AT&T overhauls data plans, giving you less for less 87
Wed, 02 Jun 2010 9:28 am EDT 
AT&T is launching a pretty drastic overhaul of their consumer cellular data plans, and its both good and bad. There’s plenty to cover, so let’s just get to it, shall we?
The current $30/month unlimited data plan is no more. It has been replaced by two new plans, DataPlus and DataPro. DataPlus amounts to 200MB for $15, while DataPro is 2GB for $25. AT&T claims that for 98% of their subscribers, 2GB is more than enough.
If that limit frightens you, this is where the good news comes in. AT&T has also overhauled their data overage structure, giving DataPlus subscribers and additional 200MB as needed for $15, while DataPro users get extra data at $10 a gigabyte. Simple and straightforward, no? Even better, if it turns out you’re either over-using or under-using your plan, AT&T’s going to be extremely flexible about letting switch back and forth between DataPlus and DataPro. You can call and have your plan changed at the next billing cycle, have it prorated immediately, or - hold on to your seats - have the plan retroactively applied to the entire current billing cycle. And just to make sure you’re able to keep tabs of how much of your plan you’re using, AT&T will send you text message alerts at 65%, 90%, and 100% usage.
There’s more good to be had. Tethering is coming to AT&T subscribers as well, in the form a $20 add-on charge for the privilege of sharing your smartphone data plan with your computer and other devices. No word on whether or not this means Mobile Hotspot is headed to webOS devices on AT&T. Considering that’s the only sanctioned way to tether with webOS (and really, why would you want anything other than a Wi-Fi hotspot?), we would be surprised if Mobile Hotspot didn’t come to AT&T in short order.
Current subscribers, as usual, get to keep their old plans if they so desire. The new DataPlus and DataPro plans will be enacted on June 7th.
Via: Engadget Mobile
Source: AT&T
87 Comments
It's not less for less, it's less for more!! For many people this will be a huge ripoff!
I am so glad that I'm on sprint, where unlimited means pretty much unlimited. (except in roaming)
Doesn't the author of this article often slant his opinions in favor of the carriers? This is the beginning of the end for power users.
It's not less for less, it's less for more!! For many people this will be a huge ripoff!
wow, that sucks. 2gb for a smartphone user? That is not enough. Glad I'm on verizon
Verizon will soon follow a similar approach, too.
I'm glad my plan is locked in for the next two years.
Consumer Reports had an article on iPhone data usage and stated "On average, iPhone users consume 273 MBs of data per month." Source- http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/02/iphone-data-usage-s...
Wow, that seems awfully low, would have guessed quite a bit more than that.
Those numbers probably don't take their WiFi into account. So it probably is somewhat more bandwidth per month. It does state that the iPhone uses twice the bandwidth of most other smart phones.
For A LOT of people, iphone is a phone and a fashion item. Those that steam music, video, etc are the exception. There are a lot of them, but many more just talk and text. And don't confuse the ATT 3G experience with EVDO 3G experience. There is a lot more lag in ATT in most markets.
Wow, on average I consume 4 GB a month on my pre. Oh yeah, no multitasking. I listen to pandora almost 24/7.
This sure seems pretty shady... and I agree with the above that it will probably be "Less for More". The whole purpose of having a smartphone is for the data access... This will be the same feeling as worrying about your anytime minutes usage.
I still can't see (less a coverage issue or slightly gimped pre/pixi) why people don't use Sprint. You just get so much more for your $$$. As for tethering, while not sanctioned, it is possible and I don't think Sprint cares too much provided you aren't abusing it. Heck I don't even worry about my Anytime minutes with sprint because with Free Mobile to ANY Mobile, I barely use 50 anytime minutes a month.
Now if I can just get a nice shiny and new WebOS phone w/ 4G and mad specs, I think Sprint would be nearly impossible to pass up as an option.
Oh well...
I agree. With free Mobile to Mobile to any carrier I hardly use any of my Anytime minutes.
I also agree. It is hard to believe that Sprints reputation is this bad when they are clearly the better choice (sans coverage in some areas, though Verizon roaming stems most the gaps). I recently converted 2 Families and added a family member (all from Verizon) who were amazed at the savings and phone selection. Even with Verizon/AT&T helping by gouging their customers things have not changed (is marketing really that strong, obviously yes :( ). I'm not sure what Sprint needs to do to change their perception.
