Well AT&T, what do you have to say for yourself?
For those of you just tuning in, AT&T has announced their new tiered data plans just in time for the new iPhone. Other carriers have talked about it (Verizon) but AT&T was the first one brave enough to do it.
The new plans seem to cater to the mass of AT&T customers that don’t use their data quite that much and don’t want to pay as much for 200 MB as a person using 2GB. (Descriptions after the break)
These plans (effective June 7th) are as follows: DataPlus has a 200MB cap for $15 a month and 7.5 cents for extra MBs – DataPro has a 2GB cap for $25 a month and 1.25 cents for extra MBs – DataPro + Tethering has a 2GB cap and for $45 a month and 2.25 cents for extra MBs. If you look at the numbers it does seem that AT&T is making you pay more for less. AT&T also says that if you go over your 200MB you can upgrade to the 2GB plan without any trouble and if you go over your 2GB you’ll get another 1GB for $10 for every 1GB you go over. If you are smarter than AT&T seems to think you are that means that for the same 5GB of data you are getting right now you would be paying $55.
Not only are the new prices a little bit of a snag but AT&T is also charging you more based on how you use your data($20 more just to tether)
There are some rays of sunshine on this dark day. If you are already an AT&T customer then DON’T CHANGE YOUR DATA PLAN. By keeping your data plan the same you will be grandfathered in and you can stick it to AT&T every chance you get.
It seems (me having a blackberry) that this is good news for RIM due to the fact that their phones use less data than other smartphones on the market, however, this could ruin the iPad on AT&T. My opinion is that AT&T wanted to keep the exclusivity on the iPhone and apple said no. Then, just to spite, AT&T decided to make money in any way they could while their main cash cow jumped the fence.
Being geeks, what do all of you think? Will you stay with AT&T and a grandfathered plan then stick it to them or will you jump ship and go to a better (or at least more open) network. Verizon might be following suite with AT&T if they hold to their current plan (will they if they get the iPhone) so our choices are Sprint or T-Mobile. I, for one, am exploring my options on other networks but will be using as much of AT&T’s data as I can until I switch.
So that being said, I reiterate; what do you have to say for yourself AT&T?
I switched from att cell service to sprint cell service back in january, but I’ve had the Sprint Aircard for 2 + years. Sprint’s internet speeds are way more consistent than att’s (a good example of this is go to your local radioshack and ask which of the otherwise completely identical Aircards actually sell and stick on the market, they won’t say ATT). Plus, sprint just rolled out their 4g market in KC, and St. Louis isn’t far behind (though obviously it will be longer to get to a full speed).
I wouldn’t go with Verizon, because if they do get the iphone, they will have the same network woes as Att (maybe to a less degree, but Verizon pushes their internet more than Att has down in the past few months).
I’m glad they’ve finally switched to tiered personally, but it does suck that it’s more expensive. Another thing to note is that Att wants people to use WiFi more, in an attempt to reduce strain on their network.
Looks like no one is going to Skype on the Iphone now. Good way to kill that development.
This also makes sense of the increase in smartphone early termination fees. We wouldn’t want anyone to buy a phone see this change and then cancel their contract now would we? I am ok with the tiered pricing as well but as with you @manatee Man I wish it were on the same level as the unlimited price.
There is a lot going on in AT&T I think. Not much of it is good.
AT&T hated me. I had my data card with a 5gb soft cap for over a year and a half. I routinely used 20gb+ a month since it was my only sense of internet for a while. They couldn’t charge me a dime because I was godfathered into the “well, we’d only like you to use this much…” amount.
This made me question whether or not the iPhone would be an ideal choice for me, since AT&T is being awfully schizophrenic about their data plans and who knows what kind of antics they’ll end up pulling. (If I had an iPad, I’d stick with WiFi only on it anyway.) I’ve always wanted a good Android phone, so maybe I’ll be switching networks in the future…
I have been routinely for the teired data specs.
And your exclusivity arguement makes no sense. THe iPhone deal doesn’t end until JUly 2012. This isn’t some chance to stick it to apple. It’s to ease congestion in minor markets.
Unlike CDMA (Verizon., Sprint) GSM data and phone are on the same waves. Every Smartphone user is taking up call space that phone users dont get. It’s not the ideal system, but it’s the worlds system.
If they could seperate the two, they would be even more superior for service.
I do see your point about the july 2012 date but I also think that uncle steve wouldn’t be above spending some of apples billions of cash on hand to work their way out of that contract. Jobs is a control freak and if a network is responsible for his baby not being perfect the they’ll be in his crosshairs. Either way I can’t wait to see what he has in store for monday (wwdc). Good info thanks for the comment.