AT&T Intros Data Plans With Higher Limits, Higher Prices
New data plans are coming to AT&T, stating Sunday.
Starting Sunday, January 22, AT&T will offer new data plans for smartphones and tablets. However the company has assured its customers that existing smartphone and tablet patrons will have the choice of keeping their current plans, or choosing one of these new plans. The current $14.99 for 250 MB plan for tablet customers will remain available.
According to AT&T, the new smartphone plans will include AT&T Data Plus 300 MB costing $20 for 300 MB, AT&T Data Pro 3 GB costing $30 for 3 GB, and AT&T Data Pro 5 GB: $50 costing 5 GB (includes mobile hotspot / tethering). Smartphone owners who need additional data will be required to pay $10 per additional GB on the AT&T Data Pro 3 GB and Data Pro 5 GB plans. AT&T Data Plus users will receive an extra 300 MB for a hefty $20.
As for tablet owners, AT&T will offer two plans: AT&T DataConnect 3 GB costing $30 for 3GB, and AT&T DataConnect 5 GB costing $50 for 5GB. If all of this sounds a bit confusing, the company is offering "helpful tools" at www.att.com/dataplans which includes a data calculator where customers can estimate usage for their typical data activity.
"Customers are using more data than ever before," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Our new plans are driven by this increasing demand in a highly competitive environment, and continue to deliver a great value to customers, especially as we continue our 4G LTE deployment."
AT&T warns that customers should keep their device's Wi-Fi turned on, as data consumption over a local wireless network does not count against their data plan.
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Dropping these turds anyways, every month it gets harder and harder to get a signal at my house. What used to be five bars is now one and only if I'm in a couple spots. I get lame excuses, we are testing and upgrading services, "FOR TWO YEARS???" The more I see of this corporate abuse of people the more I wish I had a small atomic device.....
"Great value" to them and thier wallets, not to consumers!
LOL @ all the suckers on AT&T and Verizon.
looks like they're keeping the same 10 dollars/GB price. If that's so, then customers may be better off if they purchase the minimum data plan, as they're less likely to go over that every month, and just pay an extra GB worth of data once in a while, as opposed to paying for a big data plan every month and not using the full extent of it all the time.
It's a rip-off because they price the data ridiculously high, but every other wireless provider does the same. This is what lack of competition/price fixing/market fixing brings.
Instead of preventing this price-gouging, Congress is busy trying to censor the internet. I feel like I want to move out of here.
I used to think they had better data plans in the USA, versus here in Canada. Now it doesn't seem to be the case.. I have 6GB per month (4G) for my Galaxy SII for $30.
What happened to the AT&T "Death Star" logo that normally went with articles like this?
As for the price, I'm unsurprised; greed to milk customers for all they can knows no bounds. A shame that people keep going for these, when there are plenty of options that offer unlimited data for less; coincidentally, that's pretty much every single major competitor to the big two.
This is like raising the ceiling in a room I couldn't fill up anyway - without my requesting it - and charging me for it. It's a blatant attempt to increase profits by $5 per however many millions of users per month and hoping to console us by giving us data room we won't use.
ATT Big Whigs: "Alright guys, Plan A. - we buy off political players and monopolize via buying out our #3 competitor.....rats, that didn't work....eff it let's just gouge the customers that haven't left us yet for better service or unlimited rate plans..... muah ahahahah!"
They realized people weren't going over their rate plans where they made HUGE profits in overage charges, so they filled that gap in profitability with this genius move. I'm going to Verizon.
$20 for 300mb .... and $30 for 3000mb ... quite a gap there.
ROFL, I will NEVER get a phone that requires a year long "contract".... Thats the part that fries yo ass after you have taken the bait....
12 months left in my family cell phone contract.
Next January I will probably give up the data phone. Tired of feeling ripped off.
anyone state side, how much do you pay for data? how much data?
every time i have checked all i see is family plans with 4 lines that cost about the same. almost like they call each other and coordinate. ummmm
I wonder if I created an app where you could remote in from you laptop to you phone over the wifi or USB and download boocoo crap using the phone browser. Would that be considered tethering?
I'm one of the lucky SOB's who has Verizon's unlimited data plan, grandfathered in from before they got rid of it. It's $19.99 a month, but I'm ok with that since it's unlimited. I hate all wireless carriers and try to stick it to them whenever I can. So when I drive I use youtube to stream music in my car. I know I could use pandora or any of the other countless music services out there. But youtube streams more data, so I stick it to them by intentionally grabbing music video's instead of just music when I drive and can't watch the video's anyway.
Take that Verizon!
Wow what a deal AT$T! Thanks so much for providing me with $10/GB when the real cost to you is what couple of cents if not fractions per GB? So generous you are!...I guess thanks for at least giving a "choice", even though it isn't much of one.
I wonder if I created an app where you could remote in from you laptop to you phone over the wifi or USB and download boocoo crap using the phone browser. Would that be considered tethering?
If something like that were to happen, and you were just downloading info off your on LAN, AT&T would still probably find a way to disable the service and charge you for it, because they are bastards.
