AT&T Launching New 'Mobile Share Value Plans' with Monthly Discount, 18-Month 'AT&T Next' Option

[garylapointe]

Just a flat $15?

So someone with a $90 bill saves $15 (~17%), but then someone with a $300 bill still only saves $15 (~5%)?

The subsidy doesn't go up with a more expensive plan. It's reimbursing (waiving) the subsidy for the cost of the phone (since you paid it up front). They're "paying you" (not charging you) for paying $549 for the iPhone instead of you getting it for $199.

If you figure the subsidy for an iPhone is around $349 and they're saving you $360 over 2 years, then it is a ~100% subsidy waived for $90 plans and ~100% subsidy waived for a $300 plan.

(It's not clear if they are waiving that per phone in multi-phone plans. But you didn't say if you have more than one phone, which would be an important, so I'm assuming you don't but that would make it a pretty expensive plan).

Gary

 

[eldervovichka]

Its not really 15 dollars off each line. Like right now i have a 10gb plan with 5 phones. Right now i pay 30 dollars a phone. With this new plan they bump it up to 40 a phone but once it out of contract it goes to 25 bucks. thats how they get to 15 dollars off. But really its only 5 dollars less then what im paying now

You are right but 10 gig on the old plan is $120 on the new Value plan it is $100.

http://www.att.com/att/mobilesharevalue/index.html#fbid=Eb2hraq8BAt

I have only one phone in contract at the moment so it will save me about 20 a month.

At least it is another option for us.

Jeff

 

[zencowboy]

jailbroken still on iPhone 5 and grandfathered is why I'm still happy...free tethering my 5GB

 

[Mistrblank]

And don't forget that if you are somewhere with wifi, you don't even need to get a good t-mobile signal as they will route your calls through the wifi.

Be careful, since this is a Apple based forum, you should be aware that the iPhone does not support this at this time.

 

[yohannus]

Can someone explain to me how this is better? When I'm up for an upgrade next year for an iphone 6, they're going to raise my rates to $40 a phone? I either have to pay full price for a new phone or keep my phone I have now to receive a $5 discount.

 

[Mistrblank]

For those who complained the T-Mobile speed. First check your phone.

Not all iPhone 5 (even unlocked) will support T-mobile HSPA and LTE bands. You have to have the newest one after April 2013 release to have the AWS1700 band support for T-Mobile high speed. Also, check Apple iPhone 5 T-Mobile support here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5720

All iPhone 5S should have the same bands for both ATT and T-Mobile.

Still, I agree with some of you that T-mobile signal may not be as good as ATT because the high frequency bands tend to have less penetration into a building comparing to ATT's low frequency bands.

I moved my iPhone 4S from AT&T to T-Mobile. I don't get LTE because the phone doesn't support it, I get "4G" for whatever that means. I do however work in a concrete and steel, cell-sucking building. It ate my AT&T signal, calls would drop or never be completed, texts would fail to send and data was questionable. With the same phone, same location, with T-Mobile I receive data capable of streaming video all day with no issues, have clear calls and get and send all of my texts all day.

As I advocate to anyone I talk to, this is my own experience and you're better off testing than letting someone else tell you what you'll get.

 

[Vesian]

Okay, I need your help here guys. This is my current billing situation:

Two iPhones, 1 iPad Cellular.

1 iPhone has Grandfathered Unlimited Data for $30
1 iPhone has 3GB data for $30
1 iPad has 5GB data for $38 (after $12 discount)

Currently on the FamilyTalk 700 Plan for both phones.

Monthly charges are about $190 after a 24% discount on the talk lines (but no discount on data, bah).

My question is, is it worth it to just change this all thing over to one of these mobile share plans (or the old share plan)? I only use about 2gb on my unlimited data and the 3GB iPhone line never uses that cap. With all these changes it's kinda confusing would would appreciate the help!

 

[DipDog3]

Okay, I need your help here guys. This is my current billing situation:

Two iPhones, 1 iPad Cellular.

1 iPhone has Grandfathered Unlimited Data for $30
1 iPhone has 3GB data for $30
1 iPad has 5GB data for $38 (after $12 discount)

Currently on the FamilyTalk 700 Plan for both phones.

Monthly charges are about $190 after a 24% discount on the talk lines (but no discount on data, bah).

My question is, is it worth it to just change this all thing over to one of these mobile share plans (or the old share plan)? I only use about 2gb on my unlimited data and the 3GB iPhone line never uses that cap. With all these changes it's kinda confusing would would appreciate the help!

You could get the 10GB/month OLD Mobile Share for $190/month before taxes, fees, and discounts.
The base plan is $120 + Price per phone is $30 x 2 + Price for iPad is $10 = $190

If you only want 4GB, it would be $160 ($70 + $40 + $40 + $10)

Mobile share would work out for you because you are paying so much for mobile data on your iPad.

