AT&T Launches New Data Plans
AT&T today announced new data plans for smartphone and tablet customers that will launch this Sunday, January 22.
The new smartphone plans include:
• AT&T Data Plus 300MB: $20 for 300MB
• AT&T Data Pro 3GB: $30 for 3GB
• AT&T Data Pro 5GB: $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot / tethering
Smartphone customers needing additional data can pay $10 per additional gigabyte on the AT&T Data Pro 3GB and Data Pro 5GB plans; AT&T Data Plus users will receive an extra 300MB for $20.
The new tablet plans* include:
• AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
• AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB
Existing smartphone and tablet customers will have the choice of keeping their current plans or choosing one of these new plans, and the current $14.99 for 250MB plan for tablet customers will remain available.
To help customers determine which data plan best matches their needs, AT&T has tools at www.att.com/dataplans – including a data calculator where customers can estimate usage for their typical data activity. Once smartphone and tablet customers are on a plan, AT&T keeps them informed of their usage levels by sending usage alerts as they consume data within their plan. For example, a smartphone customer with AT&T DataPlus 300MB will receive a text message when they consume 65 percent of their data bucket, plus two additional alerts as they approach the 300MB provided with their plan.
“Customers are using more data than ever before,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, in the press release. “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.”
Customers are encouraged to keep their device’s Wi-Fi turned on because data usage over Wi-Fi does not count against a customer’s monthly data plan. As an added value, AT&T smartphone and tablet customers have access at no additional charge to AT&T’s 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide – the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network.** Customers can get more information at www.att.com/wifiaccess.
For more information, visit www.att.com/dataplans.
* Plans are for 30 days and automatically renew every 30 days, unless you cancel service prior to the start of the 30 day renewal. Overage rates only apply to postpaid tablet plans – not session based pricing – and include: $14.99 for 250MB with AT&T DataConnect 250MB; and $10 per additional gigabyte with AT&T DataConnect 3GB and AT&T DataConnect 5GB.
** Largest based on company branded and operated hotspots. Access includes AT&T Wi-Fi Basic. A Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See www.attwifi.com for details and locations.
Source: AT&T Inc.
And I’ll keep my unlimited.
Ditto….
I wish they’d just introduce Family data plans.
I’m grandfathered in ;). However it baffles me that AT&T STILL won’t allow me to tether. This is my only issue with AT&T.
Wow! I’m sure glad I have the unlimited plan.
The marketing spin double talk BS is funny to read. LOL
Where the hell is the supposed family data plan?
Wow! I’m sure glad I have a voice only go-phone!
Ignorance is bliss.
Unless you go minute by minute (which is radically overpriced) a go phone costs you $2/day (which works out to be about $60/mo and that’s for voice only) You can go minute by minute but if you used even 400minutes you would be paying more than the iPhone plan costs for everything (including data and visual voice mail)
In essence you are paying nearly (or more than) iPhone plan prices for a crappy -voice only- cellphone.
There is almost no point to unlimited unless you can tether. Personally, I don’t know what the big deal is–their data is still relatively cheaper than VZW, and it’s UMTS instead of EVDO.
Granted, AT&T has a lot to make up for in the coverage department but these data plans are hardly gouging.
Wall Street Journal: “AT&T Raises Wireless Data Prices 33%”
20% and 33% (on the lowest tier plan) yet they raised data caps by 33% across the board.
Sounds like a good deal for existing customers who are close to their data caps. I’m currently paying $25 for 2GB, which comes out to ~$13/GB. The new comparable plan would be $10/GB.
Why does AT&T suck?
Because some customers still have some blood left…
Me, I am still pissed that Exxon does not have unlimited gas for my Hummer. I do not understand how these companies expect to make as much profit as then can. What kind of country is this that allows profits. Everything should be free, and no taxes either.
too bad there’s patsy prone people who don’t understand a situation like you. Your example falls completely flat.
Data is not oil.
Hey, look! It’s Superman ….again!!!!
Tell ’em shino! Tell ’em how ISPs can give everybody complete unlimited usage day and night and the network won’t bottleneck, slowdown, crawl, or be overloaded.
Explain to them like you did me that ISPs only charge people fees because they are stupid enough to pay!!!
It has nothing to do with making customers limit their usage to keep any of those lies from happening.
Y’all listen to ShinoMan explain it…this will be FANTASTIC!!!!
Now, sit back and learn, dimwits……This guy’s got the goods on ATT and the rest!
Without turning me into target practice, would you explain how data IS like oil?
This is the perfect patsy to explain why data is not like oil.
He was responsible to bring data to his community and failed. So he’s sympathetic to telcos to help him feel like he didn’t fail as hard as he did. It would be great if data was like oil, then he wouldn’t have to lie to himself and hide his shame for failing his community.
