The cities make up for the boonies. The people in the boonies would never be able to cover the costs alone. The whole thing is balanced.
Ohh, and the people in the boonies don't use data and their phones quite the same either.
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AT&T's Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plan Customers Get 5GB on LTE Before Being Throttled
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The cities make up for the boonies. The people in the boonies would never be able to cover the costs alone. The whole thing is balanced.
Ohh, and the people in the boonies don't use data and their phones quite the same either.
Keeping it honest and real....
The whiners on this board are about unlimited speeds that allow them to stream video which can use 50-100GB+ a month if not throttled. Many also jailbreak the phone and tether laptops and other devices. (Against the End User Agreement). They are the same jokers who will complain that the network has had issues while they abuse it. Bottom line is that the plan they purchased in 2007 was not intended for the uses it is getting in 2012. The CEO of AT&T admitted they made a mistake by even offering unlimited and of course he got destroyed on this board. (HE WAS HONEST). AT&T has not ended the unlimited plan even though they legally could have at any point. Instead, they still provide the plan and just make sure the abusers are limited. By the way, the abusers are also
This is all a VERY reasonable and honest approach to the issues and learning curve AT&T went through as they partnered with Apple to change the mobility world. The 2G/3G speeds back in 2007 would barely get you to 5GB of data ever. All AT&T is doing is protecting the network for other customers and still providing what was purchased and then some.
One foot out the door...
...I'm leaving AT&T on this round, but not because of this. I actually figured they'd make customers give up unlimited if they wanted LTE access or something like that, so kudos to AT&T for not doing that.
I recently switched my iPad 3 to Verizon and have been blown away at the LTE speeds I'm getting. It just so happens that AT&T has no or poor LTE service in all the places that matter to me. I've asked AT&T tons of times about their LTE rollout plans, and of course get the cold shoulder each time.
I'll miss the ability to talk and surf at the same time, though I admit its not something I do very often, so I think I'll be okay. For me, the tradeoff for better speeds is going to be worth it. I don't use nearly as much data as I thought either, so losing the AT&T unlimited isn't the end of the world.
Since my iPhone 4S arrived last October, my total cellular usage is 4.178 GB
If I've done the math right on the Verizon shared plan (we have 3 phones total) I think I'm going to save $25 a month. I haven't decided if I'll merge my Verizon iPad into the shared plan, or keep it on its own.
...I'm leaving AT&T on this round, but not because of this. I actually figured they'd make customers give up unlimited if they wanted LTE access or something like that, so kudos to AT&T for not doing that.
I recently switched my iPad 3 to Verizon and have been blown away at the LTE speeds I'm getting. It just so happens that AT&T has no or poor LTE service in all the places that matter to me. I've asked AT&T tons of times about their LTE rollout plans, and of course get the cold shoulder each time.
I'll miss the ability to talk and surf at the same time, though I admit its not something I do very often, so I think I'll be okay. For me, the tradeoff for better speeds is going to be worth it. I don't use nearly as much data as I thought either, so losing the AT&T unlimited isn't the end of the world.
Since my iPhone 4S arrived last October, my total cellular usage is 4.178 GB
If I've done the math right on the Verizon shared plan (we have 3 phones total) I think I'm going to save $25 a month. I haven't decided if I'll merge my Verizon iPad into the shared plan, or keep it on its own.
Unfortunately Straight Talk is very strict on their "unlimited data" even using too much data on one day can cause warnings and eventually get you banned from the network
I'm slightly jealous. I'd leave AT&T in a heartbeat because of their bloated network in the DC area. I've done the math and Verizon shared plans are too expensive for single device users. It'd end up being about $50 more a month for me to switch to the 4GB plan. Ouch!
I understand that we have a larger country, how about regional plans that we use to have back in the day for a cheaper price? No options there unfortunately so we are stuck with these. I leave my state maybe once a year but I'm paying for this "national" price
There will always be a jailbreak app to trick the phone into thing its on wifi. The FaceTime over 3g debate is pretty moot to me.
I was bummed to learn that the iphone 5 only does VoLTE(hd phone audio) on GSM and ATT is nowhere near ready to roll that out. Its going to be a killer feature on Verizon coming very soon but not going to work on the iphone 5.
Jailbreak = get the most out of your iOS products! No jailbreak available you say? - well then I'm not interested in the iOS product at this point. Facetime over cellular is old news!
So, this works as well for upgrading when the phone costs $649. $649 + $36 = $685.
Still saving some money by cancelling the contract.
That would wash if it weren't for the fact that the telecom and wireless companies hadn't been given grants and other financial relief by the duped US Tax Payers so that those companies can provide better service to American Citizens. (Or what has happened: better benefits to the management teams at those companies. Daddy wants a new G6!)
We, the US tax payer, have paid over and over again for fiber to our homes, gigabit internet service, low cost telephone service, and internet service to 'all', and each time, after getting the money, the companies welch on the deal, and the geniuses in DC let them keep the money! Some comes back to the politicians as contributions (bribes), but most just disappears...
