From...

March 9, 1999
Web posted at: 3:15 p.m. EST (2015 GMT)

by Tom Spring

(IDG) -- When AT&T WorldNet adopted an unlimited pricing scheme in December, the Internet service provider expected a large but manageable surge of new customers.

And it did get a large surge of customers -- many of them unhappy.

The move drove so much demand that WorldNet users are now comparing its problems to America Online's access troubles, which earned it the nickname America Offline.

Unavailable at any price

WorldNet's television ad campaign touted a new $21.95 flat-rate pricing plan, the option to add six e-mail addresses to an account, and 30MB of Web space for subscribers. Before long, WorldNet was experiencing "significant" traffic growth across its network as users stayed on longer and a stampede of new users signed on.

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Within two months, nearly 200,000 new customers signed on, swelling WorldNet's user base to 1.5 million. But chronic network slowdowns angered many customers, who bombarded company bulletin boards with thousands of complaints. Their top gripes: slow download times, abrupt disconnection from the network, busy signals, and long wait times for customer service.

Users revolt

Gilbert Groen, a WorldNet user in Michigan, e-mailed PC World with some typical complaints. He has been a WorldNet customer for two years, relying on it for business and personal use. Service was great until January, when it suddenly went down the drain.

Groen is furious at WorldNet. "It's like I'm using my old 2400 baud modem I used ten years ago," he says. "WorldNet is even worse than AOL was during its debacle."

However, Groen isn't defecting yet. He is waiting for WorldNet to make good on its promise to upgrade the network in his area.

They're working on it

WorldNet has discontinued its television ad campaign to avoid attracting still more users. The ISP says it has invested several million dollars in network upgrades to reduce congestion on its systems. And it is trying to reassure customers that service will soon be back to normal.

But it still isn't clear things are improving.

WorldNet spokesperson Jonathan Varman is quick to play down any notion that AT&T is suffering network problems similar to those that plagued AOL in January 1997.

But Varman confirms that for at least two months, users have experienced plenty of busy signals and slow downloads.

Complaints have not risen substantially, he says; but calls to AT&T's Customer Care Hotline have numbered in the thousands since January.

Demand is highest in about 87 "hot spots" that are the most trouble-prone, Varman says. That's up from 45 hot spots reported in January. AT&T is expanding its network bandwidth capacity and added more than 10,000 modems to its network last month, Varman adds.

A WorldNet bulletin board lists 28 states affected. Cities that recently joined the "hot spots" list include Chicago; Seattle; and San Jose, California.

"We are responding quickly to complaints and have been keeping customers informed of our progress on a one-on-one basis and through our Web site," Varman says.

But users won't get relief until late April, WorldNet admits. By then, the company will have bolstered its bandwidth sufficiently to handle the capacity.

WorldNet has no plans to offer rebates or credits for inconvenienced customers.

Another shot in the toes

Adding to confusion and headaches is an ambitious upgrade by AT&T WorldNet to 56-kbps V.90-standard modems.

In some cities, AT&T WorldNet urged customers to download software upgrades. In more than one case, this caused confusion that further alienated some customers.

Laughing all the way to the bank?

Still, AT&T WorldNet has nothing to fear, says Greg Tally, editor at Boardwatch magazine. "These are the kind of problems ISPs love to have. I'm sure they are laughing all the way to the bank."

Tally expects WorldNet will solve its service problems eventually. But AT&T as a whole is doing too many projects to dedicate the necessary resources to solve its network problems quickly.

"AT&T wants to do everything and it can't," Tally says. "It's trying to offer soup-to-nuts services from local and long distance phone service, backbone services, and now it wants to be a cable company."

Hating the rating

Some WorldNet users aimed their annoyance at PC World for the high reliability rating we gave the ISP in our March issue (see "Good Providers: The Best National and Regional ISPs," link below).

Those ratings, based on overall service performance prior to January, came as a surprise to some readers who couldn't dial into AT&T WorldNet or had chronic network problems.

"I don't understand the rationale used in your March review of the best ISPs," wrote David Parks of Michigan. "What a nightmare! I have had more connection failures and terminations in two days than I had with my old provider in a year."