 

[malexandria]

IMO, it doesn't seem complicated.

If you don't buy a phone from AT&T at the subsidized price, they'll discount your bill by $15/month.

That's $360 you save over a 24-month period.

But why bother? They'll still lock you into a contract, only you don't even get your subsidized phone.

 

[KdParker]

Well it is a start. Hopefully Verizon will get onboard too

Still I think the data plans should come down more when you are on a non contract phone.

 

[DipDog3]

Here's the link to all of the NEW pricing data:

http://www.att.com/att/mobilesharevalue/index.html

 

[parseckadet]

Not that I'm a fan of AT&T, but T-Mobile's coverage could be better.

Sure, I'd save money switching to T-Mobile -- but not worth it if I don't have service where I need it.

Where I'm sitting right now looking out the window I have five bars AT&T LTE and 39Mbps down / 15Mbps up via speedtest app. Same unlocked iPhone 5s with a T-Mobile SIM in the same iPhone 5s and I have No Service. I get EDGE if I go outside and do get T-Mobile LTE in other locations.

AT&T and Verizon customers have this attitude that those two networks are the panacea of coverage, and next to them T-Mobile is pure garbage. Then they trot out a single example of a place where T-Mobile isn't as good as their network of choice, as if that's sufficient evidence to prove their point. It annoys the hell out of me. Meanwhile, I can do the same exact thing for T-Mobile.

In my house I was lucky to get 1 bar of AT&T coverage, and data access of any kind was out of the question (speed tests would flat out fail, or report speeds of less than 1kbps). I dropped calls left and right, both at home and while out and about. I even tried a micro cell, which was a resounding failure. Then I switched to T-Mobile, and now I get good coverage in my home, LTE speeds, and have yet to drop a call anywhere.

Here's another example:

I moved my iPhone 4S from AT&T to T-Mobile. I don't get LTE because the phone doesn't support it, I get "4G" for whatever that means. I do however work in a concrete and steel, cell-sucking building. It ate my AT&T signal, calls would drop or never be completed, texts would fail to send and data was questionable. With the same phone, same location, with T-Mobile I receive data capable of streaming video all day with no issues, have clear calls and get and send all of my texts all day.

Yet many AT&T and Verizon customers continue to dismiss T-Mobile out of hand. So annoying.

 

[macs4nw]

Good to see T-Mob putting pressure on the big players. Competition really does work people.

With some improvements to their coverage, I suspect many more would defect to T-Mobile.

 

[sirozha]

They did this because I went in there a few weeks ago and told them they should. Glad my idea was run up the flagpole and accepted. You're welcome.

I told them on the phone a month ago that they need to give a discount to those who have completed their 2-year contracts and want to continue using their existing phones instead of upgrading to new phones. I also wrote a blog about it.

So, all the credit goes to me.

But seriously, $15/monty is only $180/year for 2 phones. That's $90/year for each phone (if you only have two phones). This hardly save you any money - it would be much more beneficial to get new iPhones, sign another 2-year plan, and sell your existing iPhones 4S on Ebay. You would get much more money out of this. They should drop the price by $20/month for each of the first two phones that you bring on this plan (which makes it a share plan).

 

[utekineir]

AT&T and Verizon customers have this attitude that those two networks are the panacea of coverage, and next to them T-Mobile is pure garbage.

Look at coverage maps in bum**** regions.

 

[deeddawg]

AT&T and Verizon customers have this attitude that those two networks are the panacea of coverage, and next to them T-Mobile is pure garbage. Then they trot out a single example of a place where T-Mobile isn't as good as their network of choice, as if that's sufficient evidence to prove their point. It annoys the hell out of me.

Sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder that's leading you to think I've said something I didn't.

What I posted was specific to my personal needs and circumstances explaining why I choose not to switch to T-Mobile. I'd love to switch, and I set up a prepaid account specifically to test coverage at the places I need my phone to work.

Would you choose a carrier which has No Service at a worksite where you need cellular coverage?

 

[Le Big Mac]

But why bother? They'll still lock you into a contract, only you don't even get your subsidized phone.

Only if you're going into a new contract, right? If you already have an expired contract and BYO phone, then it's not an issue.

It would be stupid for AT&T not to allow new customers to have a no-contract BYO plan under the same terms.

----------

So, I have to give up my unlimited data to get this. The shared plans are such a gigantic rip-off. Not that mine is any great deal, but this stuff should get cheaper, not more expensive, over time.

Do we know that? I'm going to call next week and see if they'll knock $15 off my bill in order to keep me as a customer.

 

[Vesian]

You could get the 10GB/month OLD Mobile Share for $190/month before taxes, fees, and discounts.
The base plan is $120 + Price per phone is $30 x 2 + Price for iPad is $10 = $190

If you only want 4GB, it would be $160 ($70 + $40 + $40 + $10)

Mobile share would work out for you because you are paying so much for mobile data on your iPad.