And now he calls me superman like its dome kind of insult. It’s just sad that success to him means you are a superhero. Guess that has to be the case when you have to live with your own failure everyday. Shrug.
He’s not intelligent enough to learn either. So he likes to use caps and !!!s to reiterate his ignoramus based disbelief of how bandwidth has to work in a self serving way to hide his incompetence even as it serves a company that can’t even serve the customers it takes payment from.
Unlimited isn’t unlimited. Calls drop all day. They need to have a microcell product… Which is such a joke it’s insane to even broach the subject. Txt msg’ing is ridiculous. Tethering is a rip off of epic proportions. Bleh.
Anyway, tower tone is a mediocre guy over his head and that’s about it.
Oh, SuperShinoGuy, quit teasing us with your modesty and get on with explaining what we ‘stupid masses’ don’t have a clue about.
We all know you are the smartest one around (you tell us all the time!!!), so get on with your teaching, we all want to see you in your element….telling people what you know.
Y’all just hide and watch as ShinoMan explains how the delivery system is rigged and which components can be changed.
This guy is da’ BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was HughB’s analogy.
I just want shinoDude to set him straight on the difference.
All I can say is that it’s not the product that matters, but the delivery and distribution.
Oh….who am I kidding? Why waster your time with my silly small-minded analysis?
shinoDude can summarize more in one sentence than I can in an entire blog!!!!! Just wait, the truth is on the way!!!!!!!!!!!!
And still, neither one of you has provided ANY useful information that would give someone a decent understanding of why data can (or cannot) be compared to something like oil. I really want to know, but it appears that both of you are so obsessed with pissing on each other to realize that your rational opinions might be beneficial. You are doing a disservice to anyone that would want to form an educated opinion.
Don’t know if you’ll return to read this, but let me give you some background just in case.
The last time I answered this question was concerning data caps and why power users affected other people’s access to bandwidth. I used plumbing and water as an analogy, which shinolashow took exception to. Not only that, but he went on to tell in detail why I was so stupid to believe what I did, how I was a loser in life, and how he was smarter than me and even my boss. Not only that, but he could run our business better, even though he has no knowledge whatsoever of the mechanics of building a plant, let alone the distribution aspect. Now maybe you will understand some of my gouges.
Of course, every time I challenge him to explain how people get access to the internet, he again tells how stupid I am and then runs away, because he has no idea what ISPs have to do to get internet access to the end user and back.
I don’t know ATT’s business model, but I do know that I have been very happy with them (I don’t live in a large metropolitan area, so my reception is generally better on my iPhone than on my company issued Verizon phone). I also know that we have had business run-ins with ATT that I can’t discuss, and that we also do business with Verizon and possibly Sprint. We also buy bandwidth from ATT.
Now, getting bandwidth from a Point of Presence (PoP) like Level3 and sending it via fiber to distribute starts off with big numbers. But as that bandwidth is divided up for different parts of town and to businesses, it has to go from light to RF, and it has to go through several stages of being re-amplified before it reaches you and then on its return to the switch.
Now, balancing that access can get tricky, because you have businesses firing up in the morning and downtown areas using a lot of access, and then in the evenings, as people return home, the load shifts to residential.
Shinolashaw thinks this has no affect on the speed of your access. The problem is that if you live in an area with a couple of gamers, a few torrent freaks, and ten Netflix accounts, it starts to slow your speed down.
Now here’s the tricky part. Somehow the new DOCSIS 3 standard helps to balance that traffic, but data caps and tiers are still needed to keep heavy users from ALWAYS having their guns blazing at full auto. In a way it is similar to a electric bill. You turn off the lights when you don’t need them to save money. Since bandwidth isn’t produced but the speed of access is affected, ISPs try to get heavy users to slow down their usage, cap their usage, or charge extra.
This is why (in ATT’s defense) they have data caps. They have set cost per tower and customer, no matter how much they are used, hence the monthly fee. The caps are in place to keep every Tom, Dick and Harry with an iPad from walking around all day with Netflix streaming in HD.
At that point, they would have to quadruple their network just to cope with that possibility. Now, if the customers only have movies playing when they are actually watching them, telco’s can better adjust the necessary infrastructure.
What ATT has done here os to add 50% more data for 20% more in price as a buffer against the coming of 4G and LTE, which will usher in the ability to have fast access (just about) everywhere. As they continue their build-out with more fiber backbone as Verizon and Sprint are doing, it is all to keep adding more access without raising the price proportionally.
Oddly enough, I have had the unlimited plan since ’07 and consider myself a heavy user, but I have NEVER gone over 2 GBs usage. I also have an iPad with the 2 GB limit, and since we use it mainly at home, it seldom gets anywhere near my cap.