Roaming is not a cure all. I have Sprint coverage and it works great in my city, except for my house where Verizon provides excellent coverage. The Pre can barely get a signal and that's only if I stand in the special corner of my house, and then it's roaming at zero to two bars which KILLS the Pre's battery. And to counter replies,
1. There are other phones in this house on Verizon with A+ coverage.
2. Sprint is FOS and will not send me an Airave like everyone else on the internet, even though my account is in good standing. I'm going to surmise this is because I just started on Sprint in September, so I'll be revisiting this issue with retentions once they start trying to force a new phone and contract on me once my upgrade comes up.
3. It's the second Pre I have that's done this and despite what others may say, the Pre has fubar reception. It's not just Sprint.
I love Sprint because I can get the cheapest plan combined with a 23% discount and would not go to Verizon with it's higher rates and addons, plus gimped GPS, but I can't fault anyone who doesn't want to deal with roaming on a Pre and Sprint's terrible CS (if you're an old customer or a business customer, your opinion on Sprint's CS does not count because they clearly treat you better).
That is strange that Sprint will not send you an Airave? A friend of mine just got one after I suggested they ask. Maybe you should threaten to leave.
As far as coverage is concerned I'll accept that my perception may be positive because I get great coverage in the city (and my house) and have had good experiences with roaming on the road. I am sure other may not be as lucky.
Update: The CS has not been bad for me at all. As I said earlier I converted 2 families to Sprint and added a family member to my line and in all cases people were impressed with the CS. I wonder if this is an issue perception clouding reality. Also if what you want can't be done do people say CS sucks no matter how helpful/polite the rep is? Just food for though.
I've placed this call for the Airave three different times.
I've been transferred from Customer Service to Airave twice, where I've spoken with someone named Jason who actually does have a really bad attitude and was completely unhelpful and unsympathetic to my issue.
The last time I called into Customer Service I was given this woman named Tiffany who had a really bad attitude and when I was speaking, would yell over me, suggesting solutions I had already tried instead of taking the time to listen to my issue. I politely asked to be transferred to someone else in CS, where I was transferred to a much nicer and different Tiffany. She transferred me to the Airave department who after hearing me issue, transferred me to Technical Support, who then claimed to transfer me to Airave, but actually transferred me to Retentions where I spoke with a Joshua, who would not send me the Airave (apparently it's for business and companies...right...) and gave me a spiel about the wiring in my house (right...) and offered to send me a Moment to test reception.
Do I think that's poor service? Yes. Beyond the bad attitudes, there's excessive transferring and obviously, a complete lack of protocol about what to do with the Airave. When I call CS, I am exceedingly nice because I understand they have a hard job and I want them to actually help me, so when they get irritated with me or brush me off, it does annoy me.
Like, consider today. I just got off the phone with Sprint because yesterday they charged me a non-refundable $410 for the Moment I returned, even though I returned it well within 15 days. I call Sprint CS. They transfer me to someone else who, after I give the tracking number, sees that yes, I returned the phone and that yes, the order says I won't be charged any additional fees. But can she help me? No. I have to email AEescalations@sprint.com where they will most likely answer me within 72 hours (3 business days). Meanwhile, my bill is due the 6th. I have automatic payments set up because I have a $150 spending limit and Sprint now charges $5 for that. So, come the 6th, I have $480 waiting to be charged me to my account unless I go cancel the automatic payments (and probably incur a ridiculous $5 charge) or hope Sprint can remove the fee.
Now, the lady was nice. And I was nice. But do I consider this poor CS? Yes. Because now I, the customer, have to EMAIL someone and hope they email me back within 72 hours and yes I do consider poor customer service to be that a customer does not have an actual person they can speak to resolve their issue and are instead at the mercy of an email account. They didn't even email me about this charge! I just so HAPPENED to check my account today, which normally I don't even do because my bill is the same $58 dollars every month and I have automatic payments. What if I hadn't checked it and then, after being told I wouldn't be charged for this order clear as day (http://i49.tinypic.com/5cpps.png), I have a $480 mysterious charge on my bank account from Sprint three days from now?
That is poor customer service and I'm not going to call it anything less just because someone was nice.
Wow...
Just Today
I used *2 on my phone for Sprint Customer Service.
I reached an Andrea after hitting 0.