In France, and other 'European' countries, they actually get what they pay for. I've heard of high gigabit fiber in Sweden to most homes for half what most of us pay for basic cable. It's disgusting... It's 'American capitalism'...
If only Sprint merged with T-Mobile and all the other local/small carriers, would they have a decent, usable network. Then AT&T and VZ would be forced to lower their rates or provide more value for it.
Actually, videos will probably take up more bandwidth because the lte will make it default to a higher quality. For example, using YouTube on 3G would not auto play an HD video, but over lte it is HD and requires more bandwidth, uses more data.
Source: owning an iPad lte for half a year.
Good move ATT, keeps my bill sub-100$ with unlim data. Otherwise I'd move to Verizon and be stuck with a larger bill but better service... I can deal 
Your belief that what AT&T is doing is an "honest approach" merely illustrates how deceitful they are being. They create caps in GB to take advantage of the general public's lack of understanding of how the network works. They are now effectively lowering their cap in terms of network access for some unlimited customers but using a larger GB number to make people believe they are getting something better.
What if voice plans were capped in terms of kilo-words instead of minutes? Busta Rhymes pays the same amount per month as Teller, and while Teller never goes over his cap, Busta only gets to use his phone for 15 minutes...
While the backhaul does need to be upgraded to accommodate higher data volumes, the real issue for cellular networks is how many concurrent wireless connections they can support. This becomes much more of a time division issue than an aggregate data throughput issue. The problem is the volume of subscribers trying to connect to a tower at a given time, not their respective link rates.
All AT&T is trying to do is corral people into capped plans so they can charge overages and increase their revenue beyond the minimum value of the original contract.
The population density argument has some counter-intuitive corollaries though. Verizon is tanking its DSL services and discontinuing FIOS rollout in most areas with lower population density. This is a calculated move because it is cheaper to roll out LTE rather than fiber in these areas, and they can lure their existing DSL customers to switch to LTE with much higher advertised data rates, and get them to agree to a capped data plan at the same time. (The all-you-can-eat model doesn't fail for these companies due to abuse by the customers, it fails due to lack of ways to increase revenue after the initial contract is signed.)
It is also easier to get permission to build out in rural areas as opposed to cities. Which brings us to probably the biggest reason for the difference in pricing between countries: each one has radically different degrees of government regulation and subsidy.
It's still half the price for the same damn network. Includes talk/text/data. Been with them for a while, have yet to receive any warning. And I'm not a lite user.
Like I said, some people just love to piss their hard earned money away. People are spending hundreds and hundreds of $ a month to update their damn status.
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any currently grandfathered in AT&T customers (like myself) should refer to this link, http://www.att.com/esupport/datausage.jsp?source=IZDUel1160000000U
I found this very helpful and should clear up any of your remaining questions.
I found this very helpful and should clear up any of your remaining questions.
we use it to see the nieces. But only at home, not on the road. So Facetime OTA is irrelevant to us.
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Why is AT&T not allowing me to have yearly update like Ive had since the original iphone?
They didn't always do that - there was one year where there was an issue and they allowed it, and then maybe the next year they stuck with it because people expected it. But really it's a 2-year contract that they are under no obligation to let you upgrade early on.
I switched both unlimited iPhones to shared data, along with a 3rd iPhone and an iPad... saved almost $100/month. That's ~$1200 a year! None of us have ever used more than 1GB of data/month, I don't see the point of paying $30 x 4 every month. I have the 10GB shared plan and it should be more than plenty (I hope).
Well the asterisk on T-Mobile's Nationwide Unlimited is no tethering, but other than that you don't get throttled or charged extra for anything.
The 10GB and 5GB plans on T-Mobile are more expensive than the truly unlimited, but they allow tethering, and they just slow you down after your first 5/10GB.
AFAIK the issue is that most "unlimited" customers don't use gratuitous bandwidth, and most don't use more than 5GB/mo; problem is there are still some out there blowing thru dozens of GB per week, chewing up considerable limited resources.
I run about 3GB/mo. Having "unlimited" is great not so much for having endless capacity at maximum rate, as not having to worry about running out. I can deal with slowing the stream beyond an unusual amount of usage; I can't deal with a complete shutoff with a "$25 to turn it back on again" message.
werd. We'll save $30 a month on every phone by switching to that, and 4GB is more than enough for both of us even if our data usage increases.
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pretty sure Sprint's unlimited is only LTE, and then you have to hope you have service. There's always a catch, and with Sprint it is coverage.
So then, how do you feel about Verizon, where you can't keep your unlimited plan without paying for the phone without a subsidy? Oh, and are forced to pay for a share plan, even if you only have one line?
The fact that you can download 5GB of data in 16 minutes is moot. Most people use their smartphones to check things that require very little data. WiFi is free. Everywhere I go, there is a WiFi network.
Cellular data is not meant to replace home networks, and for obvious reasons. If everyone on AT&T had unlimited data, data speeds in major cities would be far less than EDGE speed.
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