Want to buy a smartphone from AT&T? Nope, we cant sell you one, unless you're paying for a data plan. That is how much a piece of shit AT&T is.
I'm over in the UK but those prices look extortionate in the US.
I pay £5 a month ($8) for 500mb, and pretty much every network over here does the same deal.
I'm sure some even do unlimited data for £5..
Time to dump the smartphone and go back to the dumb phone.
Keep on using your wireless devices and paying those fees. Their stock paid 5.9% dividend last year and I own a lot of it. Verizon paid a little less have some of that also.
I used to think the US would have lots of kick ass plans over us here in Canada. Not so much anymore. I am with WindMobile getting "unlimited" data, but there is a real limit of 10GB. After the 10GB, the speed gets chopped by half but still gets unlimited data. All that for $35 including unlimited data, voice and text as long as I am in their coverage zone. Plus we have discounts of $5 off per phone if we have multiple users under one account. So really I'm only paying $30/month.
I thought a "highly competitive" environments were supposed to lower costs for consumers not raise them...
What's interesting is that I got in when they had the unlimited data plan. I still have it.
I'm not bragging but it pretty much locks me into AT&T as I could never get another unlimited data plan from another carrier. My love hate relationship will never end. ;-)
Now, if they could only make call quality as good as Alexander Graham Bell's original phone call 135 years ago.
@Jacekring I love you man!! You are my hero!!
How about when our contracts end, we just use the Phone as a SIP device over wifi. Yes, no more phone in the car,.. but isnt that against law/unsafe anyway? Just saying we can stick it to them, save money, and drive safer by dropping them. Fuck em, lets show em we don't need stupid (high data cost rates and overages, contracts and locked phones to carriers.. What a joke... that wouldn't happen in the computer world. ""Oh no sir, you cant use that computer on this internet connection.. only a BrightHouse, ComCast,etc.) computer...ROFL!! ""Oh and sirrr, you have to sign up for a 2yr contract to get online ok? Buhahahaahah!!!! WTF!! WTF no really WTF!! How did we let them take us like this... Lets take the power back like we did when we shut down SOPA and PIPA. Lets do this!!
. Lets go back to beepers and use Smartphones on Wifi only. Then well be promoting Wifi more, and it would grow to be more available...and as a side, driving down cost of cellphones and saving the money of Americans to boost the economy into TOMORROW!!!!!!!!
end rant...
P.S. - Takeiteazy!!!
T
I think the majority of people don't realize that 300MB is less than 1/2 of a CD worth of data? But you'd never pay $20 for 300MB in any other way. This is the most expensive way to pay for data.
The funny thing is, when they were were trying to acquire T-mobile they stated that they would keep prices reasonable and competitive. Now that the merger fell through, and they've had to pay out $6 billion to T-mobile, they want to make their own customers recoup the cost of their greed for a plan that was doomed to fail Once my contract is up with AT&T I will go back to T-mobile at least I know that they work in major metro cities where I live and work and offer cheaper plans that I can live with. I'm tired of paying $100 a month for texting 500 mins and data cap that is almost always goes over the limit
Want to know something that REALLY sucks? A person who is employed by a wireless carrier that just acquired an IPhone only pays less than $30/month to be on the AT&T network and gets unlimited EVERYTHING! due to being an employee that is associated with the AT&T network, but not directly employed by AT&T. Where is MY cake?
I'm one of the lucky SOB's who has Verizon's unlimited data plan, grandfathered in from before they got rid of it. It's $19.99 a month, but I'm ok with that since it's unlimited. I hate all wireless carriers and try to stick it to them whenever I can. So when I drive I use youtube to stream music in my car. I know I could use pandora or any of the other countless music services out there. But youtube streams more data, so I stick it to them by intentionally grabbing music video's instead of just music when I drive and can't watch the video's anyway.Take that Verizon!
Haha I'm definitely gonna start doing that. I got grandfathered as well, though I pay $29.99. I've never understood why these companies don't just allow you to pay for what you want. Like why not just give you the option to choose the exact amount of minutes, data and text you want? Instead they stick it to people with these inflated prices. Fuck greed
looks like they're keeping the same 10 dollars/GB price. If that's so, then customers may be better off if they purchase the minimum data plan, as they're less likely to go over that every month, and just pay an extra GB worth of data once in a while, as opposed to paying for a big data plan every month and not using the full extent of it all the time.
The 50GB data plan adds tethering and mobile hotspot. If you don't need either of those features, then clearly it would make no sense to pick the 50GB plan over the 30GB plan which are charging the same amount per data even if you per positive you would crack 50GB's every month.
lol they have LTE now? still not up to the big red
Fcuk ATT. How about let get that that sweet between the plan? 10 bucks for 2.7 GB since...
AT&T Data Plus 300 MB costing $20 for 300 MB and AT&T Data Pro 3 GB costing $30 for 3 GB
ATT let Bush Administration spy on Americans by letting them access to their database without judge's order. They even made a secret room for Bush Admin spies. Never do business with ATT
$20 for 300mb .... and $30 for 3000mb ... quite a gap there.
It's a logarithmic scale. Like decibels.