AT&T’s Internet Phone Service Hits Columbus, Ohio

Jul. 13–AT&T is launching an Internet phone service in Columbus that is being made available to computer users with high-speed Internet connections.

The move comes less than a month after the company said it would stop competing to provide traditional residential phone service in Ohio.

Besides Columbus, the service also will be available in Cincinnati, Cleveland and more than two dozen cities nationally.

“This is great, but it’s not for everyone,” said Mike Pruyn, spokesman for AT&T. “You must have that broadband connection.”

If you do, “This voice-over-the-Internet is the hottest new technology in telecommunications,” he said.

Only 16.6 percent of Ohioans have broadband Internet access, according to AT&T.

The plan, dubbed CallVantage, will carry telephone calls over high-speed Internet connections.

For an introductory price of $19.99, AT&T will offer unlimited local and long-distance calling, plus advanced features such as voice mail and call waiting.

After six months, the price goes up to $34.99.

If you do not have a high-speed Internet connection, it can be purchased from most phone and cable companies for about $40 a month.

The service offers advanced features such as “do not disturb,” where phone calls can be blocked during night periods from all but immediate family and friends, Pruyn said.

For the past six months, Time Warner has tested a similar service over its cable lines in Dublin, Grandview Heights, Upper Arlington and parts of Columbus.

It charges $49.95 for its unlimited calling package plus advanced services. However, the cost is $39.95 for customers with Road Runner high-speed connections.

With yesterday’s announcement, AT&T has taken its Internet phone service to 100 markets since March. Its goal is to have 1 million customers using the service by 2005. The company did not say how many subscribers it has.

Pruyn said the announcement wasn’t related to AT&T’s June 23 decision to stop actively promoting its traditional local phone service to residential customers in Ohio. That decision could be reversed if AT&T’s appeal of a federal court decision is successful, he said.

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