I advised her of my situation:
- NO/Minimal Cell Signal in my house
- Wife just got a PIXI w/ no wifi and no signal for data
- I am Sprint Premier
- I have been with Sprint since 2000
She advised the Airave costs $99 and there is a $5 monthly charge.
I asked if I could be sent/have it free of charge based on my issues.
She said she needed to speak with her Supervisor.
After 5 minutes she still wasn't able to get with her Supervisor.
She asked if she could transfer me to Retentions, where they could advise and potentially process the request.
Spoke with a Kiana in Retentions.
Advised her of my situation.
She advised the costs as well.
Asked if it could be free.
She placed me on hold for 5 minutes while she researched.
She came back and advised that:
- Yes my situation qualifies for a free Airave
- The monthly fee will be waved for 2 years
- It would also be standard shipped for free w/ an eta of 3 to 5 days
I asked if they could do overnight, she advised it would cost $12.
So in the end I chose the normal shipping method for free.
I have a Sprint Airave coming to my house at no cost and 2 years of waved monthly charge.
The whole process took around 20 to 25 minutes.
I again say... I couldn't be happier with Sprint (except for maybe free overnight shipping)
This should hopefully resolve my in house cell signal issues, and allow my wife to use her phone when we are home.
Yeah, I'm just going to call back closer to the end of my contract date. They do more for people who've finished their contract or have been on the service a while, obviously, I just think it's a dumb policy where the Airave is concerned. If I wasn't a poor little recent grad, I would probably just leave, honestly, unless I find a job where I can move!
okay as far as the phone goes all you really have to do is call cs and dispute the charges for the phone.... Once you do that it takes the price of the phone off of ur bill. So you will be fine until they credit you back! Also another thing you just answered the reason why they won't send you a airave. Ur account is on a spending limit which mean you have to prove urself before they will give you another line of service. I've been with sprint since 99 and I have had my problems with them at times but their cs is way better now then ever before!
Meanwhile...I have a $480 charge on my bank account. The problem is actually supposedly resolved now because I felt the email business was balls and called back to Technical Support, where I reached someone with the actual sense to contact the Advanced Exchange people instead of directing me to email them, where she told me they weren't actually supposed to put it as an Adjustment, but as a normal item on next month's bill, so even if the charge was supposed to be there, they went about it in the wrong way. So supposedly two hours from now, this charge should be removed. It's still poor customer service. Do not want to imagine the headache of dealing with my bank and Sprint over that charge.
As for the spending limit thing, that's fine (that's why I said OLD customers obviously have a different perception of service), even though it's kind of dumb I had it in the first place, as I went through a two year deal with Verizon before (yes yes, I know it isn't reported) and that I didn't have to pay a down payment or anything. I'm just a college student with little credit. But whatever, I can deal. Too bad Sprint would rather lie to me about why they won't give me an Airave rather than just be honest.
Use their online chat. Ive had a lot of luck with that. Ive gotten free upgrades several times.
They are right, The Average user would only use less then 200megs,
I'm with Bell Canada, and honestly I use WiFI 99% of the time. So what i really want from all carriers is a super simple plan like maybe
25megs for 5$, Then i could use more of the money for a better voice plan.
Or how about they just stop screwing everyone around and just make it a one time flat rate per/Mb and no need to actually have a data plan lets say
remember, they are talking bytes, not bits...
Terrible plans IMO. AT&T keeps making poor decisions, they'll retain the iPhone faithful but others will leave. This leaves a nice opening for people to come to Sprint and even Verizon.
I understand the carrier placing limits on bandwith - but 2 gigs is WAY too low.
On the one hand, AT&T talks about having the largest network, blah blah blah. Now they are saying, "pay our high monthly fees to use our [slow] network, buy the iphone/pre/etc for video and internet, but don't actually use it!
The worst thing about a low cap is that users will constantly be thinking about it every time they use data on the phone.
Only 12% of iPhone users consume over 500MB per month. Actually, not much is going to change. Current customers are not required to switch. The 2GB plan is probably $5 less per month to entice customers to switch. For the 2% of iPhoners who do go over, the fee is $10 for each additional GB. So those using 3GB, if they switch plans, would pay $5 more than what they are currently.
Put this in the list of things that AT&T does to screw its customers, while somehow maintaining their status as #1 (or #2 depending on the month/year) cell phone company in the US.