Thanks for your reply! Kinda confused though, you say that the mobile share at 190 would be worth it, but i'm currently paying 190 with the old plans?

 

[starkmj]

I told them on the phone a month ago that they need to give a discount to those who have completed their 2-year contracts and want to continue using their existing phones instead of upgrading to new phones. I also wrote a blog about it.

So, all the credit goes to me.

But seriously, $15/monty is only $180/year for 2 phones. That's $90/year for each phone (if you only have two phones). This hardly save you any money - it would be much more beneficial to get new iPhones, sign another 2-year plan, and sell your existing iPhones 4S on Ebay. You would get much more money out of this. They should drop the price by $20/month for each of the first two phones that you bring on this plan (which makes it a share plan).

Am I reading this all wrong? I think it's $15 a month PER smartphone. So, basically the cost of adding a smartphone to your mobile share plan will only be $25 a month if you're phone is off contract vs $40 a month. My current family plan has two smart phones, none of which are on contract, and one dumbphone.

NOW the mobile share plan is starting to make financial sense for me.

I currently pay $153/month for the family talk plan with 2 iphones and 1 dumbphone. That's with 2GB on my phone, and only 300mb of data on my sons.

I can do the mobile share plan for 4gb ($70) plus two smart phones ($25 X 2) and $20 for a dumb phone, and my new bill is $140 a month, and I'm now sharing 4GB of data between the two iphones.

The new plan DOES work for some people.

 

[sirozha]

I live in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Atlanta. I went to a T-Mobile store a couple weeks ago to check out their plans and to get their 250 MB free data offering for an iPad. I spent 1.5 hours talking to the manager, who could not figure out how to activate the free data plan on my new iPad Air. She called for support multiple times, was transferred many times, and finally told her that the customer needed to call Apple for support. In the meantime, I witnessed other customers trying to get their business done and having a similar experience. One guy tried to get his Verizon number ported, and the port got stuck somewhere in the middle, so he ended up without a working phone. The customer service reps working at the store were completely clueless. Not that it's better than a Verizon or AT&T store, but at least, when Verizon or AT&T clerks need to call their tech support, they get support. T-Mobile support was completely useless, and even the store manager admitted that. This was a corporate T-Mobile store - not a reseller, and it looked good - it just was a complete disaster. I watched other customers getting aggravated over the amount of time they spent at the store but not getting their issues addressed. One guy started shouting at the store clerk, who was a complete idiot. My desire to switch to T-Mobile disappeared while I was at the store.

It is absolutely not worth it for any professional to attempt switching to T-Mobile to save a couple bucks. The only reason to go with T-Mobile is either if one is a student and counts every penny, or if the area one lives in has poor AT&T or Verizon coverage. You get what you pay for. With T-Mobile, you will get a very sketchy service with no support. If you are lucky not to have to ever call support, and the service is good in your area, and you don't travel much, then you may be satisfied. Otherwise, the savings are not worth the aggravation. They pay minimum wages to their store clerks, so they get the school dropouts who can't get a job elsewhere.

The name of this company should be Ghetto Wireless, DBA T-Mobile. It's amazing a German company can run such a shoddy business.

 

[sailmac]

Aio Wireless - an AT&T subsidiary

I switched three unlocked iPhones to Aio Wireless. Fixed price, unlimited talk/text/data. Data throttles after a certain amount, but so far has been entirely usable.

It runs on the very same AT&T network we've been using for years.

For us, it's been a big money saver and has stripped away much of the BS inherent to the post-paid AT&T plan we were on previously.

If you are using AT&T, are off-contract, and have (or can do) unlocked device, it's worth checking out Aio. I'm not syaing it's a slam dunk for everyone, but for us it was and might be for you.

 

[has.marvel]

The way I look at it, this new plan switch just ends up screwing me and my family over. Forgetting taxes, etc. we pay $120 for 10GB, and $150 for 5 smart phones. Total $270 and we get about $350 per phone in subsidies every two years.

New plan if we continue to use subsidies, $100 for 10GB, $200 for 5 smart phones. Total $300 and we get the same phone subsidies. So we are out $360 a year to stay where we were. Thanks a lot AT&T.

Or we can supply our on phones. Then our cost per month is $100 for 10GB and $125 for 5 phones. Total of $225. Net savings $45 per month. So far so good. That figures out to $9 per month for phone or $216 for 2 years so if I replace my phones every two years, I am out an additional $133 per phone every two years.

Heads AT&T wins, tails I lose. Either way I am being had. Ugly announcement for me.

 

[MrXiro]

You know, as far as I'm aware t-mobile doesn't do shared data. It's a minimum charge of $70 per smartphone and like $40 for a tablet with a decent amount of data. With my wife and our four devices it's cheaper to run AT&T with shared data. Dunno about this Next plan though, I'll have to look into it.

