AT&T's Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plan Customers Get 5GB on LTE Before Being Throttled

At&t redefining English

English Dictionary: Unlimited
1. not limited; unrestricted; unconfined
2. without any qualification or exception

At&t's Dictionary: Unlimited
1. having limits; restrictive; confining; being throttled
2. having all kinds of condition and qualification

Just talked with At&t

I am supposedly an 'ole' grandfather. I have a 2g iPhone for backup and pay 10 for unlimited data and 10 for unlimited calls and $39 for something (total of 67.98 per month).... BUT to get Hot spot feature, you must lay down the 'ole' grandfather account and get the 5GB data plan for $50....witch if changed would be 400 minutes talk and 5GB data/hotspot for $89 +taxes.

?

AT&T is a horrible, horrible company run by people who just don't get it. "Unlimited" LTE is throttled after 5GB per month!?!?! Does everyone here realize that commonly achievable, real-world LTE speeds would allow the iPhone 5 to download 5GB of data in under 16 minutes? So using the data interface of my new phone unfettered for 0.0363% of a billing period is considered "unlimited"?

AT&T needs to figure out what effing business they're actually in. All they are is a wide area wireless connection to the Internet. They should figure out how to provide that service properly for as many people as they can, and charge something sensible that still allows them to make a healthy profit.

Their 3G networks have been overburdened for years, largely due to the explosion in data usage brought on by the iPhone. The writing has been on the wall for a long time now that this trend of increasing mobile data usage is only going to continue. So they build out a brand new LTE network at massive expense, which is still underutilized in most markets, and they want to start throttling people the minute they move onto it? They should be encouraging early adoption to get people off the struggling 3G network (oh, but I guess that's 4G now too, since they rebranded it.) Caps like this on LTE are absolutely asinine, especially before the network is even close to being over-utilized.

Hey, I've got an idea, I'll start a business that sells something people use every day. Then I'll sell them enough to last them about 16 minutes, but make them wait a whole month before they can buy more. What a brilliant business plan! Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll tell my customers how they can and can't use the product they've paid for.

FU AT&T! Just sell us an unlimited data plan that's actually unlimited. Let us use it however we want. Figure out what it would cost to provide the service and charge us for it. Those who want it will pay for it. Trying to force everyone into a situation where they have the potential to pay massive overages is just scummy.

macosxuser01 said:

I raised your hand if you only used FaceTime the 1st week of having your new iPhone and then never used it again? **raises hand**

Click to expand...

That was me until my sister moved to New Zealand. Now I think it's fantastic and use it all the time.

You have some issues. If you don't like it then don't sign the contract. There are other options.

I have the grandfathered unlimited plan and it is now the unlimited LTE plan. My data usage remains the same after a few months with LTE and never goes above 2Gb. Data speed has nothing to do with amount of data consumed.

LyleSF said:

While nobody will argue that US companies aren't more greedy, I wouldn't closely compare US carriers to individual EU nation carriers. US carriers support a contiguous state population of less than 5x that of Metropolitan France, but a land area of 15x! Huge infrastructure difference.

Click to expand...

What about the customers? More customers... more money ATT and Verizon have each one about 100M customers... besides the population of the EU is comparable to the population of the US, and the average cost per month per customer is not similar.
I do truly believe that at the rates they are ripping off their customers they have quite a huge profit every month to do any investment they can think of.

And yes, it is true that US is larger in size, but usually operators talk about coverage in terms of population, and that's more or less the same among all telecom operators worldwide.

All in all, it is just about business models, and it is a fact that telecom costs worldwide are decreasing every year and telecom companies focus on getting the same amount of money per month per customer by offering more (because in the end it is cheaper for them than decreasing the cost as it is very difficult to make the customer move to a more expensive plan), and the numbers are there, check the corresponding EC's reports for EU or whatever agency is in charge of this for US (FCC?).

The day that an operator in the US decides to waive the cost of receiving anything, things will change greatly (because it is also quite impressive that with such a huge market like that there are only 3 operators and in a country like Sweden, with a population of 10M there are four operators...). US clearly needs a foreign operator (likely from the EU) to help things change, although if DT left T-Mobile... there are motives to believe that competition might not be as fair as it should be.

nws0291 said:

You have some issues. If you don't like it then don't sign the contract. There are other options.

I have the grandfathered unlimited plan and it is now the unlimited LTE plan. My data usage remains the same after a few months with LTE and never goes above 2Gb. Data speed has nothing to do with amount of data consumed.

Click to expand...

The other options depend very much on where you live and conduct business. My options are fairly limited. Most other carriers are non-starters in my case.

If you think 5GB / month in 2012 is fine, you're missing the fundamental point that bandwidth usage marches forward inexorably just as everything else does in technology. The reason why 3G, which only a couple years ago was touted as blazing fast, is no longer desirable is because our usage keeps increasing. 3G is just as fast as it ever was, it's just no longer fast enough because we're using it more.

macosxuser01 said:

I raised your hand if you only used FaceTime the 1st week of having your new iPhone and then never used it again? **raises hand**

Click to expand...