I just don't understand how AT&T (or Verizon for that matter) can charge so much more than Sprint and T-Mobile and people still flock to them in droves (obviously I know the iPhone has a bit to do with AT&T's success, but come on... paying 2x more for an iPhone so that you can be part of the "ecosystem...")
I'll be the first "hater" to admit that the iPhone is a great piece of hardware, and that the ecosystem is nice. But I pay $200 per month for 5 Palm Pres on Sprint. 5 iPhones on AT&T with unlimitted data and texting would cost me about $350, $150 per month for two years is really not worth the ecosystem, sorry.
I like how people on other networks like to attack AT&T. Isn't Sprint forcing everyone to pay $10 extra a month on any 4g phone? Give Verizon a little longer with the Android and see how clogged their network gets, then imagine it with an iPhone next year.
Considering 98% of AT&T users use less than 2gb per month saving at least $5 per month is a good deal. Also 68% use less than the 200mb per months. The new iPhone may increase a users usage. But there are still plenty of AT&T HotSpots and WiFi around. I use my home's or company's WiFi much more than AT&T's data network, so why not go with a cheaper rate.
Yeah, and there are so many 4g phones out there...oh wait, there's only one and it doesn't launch until Friday. And the data, unlike AT&T, will be unlimited and at a faster speed than AT&T.
How many will there be by the end of the summer? You have to pay a $10 premium for the 4G regardless of if you use it.
no sprints not forcing anyone it's called choice if you want 4g then you will pay an extra 10 dollars month! That's new technology and faster service so if they offered it were I'm at I might take it but screw that it's not here so no by choice I'm not getting an htc evo! My pre does everything and more. Besides the video chat, but everything else!
I pay $250/mo for 3 Pre's & 1 dumbphone on VZW. 1400 minutes, unlimited text and data, not to mention 5g free Hotspot on each Pre.
The coverage is too good to make me change, plus the feeling of not worrying bout going over on minutes or data is a relief on it's own.
Yeah but you could be paying $189/mo for 3 Pre's and a dumbphone on Sprint for 1400 mins, unlimited text, data and Sprint Navigation (using each Pre as a hotspot is free also but requires some ingenuity :-).
Sprint customers roam (data roaming also) on Verizon's network for free. So it is equally a relief of not having to worry about going over minutes or data and especially paying less for the same coverage. :)
Actually, Sprint customers do not ROAM on Verizon's network for completely FREE - if you look at the FINE PRINT on most Sprint plans, it clearly states that the only "free" calls are those made "from the Sprint Network". Calls made from ANY OTHER Network (this means Verizon) count against your "anytime" minutes. If you have the "unlimited" plan with unlimited anytime minutes, you're okay. But a LOT of Sprint Pre users have the cheaper plans with "unlimited mobile-to-mobile" minutes. Well, guess what? If you have one of those plans and you happen to call another mobile phone while you are roaming on Verizon - it eats up your prepaid anytime minutes. And if you happen to have the less expensive 'unlimited mobile' plan - with only 450 'anytime' minutes - then once those are gone (which can happen pretty fast if you're obliged to do a lot of roaming) then you get charged a fairly high per-minute charge for each of your roaming minutes.
That said, I still think the Sprint plans offer many users - myself included! - a better (and more competitive) pricing deal/structure than either Verizon or AT&T. But in all fairness, both Verizon (with its free Friends & Family calls to your 5 most frequently called numbers) and AT&T (with its Rollover minutes, giving additional minute credits for unused minutes from month to month) both offer the possibilities of real savings for certain Pre users....whose usage requirements fit those plans.
But 'free roaming' on Verizon is a bit of a myth when you look at the fine print.
While this information is correct, in my case I use about 15 of my 450 minutes a month, so spending them roaming or not wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to me.
Ages ago, I used to have my phone set on Roam Only because it was the only way I could get reliable service. I got a bill for something like $500 for talking to my wife (on the same plan) all the time, except it was always roaming. The customer service people were shocked and had never seen anyone with all of their calls roaming. They refunded us the excess because we didn't know it worked that way and it didn't make sense to them. Suffice to say at that point Roam Only went off. That was about 3 or 4 years ago, I'd say.
The question may be more about coverage maps then. Can I make a call or will I be drop outside of my network area? If I roam on Verizon yes and don't really pay a deference in cost.
double post
I thought that I read recently that Verizon was talking about its upcoming 4G venture and said that the current "Unlimited Data" model doesn't carry over well to the 4G technology and hinted that they will be similarly splintering data plans into the data tiers.
