Exactly... a big middle finger. See my previous post about this being evidence of the impending Verizon relationship. I just KNOW Steve is fuming somewhere about this right now.
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AT&T Announces iPhone Tethering and New Smartphone Data Plans
- Thread starter ChazUK
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Exactly... a big middle finger. See my previous post about this being evidence of the impending Verizon relationship. I just KNOW Steve is fuming somewhere about this right now.
I'm Out
Dear AT&T,
Screw you, I quit. I'm selling my iPhone, dropping my contract, and most likely will never deal with you again. I don't need your expensive golden data. I will be switching to a cheap pre-paid T-Mobile phone, which at $0.10 a minute should cost me about $20 a month. The difference every month will be donated to the EFF. That is all.
Dear AT&T,
Screw you, I quit. I'm selling my iPhone, dropping my contract, and most likely will never deal with you again. I don't need your expensive golden data. I will be switching to a cheap pre-paid T-Mobile phone, which at $0.10 a minute should cost me about $20 a month. The difference every month will be donated to the EFF. That is all.
And yet, while the skinny guy could eat just as much as the fat guy, he looks down his nose at the fat guy for using the resources offered to him to their full capacity. Got it.
Yes AT&T's eggrolls are lacking. BUt that's not the customer's fault. AT&T has been price gouging for some time...SOME of that extra coin could've gone to improving the network, no?
I have no problem with AT&T getting rid of unlimited data, it's the future of all wireless providers. As more and more people start to use smart phones it will definitely have a negative impact on their networks just as it has on AT&T's.
IMO though, once they go in this direction they should then start treating all their services as data, with no directives on which device you use it on.
If I pay for 2 gigs of data, it shouldn't matter if I consume that data with my iphone, ipad, laptop, etc. Also, I shouldn't have to pay a different rate for the data I consume on phone calls or text messages.
I love my iphone, have had one since day one, and would love to have an ipad, but I refuse to pay for a separate data plan when I should be able to share my iphone data plan with it. Especially now that they are setting a data cap on it.
IMO though, once they go in this direction they should then start treating all their services as data, with no directives on which device you use it on.
If I pay for 2 gigs of data, it shouldn't matter if I consume that data with my iphone, ipad, laptop, etc. Also, I shouldn't have to pay a different rate for the data I consume on phone calls or text messages.
I love my iphone, have had one since day one, and would love to have an ipad, but I refuse to pay for a separate data plan when I should be able to share my iphone data plan with it. Especially now that they are setting a data cap on it.
My statement wasn't about my personal preference, and I have no intention of switching carriers. I was making an observation from a more outside perspective. You may very well be right that Verizon will offer tiered pricing, but I also don't think its wrong to assume that AT&T timed this announcement in a way to pressure Verizon into offering SOMETHING that's better than perhaps they intended to, even if unlimited IS off the table.
Good. That means you're probably one of the 2% using so much bandwidth that it's slowing down the network and maybe even causing dropped calls for all the rest of us.
Thank you for taking your traffic to clog up someone else's pipes.
Thanks for the clarification. It makes me hate the phone companies a bit less. Still will never pay for texting, though.Not at the current prices, at least.
You're very welcome.
And it's not to say that texts couldn't be priced cheaper. (Although those all-you-can-send deals seem pretty good if you text all the time.)
But they're definitely not "just data" as so many people think, and they're certainly not free to the carrier. And they can cause a lot of extra control channel congestion at the towers.
Well, there is always one other option here:
1.) Don't get an iphone
2.) Get the $15 non-smartphone unlimited data plan
3.) Tether all you want
You can even use a smartphone, as long as its not an at&t provided phone. If cheap tethering is THAT important to you, then not using an iphone is a good deal.
1.) Don't get an iphone
2.) Get the $15 non-smartphone unlimited data plan
3.) Tether all you want
You can even use a smartphone, as long as its not an at&t provided phone. If cheap tethering is THAT important to you, then not using an iphone is a good deal.
It would be interesting to see though it Verizon get's the iPhone how their network handles it. Because it's been said that 17 Percent of their users want the iphone. So that 17 Percent mixed with let's say 25 Percent of all iPhone users on AT&T.
That would probarly put a strain on their network too. They would have to do alot of Balance loading of Spectrum.
AT&T and Media reports misleading?
As an avid Apple fan, I've read this forum often as a lurker but never posted until now. I can understand everyone is PO'd at AT&T, as well as why some people are looking forward to a price drop for their data. However, this question to/answer from Seth Bloom (AT&T's public relations team) gives me pause:
Emphasis added.
Quite simply, they're using ALL smartphone users to give a very convincing threshold, not just iPhone users. I would be very curious to know the percentage of just current iPhone users exceeding 2GB/month.
As an avid Apple fan, I've read this forum often as a lurker but never posted until now. I can understand everyone is PO'd at AT&T, as well as why some people are looking forward to a price drop for their data. However, this question to/answer from Seth Bloom (AT&T's public relations team) gives me pause:
Emphasis added.
Quite simply, they're using ALL smartphone users to give a very convincing threshold, not just iPhone users. I would be very curious to know the percentage of just current iPhone users exceeding 2GB/month.
Ok help me out here. I dont have an iphone but this is essentially what I'm doing with my iPod touch. How much data would I use if I did these things:
20 minutes of youtube per day, internet surfing for 4 hours, checking my facebook and email every 15 minutes, downloading the occasional app, and checking stocks throughout the day.
Thanks.
20 minutes of youtube per day, internet surfing for 4 hours, checking my facebook and email every 15 minutes, downloading the occasional app, and checking stocks throughout the day.
Thanks.