No but Tmobile also doesn't nickel and dime you if you hit your data cap of the base 500mb. They do throttle but I'd rather be throttled on my last 2 days of service in a month than charged another $20 for 300mb because they can't keep an up to date status of your data for you. I can check on the last day of my At&t app/website/*DATA# and get you have 50mb remaining on your plan but at 3am while I am sleeping I'll get an email saying I went over and that I will be charged. Happened too often... Also 500mb of LTE for 50 a month flat fee is the most generous of phone plans. Also they don't charge you extra to tether... it's your data. You should be able to do anything you want with it.

We happily paid our ETF this month and dropped At&t. To their credit they have tremendous customer service reps at their call center... You can't trust any of the reps at any of the stores though. That goes for all 4 companies, as I've had to deal with all 4 in the last 3 years... all of them lie to you to upsell you.

----------

I live in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Atlanta. I went to a T-Mobile store a couple weeks ago to check out their plans and to get their 250 MB free data offering for an iPad. I spent 1.5 hours talking to the manager, who could not figure out how to activate the free data plan on my new iPad Air. She called for support multiple times, was transferred many times, and finally told her that the customer needed to call Apple for support. In the meantime, I witnessed other customers trying to get their business done and having a similar experience. One guy tried to get his Verizon number ported, and the port got stuck somewhere in the middle, so he ended up without a working phone. The customer service reps working at the store were completely clueless. Not that it's better than a Verizon or AT&T store, but at least, when Verizon or AT&T clerks need to call their tech support, they get support. T-Mobile support was completely useless, and even the store manager admitted that. This was a corporate T-Mobile store - not a reseller, and it looked good - it just was a complete disaster. I watched other customers getting aggravated over the amount of time they spent at the store but not getting their issues addressed. One guy started shouting at the store clerk, who was a complete idiot. My desire to switch to T-Mobile disappeared while I was at the store.

It is absolutely not worth it for any professional to attempt switching to T-Mobile to save a couple bucks. The only reason to go with T-Mobile is either if one is a student and counts every penny, or if the area one lives in has poor AT&T or Verizon coverage. You get what you pay for. With T-Mobile, you will get a very sketchy service with no support. If you are lucky not to have to ever call support, and the service is good in your area, and you don't travel much, then you may be satisfied. Otherwise, the savings are not worth the aggravation. They pay minimum wages to their store clerks, so they get the school dropouts who can't get a job elsewhere.

The name of this company should be Ghetto Wireless, DBA T-Mobile. It's amazing a German company can run such a shoddy business.

It's the store people... all of them suck. I went into a tmobile store to get a 5S after switching over and activating a SIM and they tried to tell me that they can't sell me a phone without putting their stupid trade in plan on my account for $10 a month. I walked out of the store called corporate who called them to reprimand. Found a different store. Told them sell me the phone with out that service or I walk... got my phone.

My buddy picked up a 5S a month ago at At&t and they didn't even tell him they were putting him on the NEXT plan. Just did it and he didn't find out until after he left. He even told them he didn't want it and just wanted to do a simple upgrade and wait for his 5S to come in. After all that when his phone came in they wouldn't let him switch back. Said he needed to return the phone and re-order another one... he waited nearly 2 months to get a 5S because of that mess... the At&t call center credited him the month. But the stores they pretty much told him not to let the door hit him on the ass on the way out.

You can't trust any of them... commission sales man. Brutal scam artists...

 

[jimmysalg]

You know, as far as I'm aware t-mobile doesn't do shared data. It's a minimum charge of $70 per smartphone and like $40 for a tablet with a decent amount of data. With my wife and our four devices it's cheaper to run AT&T with shared data. Dunno about this Next plan though, I'll have to look into it.

I think you might want to check really good how tmobile works...

 

[aristobrat]

But I guess i'm not sure why MANY people would buy unsubsidized. As you pointed out it's $360 over a 24-month, that's only a few dollars savings for an iPhone ($549-$199=$348 is what the carrier pays for you, right?). Plus, if you get it one on sale somewhere you could actually save more. If you upgrade every 2-years, in essence you're just subsidizing yourself.

I guess it was pointless of me to list that "this saves you $360 over two years", as IMO this program is targeted towards people who upgrade yearly.

But why bother? They'll still lock you into a contract, only you don't even get your subsidized phone.

Where do you see that? The only time any carrier has "locked me into a contract" is when I bought a subsidized phone from them.

Just a flat $15?

So someone with a $90 bill saves $15 (~17%), but then someone with a $300 bill still only saves $15 (~5%)?

It sounds like its per line to me. So someone with a $300 bill from an account that has 5 unsubsidized lines on it would save $75/month.