I remember in the days of dial-up, I think one carrier got it right, and I shudder to think that it might have been AOL. If I remember correctly you could get the small hourly plan, that if you went over your hours you would be charged by the hour until you hit what you would have paid under the unlimited plan, at that time you'd be switched to the unlimited. Unfortunately, I think that it meant that you'd be priced at unlimited internet from that point forward.
If the cell carriers did a data plan like that I wouldn't be too upset. I fall into that average of just over 200 MB a month.
Wow, that's terrible and sounds like a great new commercial for Sprint. Hop to it, guys!
Who wants a tethering plan tied to a 2GB limit? If you get the tethering plan, does the limit go away? I doubt it.
I'm already at 134.8 and my billing cycle does not refresh until the middle of the month. I'll crush 200 easy. I'm glad I'll be grandfathered in with the old $30 unlimited plan.
I think this is more so aimed at the forthcoming pad users.
Could I do 2GB in a month? I think I could make that happen if not for my home wifi which takes care of a lot of traffic.
Sounds like they are trying to alleviate the pressure on their networks so that Iphones can maybe make a phone call w/o dropping its signal and the call. It seems as if AT&T is hoping that these changes will get AT&T customers to use less bandwidth (or at least try and make them more conscious about their usage) so that the networks can handle the current load.
Fail on the part of AT&T. Even Sprint gives you at least 5GB and that's already included in their plans. Iphone faithfuls will remain but this is better news for Sprint & VZ. I agree with Malpha, a great commercial for Sprint is in the waiting. Chop chop Sprint! Get to it!
If I worked for Sprint's advertising company, I'd be drooling right now!!! Lol
I stream Pandora A LOT, I'm on Sprint, between that and using the Navigation and uploading pictures I'm usually way over 2 gigs of data used.
FYI, it's human nature to resist limits. But, each of you should call your carrier and see what your data usage is for the last 6 months. I was a HEAVY tethering user all last year because I was on the road so much. In addition to business traffic, I watched a TON of Hulu.com and Slingbox, and listened to Rhapsody for hours on long drives (someone else was driving).
I only hit 2GB during one month out of the entire year. It made me feel better.
You only hit 2GB once and you watched a "ton" of Hulu? How do you define a TON?
I mean, I ask because on my PC, I:
1. Watch Hulu about 7 times a week (Lost, V, FlashForward, Inuyasha)
2. Netflix sometimes
3. Lot of net surfing
4. Some torrenting (mostly 174mb episdes of a show every other week)
5. Very little PSN
I easily use my PC the most out of anyone, the only other "heavy" user watching a few YouTube videos a day. Our monthly usage on Comcast? 38GB a month, which jumped up to 55GB that month I marathoned some Lost and Angel on the PS3.
Oh, but I must thank you for encouraging me to check my Sprint account because they charged me $410 yesterday for who knows what.
ups and downs with the plans. having a truly unlimited plan helps when you're working in a business, such as myself. but for my kids, a 200mb plan would work (even less), but at $15 that's expensive. That 200mb plan should be no more than $5. If Verizon offered that for $5, I'd put all my kids on data plans.
I am ALL for this. I don't need to watch videos on my phone. I use the web occasionally while I am out. $30 per month was way to steep for this. By the numbers I am seeing, over 2/3 of the people who have smartphones are like me; they either use under 200 MB per month, or they don't even have a data plan (me) because they're unwilling to part with $360 per year.
$15 per month to do the few minor things that I use is a HUGE improvement for me. (And, please don't babble on about Sprint's prices. Their coverage sucks where I live, and from my daughter's experiences with them, so does their customer service.)
I totally agree with you. I'm a heavy user (constant web browsing, google maps, some streaming) and the highest I get is 1.5 gb. This new structure would be great for my wife and father (wife has iphone, father a blackjack 2) they rarely go over 100mb per month and this would save me and my father money. I've been hoping they wuld go to a tiered service for a while, and these plans are a good first step, they still need to be a little lower ($20 for 2gb, $10 for 500mb imho) and tethering should be included, if i'm paying for 2gb of data, why does it matter how I use it?
They could make it free...it still wouldn't change the fact that the service would be unavailable/dropout 30% of the time.
These plans are so dumb IMO.
