hoover. And if she wasn't the person to contact, tell me who is. (Sidenote: After I sent the above e-mail, I contacted State Representative Paul DeMarco to see if he had any insight into something we could do. My reason for contacting Mr. DeMarco was Terri's title "Regional Director - Legislative and External Affairs". I figured Mr. DeMarco might know Terri. Mr. DeMarco does know her and offered his assistance should I need it.
One thing I have to say about Ms. Gualano is that she is very prompt in responding to e-mails. Here was her response:
08/16/11 10:24 am
I would be the correct person. I have discussed the issue with our Regulatory group and we have no future plans to implement such a program. Thank you for your interest.
Terri Gualano
AT&T - Alabama
Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs
Ouch. The title of this post is "Rethink Impossible", a play on words of AT&T's slogan, which is in the signature line of each of Terri's e-mails:
Sent to you by AT&T... America's Fastest Mobile Broadband Network. Rethink Possible!
Apparently when it comes to providing a discount to disadvantaged children, don't think that's possible...
I have not responded to that e-mail yet. My original e-mail was copied to Jon Anderson, Hoover Editor of the Birmingham News, and to Janice Rogers of WBRC Fox6. Both indicated they would like to possibly do a story on this.
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