AT&T is now offering shared data plans too, although they won't be forced down your throat.
AT&T is officially jumping on the shared data bandwagon as of late August, allowing new and existing customers to share a single "bucket" of data across tablets, smartphones, and other compatible devices. And like Verizon's own data sharing packages, AT&T customers will also receive unlimited calling and texting. Even more, each data plan includes access to more than 30,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at no additional charge.
"Customers can select one of the new shared data plans or choose one of AT&T’s existing individual or family plans," AT&T said on Wednesday. "Current customers are not required to switch to the new plans, but can choose to do so without a contract extension. There are no changes to AT&T’s device upgrade policy, which means customers eligible to upgrade to AT&T’s best device price are not required to switch plans. The new plans will also be available for business customers."
First customers must choose how much data they want to use each month, and then choose up to 10 devices to attach to the new plan, one of which MUST be a smartphone. Each plan includes tethering and unlimited domestic calls and texts for smartphones and basic or quick messaging phones, the company said.
Here's the AT&T monthly shared data breakdown:
1 GB @ $40 + $45 for each smartphone
4 GB @ $70 + $40 for each smartphone
6 GB @ $90 + $35 for each smartphone
10 GB @ $120 + $30 for each smartphone
15 GB @ $160 + $30 for each smartphone
20 GB @ $200 + $30 for each smartphone
For each basic phone, add an additional $30 per month. Laptops, LaptopConnect cards, and netbooks are $20 each per month, and tablets and gaming devices are $10 each per month. That said, a family with three smartphones ($90), a tablet ($10), a laptop ($20) and a gaming device ($10) sharing 10 GB per month ($120) will pay a base price of $250 per month.
"AT&T Mobile Share allows customers to essentially build a plan to fit their devices and usage. Customers who are more data-centric can choose a larger data bucket. Customers who typically use more voice than data can add multiple smartphones and basic phones and opt for a smaller data bucket," the company said.
AT&T said it will also help users track their data usage by keeping them informed with courtesy alerts as they near their monthly data allowance. Yet customers can also keep track of their data guzzling anytime online, through the myAT&T mobile app, or by dialing *DATA# from their phone.
"We offer customers a broad choice and the best lineup of plans, now enhanced by Mobile Share," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility. "With these new plans, the more you share, the more you save. They’ll be a good fit for a variety of new and existing customers. But if customers want to stay on their current plan or choose from our existing plans, they can do that, too. It’s their choice."
Stay tuned for an actual launch date.
Our current data plan = 3GB per $30 a month. With 3 phones = $90 (9GB worth of data usage)
The new at&t rape-you plan would costs us $210 (10GB plan + 3 phones) What The Fuck!
TLDR; See previous comment
Our current data plan = 3GB per $30 a month. With 3 phones = $90 (9GB worth of data usage)
The new at&t rape-you plan would costs us $210 (10GB plan + 3 phones) What The Fuck!
A shared (tethered) plan should be that - SHARED. $90 = 9/10GB, period. No matter what other device is tethered.
Pay (a LOT) more, get less, no way out, remove old plans after a while... I feel a class action in the works...
These shared plans include unlimited text and minutes as well, so deduct your minute plan from the equation as well.
Even for a "family" of 3 people, to have an equivalent amount of data available compared to current data plans, you'd have to go with the 15GB/$160 plan, plus $90 for all the devices (assuming only 3 phones). $250 total with this scheme vs. 3X$70 = $210 now. Even if you went with the cheaper 10GB/$120 plan, you're still paying more than current individual plans. Of course, the cost of the "shared data" plan would go down if users didn't need that much data, but one must ask oneself, if users didn't use the current data plans worth of data, why are they given it in the first place?
You only honestly get better prices if you have like 50 devices on one account. I'd love to see a breakdown of AT&T's customer demographics--how many single-account users are there vs. family plan users. Because it seems to be a bunch of crap that this benefits the customer. As expected, it benefits no one other than AT&T. Not that that wasn't expected.
We need some sort of class-action law suits for jacking our rates by 100% for ZERO reason!
So if I am reading correct if I went AT&T same lines and phones with 10GB cap would cost $120 + 4*$30 = $240 + taxes and fees (average $20) for a grand total of $260.
W T F ? ? ? ?
No way in h3ll I would ever pay $50 more a month for less. Dont give me the network or LTE argument either. I live in DFW and both LTE and WiMax are live in my market (I've been using WiMax for 2 years now).
Except you still have to pay per device on these new plans, in addition to the data package selected. It's not really "included" as much as they've hand-waved the specific "minutes and texts" plan titles, and just called it a "per device charge."
Actually, it almost levels out... *IF* they are not including the minutes plan (which isn't needed if you pay the $30 unlimited package).
Currently, a 700min plan + unlimited (2 phones) = $100 + 1 phone ($10) + 3 data plans ($90) = $200.
If their rate is above doesn't have a minutes-base plan ($70 for example) and it does costs $210, then its okay and *I* over-reacted. But this is not clear.
Charging for tethering is *STUPID*... I'm using the data I paid for. What if a friend or I want to use my iPad, just 2-3 times a month for a total of 30 minutes and they'll charge me $10 for it?!