I'm on Sprint and my last bill showed over 2.6 gigs of data usage. A 200 MB cap would be unbearable for me.
Very dumb plans. Sounds like they are trying to get the high end users to use less. I use about 6GB o Sprint's network per month. I rarely use wi-fi, however.
If I were on ATT with these plans, I would be paying about $65 for just my data Plan. Which is MORE than what I am paying for Sprint's plan put together. haha. Yeah, no. This won't do it.
I have said so for the last year: ATT will fall. And they will fall HARD. Especially as soon as their savior the iPhone leaves them.
Sprint has improved big time with their customer service. And I have no problems with their coverage where I live in California. Plus, they are the most reasonable. Now lest hope they come out with that Palm C40 that is rumored to be the next Palm device on Sprint.
Sprint has improved big time with their customer service. And I have no problems with their coverage where I live in California. Plus, they are the most reasonable. Now lest hope they come out with that Palm C40 that is rumored to be the next Palm device on Sprint.
wow,just hope sprint remain the same.
Data is the new cash cow.
I expect all carriers will have some version of this. The reason ATT is first is because they have, til now, the most data usage (due to the iphone) than anyone.
As most phones come out that actually encourage internet usage via the phone - even those that have had it, its unpleasant enough to not want to do it a lot - carriers will price accordingly.
And folks who are tethering computers and other devices? They SHOULD pay more.
I'm not sure about the logic of why people that tether should pay more? Data USAGE is what you pay for right. Should it matter what device I use to consume the data? Now if you want to charge for how much I use, I will have to deal with that but I don't agree that you charge me for what device I use with the data. That would be like Comcast saying you can't use a Xbox, PS3, Ruko or Palm Pre on your home network just computers. I pay for the data let me use whatever device I see fit.
Sounds terrible, considering an update is 200 Megabytes by itself!
I hope that when you use an app with banners, that doesn't count towards your data usage. That would suck!!!!!
Steve Jobs on AT&T:
Defending AT&T
"They're doing pretty good in some ways and in others they could do better. We meet with them once a quarter. Remember, they deal with way more data traffic than anyone else. And they're having trouble. But they have the fastest 3G network, and they're improving. I wish they were improving faster. I'm convinced that any other network, had you put the iPhone on it, would have had the same problems."
As usual, Steve is revising reality with the famous "Reality Distortion Field." Sprint has the most data traffic of any US carrier on a wireless network, followed up closely by Verizon. (The latter may have taken #1 recently, last I checked it was pretty close). AT&T is a distant third place.
You need to check your facts. There is no way that Sprint is now 1. AT&T is #1 for data traffic with Verizon moving up fast in #2. Sprint is doing everything they can (including their cheap plans to survive.
Blah, my link got cut off, anyway. Precentral did an article on it. There was a report that Verizon and Sprint account for 63% of mobile data althought AT&T has the most connected devices. It's attributed to Verizon and Sprint having better 3G coverage and their mobile broadband services. Verizon is first, Sprint second, and AT&T third, however, AT&T is predicted to be second in two years.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/abi-verizon-will-become-
data-traffic-leader-2011/2010-06-01#axzz0pj0m8D4l
It cuts the link off of mine too, but just search
"data traffic by US wireless carriers" on google.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/verizon-wireless-and-sprint-each-carrie...
"Verizon Wireless and Sprint Each Carried Over 16 Billion More MB of Mobile Network Data Than AT&T in 2009"
This report is also by ABI research. I guess we can just pick which report we like the best.
I'm actually fine with the change. I looked at the data usage graphs on AT&T's site for both my wife and my phones, and I don't think we've gone over 200MB in the last 6 months, and she has an iPhone. So, if we switched to the $15 plan, we'd save $30 a MONTH on data charges, and not even use our phones any differently than we do now.
We use WiFi a lot, which probably explains the 'low' usage. I admit I was surprised when I saw how low our usage was, because I consider myself a fairly heavy user, but I guess WiFi is carrying the burden for me (I have it at home and work).
--Matt
What I don't get is that if 98% of smartphone users are using less than 2GB, and 65% are using less than 200MB, why is that 2% of users is enough to break AT&T's bank to the point that they'd make more money by dropping the plans for 65% of people by $15, 33% of people by $5, and supposedly increasing 2% of people's plans by $10/20/30/etc with a maybe $20 fee for tethering? I mean, those 2% of people are using so much data that their bandwidth cost is more than having 100% of people paying at least $5 less?
