What's everyone's thoughts on these changes: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/02/...-changes-to-data-plans-iphone-tethering-comi/
Will you be better or worse off under these new plans? Light users will undoubtedly benefit more than heavy data users.
DataPlus / DataPro
The existing $30 fair-use "unlimited" smartphone data plan is being replaced by two new options: $15 per month for 200MB and $25 for 2GB (called "DataPlus" and "DataPro," respectively). Customers currently on the $30 plan are welcome to stay on it, but they can switch at any time without extending their contract.
AT&T's new overage system is arguably the game changer: on the $15 plan, you'll pay $15 for each additional 200MB, but on the $25 plan, you'll pay $10 for each additional GB. It's simple and straightforward -- but most importantly, it won't bankrupt you if you go over by a gig or three in a month. This compares to $50 per gigabyte of overage on AT&T's 5GB DataConnect plan for laptops.
The carrier's going to be very flexible about changing between the DataPlus and DataPro plans -- if you're on DataPlus, for example, and you discover that you're blowing past your allotment, you can choose either to start DataPro the following billing cycle, pro-rate it, or apply the higher plan retroactively to the beginning of your current billing cycle. That's pretty wild.
Tethering
Tethering will be offered as an add-on to the DataPro plan for an additional $20 per month, which means you'll pay a total of $45 a month for 2GB of data shared between your phone and your tethered devices. If you're light on the usage, it's a sweet deal -- but if you scale it up and you're using the data almost exclusively on your laptop, it compares unfavorably to the traditional DataConnect plan: $60 versus $75 for 5GB (and in the unlikely even you've got a webOS device on Verizon, it compares even less favorably). If you're striking a balance of data use between a smartphone and tethered gear, AT&T's new setup is still pretty solid considering that you would've been paying $60 for the USB stick plus $30 for smartphone data before.
Yes, it's finally happening: AT&T's iPhones will get access to the tethering option, too.
iPad
iPad users are also affected by the change. The $30 iPad data plan -- lauded for being labeled by AT&T as truly unlimited -- goes away to be replaced by the same $25 / 2GB plan that smartphone users will see, though current subscribers to the $30 plan can continue unaffected.
Will you be better or worse off under these new plans? Light users will undoubtedly benefit more than heavy data users.