According to a leaked image and a video obtained by
The Mobile Report, AT&T is about to allow subscribers to pay for priority access to the wireless provider’s network with AT&T Turbo starting on May 2nd. For $7 per month per line, Turbo will move a customer’s service up the QCI ladder. Quality of Service Class Identifiers, or QCI, is used to figure out which customers will get priority access to the AT&T network and receive faster data speeds. Once Turbo is enabled, the higher priority is immediately activated.
AT&T Turbo will reportedly improve the customer’s QCI level from 8 to 7 which is somewhat misleading since these customers were originally placed at level 7 and all eligible plans were recently dropped back to level 8. So in other words, AT&T Turbo subscribers are essentially paying $7 per month per line for the privilege of returning to the level of service they previously had. This sounds like a roundabout way for AT&T to hike plan prices. QCI 6 is reserved for first responders using AT&T’s FirstNet service.
The leaked video received by The Mobile Report says that paying for Turbo will give
AT&T subscribers the “Best Performance Experience On The Go.” The video continues by stating that customers paying for the service will “feel the difference with real-time responsiveness and improved stability.” Turbo will improve the customer experience of those who like gaming, live sharing, and making video calls.”
Before you go and shell out the extra cabbage to sign up for Turbo, keep in mind that you probably won’t notice your “higher priority” connection unless you’re in an area where AT&T’s network traffic is heavy. Those living in low-population areas might not notice any change in their service if they sign up for Turbo.
When we first wrote about AT&T Turbo in March, we stated that the add-on service, which charges consumers more for a streaming internet feed,
would appear to violate Net Neutrality rules which were not in effect when we wrote the article. But lo and behold,
last week the FCC voted to reinstate Net Neutrality which requires that all internet streams be treated the same. Surely AT&T’s legal team took Net Neutrality into consideration when deciding to give it the green light.
