Cannot Transfer iPhone Data Plan

[sbrownla]

For those who wanted to know, I got confirmation from ATT that if you can ONLY use an iPhone Data Plan with an iPhone. You can't take out your SIM and use data on a different phone.

This mainly affects people, like myself, who already have ATT accounts that suffer from schizophonia, and need to be able to use a different smartphone whenever I feel like it.

See below:

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding if you will have
to change your plan to use an iPhone. I am happy to help you with your
inquiry and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

To use an iPhone, you will be required to have one of the valid iPhone
data plans on the wireless number that will be activating the iPhone.
The iPhone data plan may replace your current data plan and your voice
plan will stay the same. Unfortunately, you will not be able to use
your current data plan with the iPhone and your current phone will not
be compatible with the iPhone plan. As a result, you will have to
change your data plan in order to use the iPhone.

Existing AT&T customers can add one of three iPhone Data Plans to their
current voice plan...

[diamond.g]

Originally Posted by sbrownla

For those who wanted to know, I got confirmation from ATT that if you can ONLY use an iPhone Data Plan with an iPhone. You can't take out your SIM and use data on a different phone.

This mainly affects people, like myself, who already have ATT accounts that suffer from schizophonia, and need to be able to use a different smartphone whenever I feel like it.

See below:

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding if you will have
to change your plan to use an iPhone. I am happy to help you with your
inquiry and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

To use an iPhone, you will be required to have one of the valid iPhone
data plans on the wireless number that will be activating the iPhone.
The iPhone data plan may replace your current data plan and your voice
plan will stay the same. Unfortunately, you will not be able to use
your current data plan with the iPhone and your current phone will not
be compatible with the iPhone plan. As a result, you will have to
change your data plan in order to use the iPhone.

Existing AT&T customers can add one of three iPhone Data Plans to their
current voice plan...

But you may be able to use your iPhone data plan with a normal phone (not sure about an other smartphone though).

[appleii2mac]

That's enormously lame if it's true.

Edit: If you can't use data plan with the SIM in another phone.

Edit 2: That is, if you can't use your iphone SIM in another phone and still use the data plan.

[mkrishnan]

How many people suffer from schizophonia? It sounds very debilitating.

[sbrownla]

Yeah... we'll see. Maybe they'll change something so that you can use it. I don't mind not having visual voicemail.

Man... I really like being able to switch and come back. It's a fun phone, so why can't I have a fun phone when I want that, and a hard-core phone for when I don't?

[carfac]

Originally Posted by mkrishnan

How many people suffer from schizophonia?

I do. And so do I.

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by carfac

I do. And so do I.

No, that's Dissociative Phone Disorder, not Schizophonia.

[sbrownla]

Originally Posted by diamond.g

But you may be able to use your iPhone data plan with a normal phone (not sure about an other smartphone though).

You cannot use the iPhone data plan with any phone other than the iPhone, smartphone or otherwise.

[iSaint]

I have an existing family plan. The only thing I need to add is a data plan. I'm going with $30/month, unlimited data, 1500 texts. My daughter already has unlimited texts. My mother barely uses the other line we have. My wife has a Blackberry with her company.

I'm still going to ask a lot of questions about my plan before I leave the store with an iPhone.

[appleii2mac]

Honestly, if I can't use the SIM from the iPhone in another phone and still use the data plan, I think that's going to be a deal breaker for me. One of my main reason for going to AT&T (and possibly terminating my VZW contract) is the freedom to switch phones.

[Chip NoVaMac]

Originally Posted by sbrownla

For those who wanted to know, I got confirmation from ATT that if you can ONLY use an iPhone Data Plan with an iPhone. You can't take out your SIM and use data on a different phone.

This mainly affects people, like myself, who already have ATT accounts that suffer from schizophonia, and need to be able to use a different smartphone whenever I feel like it.

See below:

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding if you will have
to change your plan to use an iPhone. I am happy to help you with your
inquiry and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

To use an iPhone, you will be required to have one of the valid iPhone
data plans on the wireless number that will be activating the iPhone.
The iPhone data plan may replace your current data plan and your voice
plan will stay the same. Unfortunately, you will not be able to use
your current data plan with the iPhone and your current phone will not
be compatible with the iPhone plan. As a result, you will have to
change your data plan in order to use the iPhone.

Existing AT&T customers can add one of three iPhone Data Plans to their
current voice plan...

I share in your desire to go out with the phone of choice for the day or night. It is/was one of the reasons I was looking at AT&T. It would have been nice to have the iPhone for every day use, and a Razr for when I needed to go out light and easy. . I know aboout call forwarding, but why pay for more air time?

[DanB91]

i thought it was confirmed b4 that u were allowed to switch the iphone sim between phones?

[sbrownla]

Originally Posted by DanB91

i thought it was confirmed b4 that u were allowed to switch the iphone sim between phones?

You can switch the SIM to any other phone no problem.

But, if you try to use data (on the other phone) you will run into problems. While I'm sure you will be able to USE it, you will have to pay for it dearly.

The reason I inquired with ATT is because I use an excellent unlocked HTC device with Windows Mobile 6. I'd even like to buy an LG Prada at some point, which I can use if unlocked no prolem.

I use a LOT of data each month with it. If I want to switch between iPhone and my WM6 device, the data plan will not cover data I use when not on the iPhone.

That's the way it was explained to me numerous times, with the main post in this thread as the official from ATT customer service. I don't want to be tied down to one phone just because it's the iPhone.

I am an ATT customer because I enjoy the freedom of being able to switch phones and take my unlimited data plan with me just by popping the sim in another phone, 3G etc. No other carrier in the US allows you to do that! No single phone has everything I love--even the iPhone lacks features that I really enjoy, I don't need to list those.

To be paying for data, but unable to transfer it between devices that I am supposed to own is not fun for me. That's why I started this thread.

Here's the issue though: The iPhone data plan is 20 bucks unlimited. I pay 34.99 per month for unlimited PDA data. I pay MORE so I would think that ATT would be willing to allow me to pay more, keep my PDA plan, but use the phone I want to use, iPhone or otherwise.

I don't mind paying 14.99 for the real freedom to switch between phones and use all of the features of each. To me it's worth it but now, as an ATT customer, I feel as though they are limiting me. If profit was really their main interest, they'd let me pay more for what I want but there's something else going on--server issues, data limitation or otherwise.

It may change. They may open things up for customers depending on how well the thing does. We'll see.

[appleii2mac]

I would suggest that someone try it. It wouldn't be the first (or last) time that a CSR got the answer to an unusual question wrong.