I could say the exact same thing about Siri as well

repoman27 said:

AT&T is a horrible, horrible company run by people who just don't get it. "Unlimited" LTE is throttled after 5GB per month!?!?! Does everyone here realize that commonly achievable, real-world LTE speeds would allow the iPhone 5 to download 5GB of data in under 16 minutes? So using the data interface of my new phone unfettered for 0.0363% of a billing period is considered "unlimited"?

AT&T needs to figure out what effing business they're actually in. All they are is a wide area wireless connection to the Internet. They should figure out how to provide that service properly for as many people as they can, and charge something sensible that still allows them to make a healthy profit.

Their 3G networks have been overburdened for years, largely due to the explosion in data usage brought on by the iPhone. The writing has been on the wall for a long time now that this trend of increasing mobile data usage is only going to continue. So they build out a brand new LTE network at massive expense, which is still underutilized in most markets, and they want to start throttling people the minute they move onto it? They should be encouraging early adoption to get people off the struggling 3G network (oh, but I guess that's 4G now too, since they rebranded it.) Caps like this on LTE are absolutely asinine, especially before the network is even close to being over-utilized.

Hey, I've got an idea, I'll start a business that sells something people use every day. Then I'll sell them enough to last them about 16 minutes, but make them wait a whole month before they can buy more. What a brilliant business plan! Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll tell my customers how they can and can't use the product they've paid for.

FU AT&T! Just sell us an unlimited data plan that's actually unlimited. Let us use it however we want. Figure out what it would cost to provide the service and charge us for it. Those who want it will pay for it. Trying to force everyone into a situation where they have the potential to pay massive overages is just scummy.

Click to expand...

Yeah, data consuming smart phones are here to stay. But it's probably not wise to offer a truly unlimited plan. Especially when you just know when they are eventually over capacity and need to start limiting usage again they are going to look like bigger *******s for taking the unlimited plan away.

I mean, as an iPad user a lot of people were attracted to the device because they'd get unlimited data per month and without a contract, start and stop as you please! Then only a few months later they were told "subscribe to your unlimited data plan indefinitely or lose it forever!" which was pretty ******...

Bye Bye AT&T, Good Riddance!

I'm going to be restricted to 5GB unthrottled of my UNLIMITED plan and no FaceTime over LTE? I'll just take my business elsewhere.

Let's see.... who has UNLIMITED everything, even data, and LTE in my area.... hmmmmm, Sprint it is!

It's all personal preference. For me, when I'm home I'm on WiFi. When I'm at work, I barely use my phone and half the time I'm on WiFi there, too. 5GB of LTE is fine for me for a month, so I'll gladly stick with AT&T.

What?

How does this work?

What if you get the new iPhone, but are in a NON-LTE area? Do you still get 5GB? If you move back and forth between LTE and non-LTE, do they keep track of two bandwidth amounts?

If you hit 3GB in a non-LTE area, do you get throttled until you go back to an LTE area???

SCREW ATT....

Verizon....
http://static.ips.apple.com.edgekey.net/ipa_preauth/content/catalog/en_US/index.html

Share Everything plans replace Single-Line plans and Family SharePlan, and can be used with one or up to 10 lines.

$120./month
Unlimited minutes
Unlimited messages
Text & MMS included
6GB data
tethering included

I use a family plan now and pay more than this with 3 of us on the plan for crappy ATT 3G service that is unusable most of the time.

Split between 3 people this is $40 (+taxes) a month for 2GB of data each. I usually don't use more than 1GB so it's plenty and it's LTE.

I'm in. Bye ATT.

Superdrive said:

I bought a white iPhone 4 the day it came out. I have to wait until 11/28 in order to receive the full discount. At this point, an iPhone 5 16GB will run $449. Ouch.

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You and millions, and I mean millions are in the same boat. You agreed to a 2 year contract to get the I-4 at a discount.

Article should mention that you can't use Hotspot either. Currently the article only mentions that you can't use FaceTime over 3G.

Some of you people are out of your minds. Your current unlimited 3G plan gets throttled at 3 gigs. AT&T is giving you nearly double the data.. what is with the sudden outrage here?

And you couldn't ever use FaceTime on 3G anyway! You're not losing anything!

nottooshabby said:

Hmmmm....I was all geared up to switch to verizon thinking I was going to have to change to a more expensive plan on ATT.

2 iPhones on verizon sharing 4GB of data would be $150+tax plus you get the mobile hotspot included. Also includes unlimited voice and texting. Verizon shows LTE coverage all over portland, oR.

Right now I pay $115 w/ my work 18% discount including taxes on ATT with 2 iPhones, unlimited data, 700 shared minutes which we never use, but no unlimited texting and no mobile hotspot . But data speeds are horrible at my work on ATT, like dial up speeds, but is it worth spending another $50 a month on verizon? No LTE service up here in Portland either on ATT...hmmmm

Click to expand...

