AT&T Considering Modifications to Deadline for iPad Unlimited 3G Service Activations

How about...forever?

A 2GB data cap takes out half the reason I would buy an iPad.

AT&T sure seems to be reacting a lot lately. It seems they make very hasty and quick decisions. It's obviously a good thing they're 'trying' to listen to their customers but if they were smart and actually thought about this garbage, maybe it would save them some added media scrutiny. Either way, this whole removal of the unlimited plan for the iPad after it's been out just 2 months just stinks all around. Glad I passed on mine for now I guess.

This addresses less than one-half of the real question. Steve Jobs (and Apple) represented I could get on and off this plan whenever I wanted without penalty. That's why I waited for a 3G iPad rather than jumping on the WiFi only model. Now, if I do not auto-renew every month, I will lose my unlimited plan. That is clearly a deceptive trade practices act, so I think Apple and AT&T better quickly re-think what grandfathering pre 6/7 iPads will really mean!

mongooseblarg said:

A 2GB data cap takes out half the reason I would buy an iPad.

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While it is better on WiFi than 3G, I tend to agree. My typical usage pattern, if I didn't have WiFi for a 30-day period, would be ~3GB. That is primarily browsing the web and using reasonably light-weight apps. No music or video streaming, but 8 hours on it each day.

I'm disappointed about how the system is working. I appreciate there is no legal recourse since there is no contract, but it was the whole selling point for the device. Really makes me think about going to a Boost Mobile phone and using Google Voice or our Asterisk server to multi-dial the cell and a SIP account on the iPad at the same time. The cost of the service really starts to push things over the edge.

dstrauss said:

This addresses less than one-half of the real question. Steve Jobs (and Apple) represented I could get on and off this plan whenever I wanted without penalty. That's why I waited for a 3G iPad rather than jumping on the WiFi only model. Now, if I do not auto-renew every month, I will lose my unlimited plan. That is clearly a deceptive trade practices act, so I think Apple and AT&T better quickly re-think what grandfathering pre 6/7 iPads will really mean!

Click to expand...

Bad press, but legally compliant. Agree wholeheartedly though.

So how long do you have (once ordered and received) to activate the unlimited service??? In other words, how long can I delay getting the unlimited service and yet still get it? Probably somewhere in the fine print on some unknown webpage.

I bet Steve Jobs is pissed at ATT right now, i mean more so than usually.

Even if you get the unlimited plan, it's basically a contract, because if you let the plan lapse a month, then you're to 2GB.

This really blows. Apple and AT&T need to part ways. Steve's promise of unlimited data is now ruined by AT&T. I will not be buying a 3G iPad.

dstrauss said:

This addresses less than one-half of the real question. Steve Jobs (and Apple) represented I could get on and off this plan whenever I wanted without penalty. That's why I waited for a 3G iPad rather than jumping on the WiFi only model. Now, if I do not auto-renew every month, I will lose my unlimited plan. That is clearly a deceptive trade practices act, so I think Apple and AT&T better quickly re-think what grandfathering pre 6/7 iPads will really mean!

Click to expand...

it was made very clear that no contract is required which means they can change the price at any time

dstrauss said:

This addresses less than one-half of the real question. Steve Jobs (and Apple) represented I could get on and off this plan whenever I wanted without penalty. That's why I waited for a 3G iPad rather than jumping on the WiFi only model. Now, if I do not auto-renew every month, I will lose my unlimited plan. That is clearly a deceptive trade practices act, so I think Apple and AT&T better quickly re-think what grandfathering pre 6/7 iPads will really mean!

Click to expand...

Well I wouldn't go as far as to say it violates the law. The "fine print" states the plans could change at any time. One doesn't expect them to change weeks after the plan was first initiated, but its still within ATT's right. ATT's problem is piss-poor execution.

What ATT should have done to keep faith with customers is grandfather all 3G iPad owners and those who had one on order as of June 2 to the original deal, i.e,. access to the unlimited plan w/o having to continually subscribe.

This type of accommodation would also be more consistent with its goal of limiting the number bandwidth hogs. Now, many 3G owners are going to rush to subscribe to the unlimited plan that were not subscribed just to get grandfathered. What happens next? You get people using more 3G bandwidth that ordinarily would not be on the system.

ATT execs seem to be unable to think about the medium and long term consequences of their proposals. They are shoot first and respond later.

He can now see how we have had to do for the most of the past 26+ years

Krizoitz said:

I bet Steve Jobs is pissed at ATT right now, i mean more so than usually.

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Put all your cards in one basket & one must learn to live with no or little choice. This is how the Mac User can feel. All of our eggs are in one basket. This is even more true with the iPod, iPad & iPhone models.

mongooseblarg said:

A 2GB data cap takes out half the reason I would buy an iPad.

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I all ready have one and I'm pretty PISSED!

