Lawsuit Alleges Slow Internet Connections

H O U S T O N, Aug. 18, 2000 -- A group of Houston-area Internet users has fileda lawsuit against SBC Communications Inc. and its subsidiaries,including Southwestern Bell, alleging the telecommunications giantintentionally is slowing the speeds at which customers can connectto the Internet.

At issue are high-speed digital subscriber lines, or DSLs, whichallow Internet users to connect much faster than standard modemlines. DSLs also enable ordinary telephone lines to handle regularphone calls and high-speed data at the same time.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, allegesSBC intentionally lowered the access rate to e-mail and newsgroupsby two-thirds of the promised rate through its DSL service withoutnotifying customers or giving any discount for the inferiorservice.

Slower Than Advertised

The lawsuit was filed by Thomas McLaughlin, president ofHouston-based Net Help Solutions — a computer technical supportcompany — after he discovered the rate discrepancy when he rantests on his equipment, said McLaughlin’s attorney, Geoffrey Berg.

McLaughlin determined his connection rate to e-mail andnewsgroups was at 128 kilobits per second while SBC guaranteed aminimum access rate of 384 kilobits per second.

“If your business is on the Internet, you really feel this,”Berg said. “It’s more than just an annoyance. In order to allowgrowth to continue, SBC and its affiliated companies must be ableto provide enough room, or bandwidth, for new customers.

“What they’re doing today is limiting connection speeds inareas where people are less likely to notice. This allows thedefendants to effectively resell the same bandwidth that they aresupposed to be providing to existing customers.”

SBC released a statement Thursday saying it could not comment onthe lawsuit because it had not yet reviewed it in detail butdefended the speed of its DSL service.

“It is important to understand that SBC’s DSL service deliversthe speeds as guaranteed, which covers the connection rate betweena customer’s computer and the SBC central office,” the companysaid.

“Beyond that point,” the company added, “there are manyfactors that can have an impact on the actual rate at which data istransferred online.”

SBC guarantees a minimum access rate of 384 kilobits per secondfor its DSL service but not for newsgroups, which are provided bySBC’s Internet subsidiaries, which include Southwestern Bell, saidSBC spokesman Michael Coe. Newsgroups are Internet sites whereindividuals can exchange and download material such as largegraphic files.

However, e-mail access is guaranteed at a minimum of 384kilobits per second, he said.

“We don’t put any limits on our DSL service,” Coe said.

Going for Class Action

Berg said he will ask the lawsuit be granted class actionstatus. He does not know when the case will go to trial.

“If you look at [sites] that track consumer opinion about thistype of service, you will see tremendous complaints. People areoutraged by this,” Berg said.

The effort to preserve bandwidth is tied to SBC’s $6 billioninitiative to make it the largest single provider of DSL servicesin the country over the next three years, Berg said.

SBC might be trying to avoid a situation like America Onlinefaced a few years ago when its supply of bandwidth didn’t meet thedemand for service from customers who repeatedly got busy signalswhen trying to dial up the Internet provider, he said.

In addition to McLaughlin and his company, the other plaintiffsin the lawsuit are Jennifer Fisher, who works at Net Help, and MarkJacobs and James Jackoviak, who know McLaughlin and are alsoSouthwestern Bell DSL subscribers.

This is not the first time SBC’s DSL service has been in thespotlight.

In June, a group of Internet service providers reached asettlement with SBC after accusing it of charging them withunreasonably high prices for DSL service, transferring peoplesigned up for service with an ISP to Southwestern Bell and notprocessing service orders in a timely manner.

In late May, SBC accused Time Warner’s cable division ofanticompetitive tactics in the battle for high-speed Internetbusiness by offering employees in Houston cash or free Internetservice for ordering and then canceling DSL service. The complaintwas settled earlier this month.