I don't think 98% of people are really using less than 2GB.
+1
Not only that, current customers with the $30/month unlimited plan will be grandfathered forward... So all this restructuring really does is scare off potential heavy users to Verizon/Sprint. So current heavy users aren't going to be deterred from continuing their heavy usage.
Since I don't have a good connection at home, I'll probably be crashing into that 2GB limit. Been waiting for a local AT&T store to actually have the Pre Plus in stock before we renew our contract. If I can't find one before the 7th, there's a very strong chance I'll tell AT&T to screw themselves and go with Sprint or Verizon.
So I would pay an extra 20 bucks for the privilege of tethering, but it applies to my 2gb data... So I pay extra to use the data I'm already paying for, *not* for more data to tether with. Retarded.
Thank God I'm on Sprint. I hope they see this as an opportunity, not to follow suit, but to woo more customers by keeping their unlimited data plans truly unlimited.
brmiller1976,
I don't doubt your info, but do you have a link showing data usage of the US carriers? I couldn't find it. Thanks.
I am glad I am with sprint, maybe it's time for at&t users to come on over to the unlimited side.
Gizmodo's analysis of the new plan structure finds that customers will be paying more for less.
http://m.gizmodo.com/5553418/att-just-killed-unlimited-wireless-data-and...
Their argument only makes sense for heavy users. Their argument is like saying go into a store and buy the bulk size of something because it is cheaper per ounce disregarding the total amount paid. What happens if you don't use all of it and part goes bad? Why not pay less for a total amount you are going to use?
Because people want unlimited data. Every since the internet started, unlimited plans have always been more popular than restricted ones. People will pay more if they know they can use all they want. They just dont want to be suprized with a huge bill at the end of the month if they go over. Just like texting use to be limmited. AT&T is swimming against the current on this one.
I am glad I am with sprint, maybe it's time for at&t users to come on over to the unlimited side.
What would you do if you are AT&T? & your network is clogged & a new IPhone coming & a million+ IPads just sold!
you go to network engineering & marketing & billing developers & SCREAM...GIVE ME NEW PLANS THAT CONSERVE BANDWIDTH (lowers cost of new network)& MAKE THE New
BILLING SYSTEM TRACK & BILL FOR THE NEW PLANS...OH & Marketing go out & SELL this Manure but tell them its a NEW GREAT FLAVOR OF THE MONTH...
& that is how it works on the inside of AT&T for past 100 years.
Gizmodo's analysis of the new plan structure finds that customers will be paying more for less.
http://m.gizmodo.com/5553418/att-just-killed-unlimited-wireless-data-and...
Gizmodo's analysis of the new plan structure finds that customers will be paying more for less.
http://m.gizmodo.com/5553418/att-just-killed-unlimited-wireless-data-and...
Sorry for all the double postings. Pre's browser repost when I did a refresh to read new comments. My apologies.
This is in preparation for the new iPhone. Anyone who wants one will have to change plans. Just like Verizon raised their penalties prior to releasing the Droid. These companies do this to their customers and people smile and take it. Sprint is the only way to go. I pay 33 dollars a month per phone. unlimmited everything. which compnay can beat that?
Can't wait to see Jobs spin on this at the WWDC.
Just how long do you think they will leave the unlimited data plans out there? This does nothing for all the data hogs out there. If they check their usage an see anything north of 2 gigs they will stay on the unlimited plan? So AT&T just decreased revenue and still has the data hogs on the unlimited plan. This may stop any new data hogs from coming about. I'd bet in the future that the unlimited plans will go the way of the Dodo bird. And we will have all tiered pricing on the plans. The CEO of AT&T said this in the past.
My conspiracy theory.
They're indoctrinating the new users to think 2gb for $25 is okay so when 4G comes out and everyone and their mother is going to stream and upload hd youtube or whatever, it will probably over the limit and are willing to pay the extra money for the extra gb overage.
This is an awful, terrible deal. Even fairly light music listen of about 4 hours/work day would probably put you over this if you're using Pandora or Grooveshark or any other such service. That's not to mention Youtube videos, etc. AT&T is being there crappy selves once again and screwing over their customer. Maybe if they were actually fair about it and provided a tolerable limit like 4-5 Gb.
Well...at least AT&T is consistent and you know if you go with them you'll get screwed over one way or another.