I used it on vacation this past weekend, no wifi in site. I streamed a movie from netflix, streamed a Celtics game from sling box, streamed a TV show from ABC app. Along with just normal web browsing, playing games etc. I used around 1.5 gigs in 4 days. This will not be my typical monthly usage pattern. But I could see it happening around 4 months out of the year. I bought the iPad 3G for this, and I planned on canceling and adding 3g access 4-5 times a year.
With this 2 gig limit it makes the 3G service way less useful to me, to the point were I might just cancel the service and never use it again!

I think AT&T did a terrible job on this one! It seems to me that they messed up big time and the maker of the product isnt going to be happy at all!

Krizoitz said:

I bet Steve Jobs is pissed at ATT right now, i mean more so than usually.

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why do you think that? AT&T gives Apple loads of money...I'm sure Steve was involved with or even suggested these changes to AT&T

I've noticed a lot of people complain about losing the option for unlimited data when:

1. data was never really unlimited in the first place
2. you don't use as much data as you think you do

They need to grandfather anyone that buys it beforehand so that even if you switch to the 250mb or cancel for a month that you can still get the unlimited.

I think that makes everyone happy in the end.

dstrauss said:

This addresses less than one-half of the real question. Steve Jobs (and Apple) represented I could get on and off this plan whenever I wanted without penalty. That's why I waited for a 3G iPad rather than jumping on the WiFi only model. Now, if I do not auto-renew every month, I will lose my unlimited plan. That is clearly a deceptive trade practices act, so I think Apple and AT&T better quickly re-think what grandfathering pre 6/7 iPads will really mean!

Click to expand...

+1

I bought the iPad 3G based on the plan that was sold. Right now, I'm not a happy camper with AT& T and Apple (this is if Apple knew about the change in plan). I will just stay with 29.99 plan for the time being but that is beside the point. It is the principle of the matter.

If I did not already have a tethering solution for my Wifi iPad I would be doing some serious jailbreaking.

I hope AT&T is getting a mouthful from their customers. Call them up and speak your mind.

they should keep the 30.00 unlimited for current owners as of june 7, and allow them to subscribe and cancel as was advertised, not forcing you to a 2GB plan when re-subscribing.

They should also take that 15.00 plan, and up the data to 1GB, and then take the 2GB and lower to 20.00, then add a 5GB plan for 30.00 for the upper tier.

chuckhughes said:

I think AT&T did a terrible job on this one! It seems to me that they messed up big time and the maker of the product isnt going to be happy at all!

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The maker of the product messed-up big time by advertising a rate as an inducement to purchase that they had made no effort to guarantee for a reasonable length of time.

Krizoitz said:

I bet Steve Jobs is pissed at ATT right now, i mean more so than usually.

Click to expand...

Going all the way back to the release of the first iPhone, it has been common knowledge that Apple got favorable terms and concessions from AT&T by giving AT&T exclusive rights to the hardware. Now we see AT&T dramatically changing the data plans that were negotiated two years ago (with the release of the original iPhone 3G). There is NO WAY AT&T could change these plans if they were still under the same contract negotiated two years ago.

All of this very much points to AT&T losing exclusivity for the iPhone and iPad. And since the iPad 3G has only been offered with an "unlimited" plan for about a month before the change, my bet is the iPad will be the first Apple device to be available on Verizon (and maybe other carriers too).

I predict iPad for Verizon will be announced on Monday.

Mark

I have not heard any one mention the at&t survey that was apparently sent to iPad users that signed on the unlimited plan. I received the survey one week ago today. Took about 5 minutes or so to fill out. Didn't any of you get that survey too?

I wished it would have come to me a day or two ago. I would have torn AT&T a new hole in the comments section.


May 28, 2010


Dear Valued AT&T Customer,

At AT&T we value your opinion and would like your feedback to improve our products to better meet your needs. By taking less than 10~12 minutes to complete an online survey, you have the opportunity to make your voice heard. We are specifically interested in talking to you about your iPad.


Just click this link to start the survey: removed

Or paste this link into your Browser's address field: removed

We'd really appreciate your input, so please take the time to tell us what you think. Our survey will be open only a short while, so the sooner you can fill this out the better! On behalf of AT&T, thank you for your ongoing support and business.

Thank you!

The AT&T Research Team

The usage patterns for an iPad 3G and an iPhone are quite different.

Really, the iPad 3G needs a 5GB plan for $30 if they refuse to do unlimited. For almost all iPad users, 5GB would still work out to seem like "unlimited".

With a 2GB cap on the iPad 3G though, plus the additional acquisition cost up front (I know, it has GPS...ya ya ya), I'd rather just grab a Wi-Fi model, Jailbreak the iPhone and tether for the occasional use.

The "occasional" 3G use on the iPad is all anyone will really want now, as data usage concerns will always be in the back of one's mind.

"Can I really stream this game on the Slingbox to my iPad?...I'd better not, I only have X amount of data left and there's 2 weeks left in the month"