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AT&T Announces iPhone Tethering and New Smartphone Data Plans

MrDerby01 said:
AT&T is killing me.. This sucks bad! What happened to supply and demand??
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What do you mean "what happened to supply and demand"? Everyone has unlimited now right? So they have no restrictions currently and 65% of people use less than 200MB and 95% less than 2 GB. AT&T seems to be supplying what people are demanding with these new plans....

I guarantee most who use less than 2GB us much less than 2GB also. The 5% that use more than 2GB probably aren't on the trailing end of some bell curve either, they are probably a group of outliers that use TONS of data. This is who AT&T is targeting, these are the people taxing the network the most and not paying for the value of what they are using. For everyone else (the large majority) these plans are going to save people $$.
 
Eric-PTEK said:
Liberals :rolleyes:

Yes profit is a bad thing, tell you what if you feel so entitled why not start your own wireless company and offer everyone these super cheap prices.

You seem to think cell towers and the wiring in this country just popped up over night? No idea the investment in infrastructure AT&T has made over the past few decades.

If you don't like it, go somewhere else or start your own wireless company if your so smart.

You blame the previous administration, is that a knee jerk response to anyone a liberal doesn't like these days? Is there anything of fact behind that statement or just an emotional response?

I'm sure all the people who own AT&T stock don't mind the fact that AT&T's profits are up and costs are down, sounds like a good buy , eh?

Life is simple, don't make it harder than it needs to be.
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Have some breakfast first before you start sucking AT&T off.
 
skyehill said:
Yeah everyone, this fanboy knows how much data you need. Calm down. Everything is fine. Just don't use Netflix on demand, video chat, or the inevitable Hulu app. Wouldn't want to you know...use your device.
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Yeah, go crawl back to /b/, kiddo.
 
timlot said:
I can see it now. Some time in the fall 2010.... " Guys I wanted to watch Rocky II on Netflix, but I'm alreay at 1.8GB for the month. Should I a) take the $10 hit b) watch half the movie and hope I don't tick over 2GB or c) wait just wait till next month for At&t to spoon feed my some more data."

google-io-2010-2-0613-rm-eng.jpg
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d) Wait until you get home (OH NOES!)
e) Hop on a wifi network and watch it
 
timlot said:
I can see it now. Some time in the fall 2010.... " Guys I wanted to watch Rocky II on Netflix, but I'm alreay at 1.8GB for the month. Should I a) take the $10 hit b) watch half the movie and hope I don't tick over 2GB or c) wait just wait till next month for At&t to spoon feed my some more data."

google-io-2010-2-0613-rm-eng.jpg
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Or use wi-fi... You pay for the data you use. Why should everyone who uses less than 2GB a month (or less than 200MB) pay MORE so you can use 3 for no additional cost?? If you want to consume more than 2GB of data then you should pay for it. If you don't see the value in paying more for more data, then limit yourself.... simple. These plans are more fair for everyone.
 
Price points are typical AT&T

They are exactly like how they price their text messaging plans. The $5 for 200 is not really adequate for most users, so it forces people to buy the more expensive $15 to get a more reasonable level (I suspect most people are about 1000 texts a month tops)
 
I am fine with all but the usage limit on the $15 plan. They seem to have constructed these to make sure most people take the $25 plan.

They also need to make sure that data usage statistics are current within at least a few hours.
 
Would be cool if they did rollover.

So I don't think the new AT&T would be bad at all if they did roll-over. Certainly most of us don't average more than 2GB, but I'm sure we all
have months when we peak (such as when we go on vacation). It would
be nice if we could rollover our bytes for those months.
 
mysticbluebmw said:
YES!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS!!!!

Finally, all the bandwidth hogs snaking close to 5GB/month can be roped in. It's ridiculous all the peeps who care only about themselves and how much data the can absorb at the detriment of others. Total "me now" "I''m entitled" generation of kids need to learn social responsibility. Something many in the EU already know. That is why they have higher bandwidth caps. Less folks on a specific carrier, and more responsible surfing.

Maybe my 3g will go from the slow 0.8-1.0 Mbps to the 4-6 Mbps it SUPOSSED to get, now the data hogs won't be on 24/7 streaming video just because they can.
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No, your 3g will still be sh#t. :)
 
Eric-PTEK said:
There is a massive infrastructure cost difference in Europe. The US is not only physically larger but how the population is spread is different too.

I also believe that some tax money collected in Europe goes towards infrastructure of this nature but I can't find the info I'm looking for.

IF what I believe is true then I'll take a 2gb data cap at $25 and 1gb per 10 than a near 45 percent tax rate on my income :p
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There are very large low population areas in Europe too but they are still fully covered with 3G networks (Nordic countries / HSDPA+). Still the cost of data (and talk) are low.

Regarding tax money, not a single dime goes towards network infrastructure. Actually its the opposite. G3 licensees were auctioned in most European countries and carriers ended up paying insane amounts of money for the permits. Tax money goes towards healthcare, education, etc. etc.
 