AT&T announced they're rolling out LTE in Portland & Seattle and many other markets by the end of the year.

macosxuser01 said:

You would still need to pay the $36 activation fee if you were to do that. So $624+$36 = $660

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The $250 early upgrade fee also includes a $36 upgrade fee. So they cancel out.

The problem would be your phone number. I don't think you can cancel your AT&T account and then get the same phone number back. So if the OP is are alright with losing his number, then I guess the OP's idea would be cheaper...

maniaco007 said:

It's incredible that plans in the USA are around $100/month.

Here in france, we have unlimited plans (talk/txt/data) for €20/month. That's UNLIMITED on 3G and now LTE all over the country, great coverage, etc... From ALL carriers!!!

Something's wrong in the US!

Click to expand...

This is mostly just speculation, but if I had to guess, I'd say one of the issues in the US is that it's a very large and substantially rural country with a lot of challenging terrain in many areas. To maintain nationwide infrastructure is very expensive. That's why you see carriers like MetroPCS with plans closer to what you are talking about (they charge around $55 for unlimited talk/text/LTE data, so about $20 more than what you're paying, and I'd guess that's to pay for roaming coverage). MetroPCS really only maintains coverage in densely populated areas and then lets users roam outside of those areas.

The real way to answer this question is look at the margins for a wireless company in France versus a wireless company in the US. I'd venture a guess that the margins in France are about the same as the US, which would validate my theory. But I'd love to be proved wrong.

I would rather be on Verizon than I would support AT&T, who is trying to circumvent net neutrality by locking out FaceTime for customers who don't pay extra. If people roll over on that, AT&T will start putting limits and charging fees for all the types of data you use. All of the U.S. carriers are bad, but AT&T is more shameless, predatory, and harmful to the public's interests.

I hope this trend continues. I could keep my grandfathered-in unlimited plan from my 3G when I upgraded to the 4S. I expect I'll want to upgrade again next year for the seventh gen iPhone, and it would be nice to get unlimited LTE then. The 5GB throttle doesn't bother me too much. Obviously I'd be happier without it, but I hardly use any data anyway. I could get away with the lowest data plan, most months, but I like knowing the data is there when I need it.

It's just too bad I can't tether.

Wow!! Be greatful with 5G and those speeds. Sorry but talk about petty. I had to move from Australia to the Cook Islands. I get 200meg a month on Edge for $90 a month and people are complaining about 5gig.
My broadband limit at home is 6.5 gig for $279 a month
And to finally add I pay for my iPhones outright at $1000

wait...they didn't eff us over? AT&T, you just kept me for another 2 years some how

skellener said:

SCREW ATT....

Verizon....
http://static.ips.apple.com.edgekey.net/ipa_preauth/content/catalog/en_US/index.html

Share Everything plans replace Single-Line plans and Family SharePlan, and can be used with one or up to 10 lines.

$120./month
Unlimited minutes
Unlimited messages
Text & MMS included
6GB data
tethering included

I use a family plan now and pay more than this with 3 of us on the plan for crappy ATT 3G service that is unusable most of the time.

Split between 3 people this is $40 (+taxes) a month for 2GB of data each. I usually don't use more than 1GB so it's plenty and it's LTE.

I'm in. Bye ATT.

Click to expand...

Don't skip out yet. You're missing an important detail.

You have to add $40 for each smartphone, so it is $240/mo for three lines and 6GB of data.

AT&T offers a similar plan and it is $120 for 10GB plus $30 for each smartphone for a total of $210.

skellener said:

SCREW ATT....

Verizon....
http://static.ips.apple.com.edgekey.net/ipa_preauth/content/catalog/en_US/index.html

Share Everything plans replace Single-Line plans and Family SharePlan, and can be used with one or up to 10 lines.

$120./month
Unlimited minutes
Unlimited messages
Text & MMS included
6GB data
tethering included

I use a family plan now and pay more than this with 3 of us on the plan for crappy ATT 3G service that is unusable most of the time.

Split between 3 people this is $40 (+taxes) a month for 2GB of data each. I usually don't use more than 1GB so it's plenty and it's LTE.

I'm in. Bye ATT.

Click to expand...

Not accurate. Go to Verizon's site. They charge $40 per line you add for smart phones on this plan. It'll still be a crap load of money

skellener said:

SCREW ATT....

Verizon....
http://static.ips.apple.com.edgekey.net/ipa_preauth/content/catalog/en_US/index.html

Share Everything plans replace Single-Line plans and Family SharePlan, and can be used with one or up to 10 lines.

$120./month
Unlimited minutes
Unlimited messages
Text & MMS included
6GB data
tethering included

I use a family plan now and pay more than this with 3 of us on the plan for crappy ATT 3G service that is unusable most of the time.

Split between 3 people this is $40 (+taxes) a month for 2GB of data each. I usually don't use more than 1GB so it's plenty and it's LTE.

I'm in. Bye ATT.

Click to expand...

That's only for 1 iPhone and each additional iPhone is another $40.