I can’t complain much about these prices, but then again, I understand them. I also understand why it pisses some people off, which is why I don’t challenge them, but inevitably, the word ‘greed’ will be thrown down almost as fast as ‘Hitler’ is in a political debate…..
Since there was no “reply” link (that I could see) for your last post (the good, lengthy one), I’m replying to the one above it.
TT:
Thanks for the informative reply. That’s what I was looking for. Especially the part where you said, “Since bandwidth isn’t produced but the speed of access is affected”. That helped a ton. It’s a confusing issue and I think I’m just starting to understand.
Thanks again
What a crock of shit.
Just got a text today from AT&T about hitting the “top 5%” of data usage on my phone.
A nice announcement that they would start throttling my service.
Assholes
My friend at work got the same text today and she’s only used 1.5GB in 18 days! So their “unlimited” is really less than 3GB per month, what an f-ing joke that is!
Thats funny, because I use 8-10gb a month at times on my unlimited plan and have never gotten a warning text
What the hell do you download man? The ATT guys must be hating you 😉
I’ll keep the unlimited plan I have now. Of course now I’m stuck, I can’t change providers
and of course, ALL of them come with a NEW TWO YEAR contract.
This is nothing more than ATT trying to lock in customers who are close to the end of their contracts… Don’t count me in!
I’m moving to Verizon.
I’m also glad I’ve got the unlimited plan for my iPhone. It sure puts the phone companies’ plans in perspective when I consider I pay about $47/month for the 250GB cap for my desktop/laptop internet access from Comcast.
How much does AT&T charge for a reliable connection let alone data plan?
In the UK, I pay £10 a month, that gets me Unlimited Data (I use about 5GB a month), unlimited text, and 250 mins!
Fair enough, I bought the phone, but compared to US data packages, mines is awesome!
I’ll keep my unlimited
PARASITES.
AT&T: “Customers are using more data than ever before.”
That’s why we decided to charge $5 for an additional 50MB, even if you don’t want it. Your minimum option, our profit.
I will always despise AT&T. Unfortunately, the alternatives aren’t any better, overall.
I’ve received 3.1GB so far this month. No notices yet. So unlimited is working for me. Like the $25 part of it.
What I find reprehensible is
#1 you are REQUIRED to have a data plan, you can’t opt to just use wifi
#2 unless you call in and request it you can be automatically signed up for bullshit billing. course #2 applies to all the carriers: http://caveatemptorblog.com/t-mobile-scamming-customers/
Australia: $80/Month. 5Gb- Tether and hotspot included. Unlimited: text, calls to mobiles or land lines in Australia, 13 numbers, plus $100 international credit…. Hooyea!
What is an “Australia”? 😉
That’s why I’ll be opting for Wi-Fi when I buy an iPad 3. It’s almost everywhere where I’d be using WiFi anyway.
One data plan for my iPhone is enough!
No GPS in the WiFi only iPad. plus, sometimes you need to connect where WiFi isn’t available. My experience with 2 years on the original iPad. Probably needed a data plan for 6 of those months.
That said, when I really needed a lot of no-WiFi service, it was a lot more helpful to enable my iPhone as a hotspot for a month than put a data on the iPad. The delta cost was $30 and got twice as much data as adding 2GB to the iPad for $25. With the hotspot, I could access the internet with either of two iPads and my MBP.
That’s one of Apple’s choices that bothers me – no GPS without the 3G. I want the GPS! But I will be perfectly happy with WiFi – for occasional 3G access, the current prices are higher than I feel like paying, especially now that AT&T is jacking up the minimum level.
The problem I have with this is a lot of people don’t come close to 2gb (probably around 1gb) so now we have to pay more for extra we will never use. The carriers know what the sweet spot usage is and they make sure we cannot just get that amount.
Why not offer a 3G wireless plan similar to what we have for utilities – a basic fee to secure access and then pay for your throughput ($ per MB)? The carriers could still offer data bundles that would be more cost effective if you knew that you were going to use larger quantities of data (say 2GB or 5GB), but the occasional 3G customers could pay $5 per month (for example) just to secure the ability to access 3G, when needed.
One important thing that the wireless industry needs to fix if they want us to pay for data throughput is what is *my* data, and what data is *forced* upon me by the wireless provider and its affiliates. I have heard of people incurring significant data charges during international travel when they never used their device for internet access. If you want me to pay for usage, then I have to have reasonable control over the data flow.
I will stick to my unlimited for now as well. Jumping ship to Verizon or sprint would not help. Hello they don’t offer unlimited data anymore. I think AT&T and all the other carriers will soon figure out a scheme to screw people with unlimited plans for good just by slowing the network down. I know they have this already in place for people on unlimited plans that go over so many gb. It’s all about how much money they can make and take advantage of the customers. Just my 2 cents for the day.