MacBOS said:
I can't wait for the day the people ho asked for this start to complain wen they notice that they went overboard on there bill :D
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Yeah man, this is happening because people ASKED for it. AT&T cares so much about our opinion, and not it's profit margin.
 
raremage said:
Good thinking! I'm sure there is not much chance they will start monitoring those who stick with an unlimited plan much more closely, determine you are violating the TOS, and shut down those accounts.
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So you are saying that ATT is going to investigate all users who don't change to a new plan to see if they can determine who is tethering through JB and shut them down?

1.Nice sarcasm, but your logic is flawed.
2.The nice thing about being jailbroken is that I can choose which carrier I want if the ATT police were to shutdown my account.
 
FAN Discount?

Diode said:
Sweet, it seems at least the $25/month plan is compatible with a FAN discount.
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I thought I read that the FAN only applied to >$30 features? Where do you see this? (I'd switch if the FAN worked on the $25 plan!)

Also, will the $20 tethering add-on have a UserID / Password for "tethering" to AT&T wi-fi hotspots from a laptop wi-fi? If so, that makes the $20/month a little easier to swallow...
 
WannaGoMac said:
They are exactly like how they price their text messaging plans. The $5 for 200 is not really adequate for most users, so it forces people to buy the more expensive $15 to get a more reasonable level (I suspect most people are about 1000 texts a month tops)
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Well based on AT&T's own data the lower plan is adequate for most users (65% of them).

200 texts is adequate for a lot of users. Average text rate in the U.S. is 357 per month, but that is driven way up by the 13 to 17 year old demographic who send/receive a whopping 1,742!!! Kids under 12 even use more than the average at 428/month!! Since most cell phone customers are adults I'd say there are a large portion of people out there where 200 is plenty.
 
mysticbluebmw said:
YES!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS!!!!

Finally, all the bandwidth hogs snaking close to 5GB/month can be roped in. It's ridiculous all the peeps who care only about themselves and how much data the can absorb at the detriment of others. Total "me now" "I''m entitled" generation of kids need to learn social responsibility. Something many in the EU already know. That is why they have higher bandwidth caps. Less folks on a specific carrier, and more responsible surfing.

Maybe my 3g will go from the slow 0.8-1.0 Mbps to the 4-6 Mbps it SUPOSSED to get, now the data hogs won't be on 24/7 streaming video just because they can.
Click to expand...

I would much rather have ATT go after those bandwidth hogs than cap everyones service at 2GB. Sure 2GB is probably enough now but I am certain ATT is responding to some future announcements from Apple, namely iTunes streaming all your media (their purchase of Lala), tethering, and video calling.
A data cap will either stifle inovation or seriously piss off ATT customers once they start paying overages from using iPhones with these features.
 
skyehill said:
So are the idiots at ATT still going to charge twenty bucks for unlimited texting? It's just data. Sprint is looking better and better.
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skyehill said:
I laugh at people paying 20 bucks for unlimited text and then also paying extra for data. Pssssst texts are just data.
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No. Texts are NOT "just data".

  • Texts are circuit switched phone pages, which is why they're billed the way they are... like a minimum timed call.
  • Unlike data transfers, which always originate from the target phone and thus require little carrier intervention, texts require a carrier to proactively find and connect to a specific user somewhere on the globe (because it's a targeted phone page).
  • Unlike data, texts are carried internally by the carriers, not by the internet.
  • Unlike data, texts have extra costs if going between carriers.
  • Unlike data, texts require expensive store-and-forward centers.
  • Unlike data, MMS texts can require translation of content.
  • Unlike data, texts also can use carrier based email gateways.

Again, texts are not the same as using internet data, not even close. They're more like a short phone call, except with added carrier costs for store and forward infrastructure. Most people pay about ten cents per minute for voice calls, with the cost dropping with bigger plans. That's why texts are priced in a similar manner.
 
switching between the two data plans?

Hey guys,

Did anyone catch if AT&T said anything about being able to switch between the $15 and $25 data plans from month to month? I am concerned that I will sign up for one and realized I use much more/less depending and want to switch to the other, but may not be allowed to for the length of the contract :(

Cheers,
hqz
 
Jury Still Out

I think I'll hang on to my unlimited option until I see what the new iPhone brings in terms of usage...right now I'm no where near 2Gig in usage so the new plan would save me $10/month including my wife...but with the front facing camera coming...that opens a whole new avenue that could contribute to increasing my usage...but damn I can't wait until Monday.
 
BornToMac said:
So you are saying that ATT is going to investigate all users who don't change to a new plan to see if they can determine who is tethering through JB and shut them down?

1.Nice sarcasm, but your logic is flawed.
2.The nice thing about being jailbroken is that I can choose which carrier I want if the ATT police were to shutdown my account.
Click to expand...

How is that flawed logic? It makes complete sense. However, I don't think they will do it.

THe only flawed logic is yours. A jailbreak alone does give you the option to choose any carrier, you need an unlock as well. For many, there is no unlock right now.

I had a great Sprint plan a few years ago. Eventually Sprint got rid of it, but they would call me every so often and ask if I wanted this "new" "better" plan. In reality it was worse, but if they say "You will pay less!" many people will switch to it.

This is what I expect will happen.
 
Once multi-tasking kicks in, EVERYONE'S usage will go up!!! How do I know? Streaming apps that you never have to quit.

Better stay with the original plan if you listen you things like Pandora or other streaming radio type services - oh and Netflix when it comes out.
 
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