Phone Service

[run4osu]

I just spoke to customer service about phone service which I do not use, but have to pay over $10.00 a month in state in federal taxes for all of the service fees. So instead of having a $39.99 bill I end up with a $55.10 bill which is over double the cost of the service I was paying with AT&T. Granted the service at Sonic is much better, but not $30.00 a month better. I would highly encourage the management team at Sonic to consider customers not to have to bundle service and have a home phone line. Please give this some consideration Dane

[syntaxsid1]

Hello,

We apologize for the trouble with this. Sonic is a telecommunications provider and as such, we are required to provide a landline phone so our customers can contact 911 emergency services. Being classified as a telecommunications provider allows us benefits from the government that ultimately keep costs from being even higher. It also gives us protections we wouldn't otherwise have. (Side note: This is why net neutrality and classifying internet providers as a utility is such an important thing. It would allow us to get those same benefits and protections while offering INTERNET ONLY in the future.) I hope you can understand why we need to offer our service like we currently do and that it helps to clarify some points. Have a good day!

[ngufra]

If you search the forums, there are A LOT of people complaining about this.
Again the answer is it cannot be split.
I understand the regulatory issue. There is also the feeling of being lied to compared to the "from $40 per month" but customers are going to compare them with other providers and claiming "from $55.10 a month" would be incorrect (as local taxes vary by locale) and less flattering.

So try to make the most of it. The phone line comes with caller id, something that ATA&T used to charge extra for (have not been an AT&T customer for a long time), voice mail (that can be sent as an email), etc
If you are on fiber, the voice line is a proprietary voip line and you can use it on the ONT or through sonic app. As the voice line includes unlimited minutes to many countries, if you need to call from your cell, you can do so through the app for free.
Sonic also includes a free fax line in the labs to send and receive faxes as pdf.

[dane]

Hello,

We apologize for the trouble with this. Sonic is a telecommunications provider and as such, we are required to provide a landline phone so our customers can contact 911 emergency services. Being classified as a telecommunications provider allows us benefits from the government that ultimately keep costs from being even higher. It also gives us protections we wouldn't otherwise have. (Side note: This is why net neutrality and classifying internet providers as a utility is such an important thing. It would allow us to get those same benefits and protections while offering INTERNET ONLY in the future.) I hope you can understand why we need to offer our service like we currently do and that it helps to clarify some points. Have a good day!

A clarification on this: For our Fusion service, which is delivered over copper, the unbundled network element copper is available to us because of the telecommunications service - which since the classification of internet access as an information rather than telecommunication service, means voice. So for Fusion Broadband+Phone ADSL2+/VDSL2 over copper, we are required to bundle phone service.

And this product design steered Sonic toward an all-in-one product, bundle and price. So to the greatest degree possible, our product is uniform, in design, features and pricing. So this means that Fusion (over copper) and Fusion Fiber are the same: a $39.99 data service combined with a $10/mo phone line. On copper that might be 20Mbps (ADSL2+), or up to 50Mbps (VDSL2), while on fiber that's simply 1Gbps (for now.

The only area this product design and pricing has been different has been on our Fusion X2 products, which combine two lines, and our IP Broadband resale products, where faster services are available at higher, "X2/X3" prices. Each of these add $20/mo for each faster service.

As noted by the responder, we have tried to add as much value as possible to the bundled services. International calling, caller ID, a VoIP mobile phone app, etc.

I'll also note that we are doing some early product development of software and tools toward offering a data-only product on a test basis on our fiber network. That's likely to arrive in some new markets in Oakland sometime in the next 3-6 months, and we'll see how that works for us and for customers.

[sasud]

I have been for Sonic for over 10 years now. By now my home phone line is really a target for SPAM callers. I have not received a single call of interest on my home line over a year (if not more). I really think SONIC should seriously consider un-bundling the voice from data.
The ~20$ I pay for voice I would happily pay towards the Fiber.

[sonicbergedo]

Yea but you don't have to lie about it. The reason that I joined and I think most people joined, is that big sign on all your trucks offering gigabit speed for $40.00 a month. No where on the truck does it say that I would be forced to pay an extra charge for something that I don't use and will probably never use. So open, honest aren't words that will be used when speaking of your company.