Actually, according to my usage history I've never gone over 2GB. However, even though I probably wouldn't ever use more than that, it would change the way I use data on my phone because I would be constantly worrying about going over the limit. Also, I'm frustrated by the fact that they are charging me for something that doesn't actually cost more to use more. It is bandwidth that is limited, not bits, and your Ted Stevens reference points out your ignorance of that fact. So yes, I'll gladly jump off that network, enjoy your expensive Facebook visits.
You bring up an interesing point...your right, it is going to change the way people use their phones. With the unlimited plan, you just used the phone and your data consumtion was simply controlled by whatever moved you at the time. Surf the web a bit here, watch a few YouTube videos there. You didnt care how much you were using because it didnt matter.
But now it does matter! Data usage is going to be on everyones mind. There are going to the people in your camp that will worry about going over but what about the "I'm going to use what I pay for crowd"? The people where 250MB is too little, and 2GB is too much. You can argue that this is no different then the way voice minutes or text message currently works. But if you think about it calling someone or texting is not the same. You dont randomly harass friends, family or strangers with meaningless calls or texts to fill a quota. Data is different. Data is download now and maybe consume later.
Did at&t just shoot themselves in the foot and cause MORE strain on their network?
Ok you give us Laser guns to start the battle but in the end we only get Pea Shooters.
Shame on you AT&T for setting the USA back 10 years.
Way to win over your customers .... now I finally understand why everyone hates you.
Shame on you AT&T for setting the USA back 10 years.
Way to win over your customers .... now I finally understand why everyone hates you.
People are forgetting it's not JUST AT&T doing it. Verizon will be doing it as well. Sprint doesn't do it because they can't afford it. T-Mobile is the same way.
It's the start of a new cycle. Way back the mobile carriers charged roaming fees and had caps on minutes. As time progressed, these barriers were lifted. Roaming fees are all but gone and minutes are freely available in large quantities. People have been enticed by "unlimited" data plans where once, data was limited. Now it's being reversed to start a new cycle.
Tiered data plans will eventually lead to even bigger tiered plans and then a full "unlimited" data account where voice is no longer billed separately. It's part of the data package.
While I agree with most - paying $20 dollars just for the "luxury" of tethering is a joke. If you are already paying $15 for data, how does it matter how YOU USE IT? Data - is - Data. Is it not? I think something should be done about that. That is wrong. Charging people for something they are already paying for. So does paying $20 extra mean I get a better connection because I am now tethering? Can I tether up to 6 devices now?
Hmm. Reform is needed to keep these things in check. Otherwise they will start snowballing and nothing can stop it.
Nice life!
Is your location where you are doing this changing? The iPod Touch is only WiFi, so if you are doing all that now over WiFi wouldn't you continue doing it with the iPhone over Wifi?? The Data is only used when you are not on WiFi...
not so bad
at first I was really bummed out (and still am in principal) but realized this will save me $5 a month, cool.
there are a million things wrong with the current system but i'll take what i can get.
below is my usage chart for the last couple of months, and that was when i had no internet at home so i did all my MacRumors browsing and email from the iPhone 3G.
I just wish there was more competition out there or the iPhone could work on all the networks to increase competition between them.
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at first I was really bummed out (and still am in principal) but realized this will save me $5 a month, cool.
there are a million things wrong with the current system but i'll take what i can get.
below is my usage chart for the last couple of months, and that was when i had no internet at home so i did all my MacRumors browsing and email from the iPhone 3G.
I just wish there was more competition out there or the iPhone could work on all the networks to increase competition between them.
Verizon is already capped at 5GB; it'll be interesting to see if they lower it to 2GB to match AT&T, though I kinda doubt it now, over this backlash. They might end up using it as a sales tool to further lure people away from AT&T.
Interestingly enough, I checked my usage on my Droid today after this whole debacle this morning, and found that I've used about 30MB. That's with a few Youtube vids, surfing, work e-mail (well over 100) coming in constantly, plus two GMail accounts, and a couple apps downloaded. So at a 30 day month that's 900MB.
However that's on a phone. I think on an iPad this has a potential to be a bit more of an impact. The device lends itself more to multimedia streaming than a phone does, though it is still a mobile OS.
That being said, I'll be sticking with the Droid + wifi-only iPad, and using the wifi tethering when 2.2 comes out on Android. Maybe sooner if I decide to root it.
I think AT&T would have been wise to make it 5GB like everyone else. Even though that's a lot of data, it still caps it, yet makes it more reasonable for people concerned.
You are not a bad guy, but you are crying like a little girl when you are asked to pay for the actual resources you are using.
I have been overpaying for 2 years, I should be the one who is pissed, not you, the one who has taken advantage of the thing for two years, yet you are the one whining like a school girl who stepped on a crack.
By the way good luck with that. Pretty sure AT&T will be more strongly enforcing their contractually stated 5 gig soft-cap on unlimited service as this all unfolds.
How about you just accept you should pay for the data you use. AT&T is saying your are using more data than $30 pays for so they are going to raise the price.
Yet you want to whine and scream and complain about it.
How about you just accept your responsibilities as an adult, even if you might not have advanced to that life state yet?
Don't come at me like that because i pay more in a month than your probarly pay. My MRC is pretty high. Also it's just too bad for you. No one forced you to get an iphone. If you don't want to pay you cant ride.
You cannot go to Waffle House and tell them that you don't want toast and expect to get a cheaper meal.
Now do us all a favor and go cry in the corner about the new plan changes. Maybe someone will bring you gouda cheese for your whine.
Undoubtedly when this all shakes out AT&T is going to start enforcing their 5 gig cap on "unlimited" data. So good luck with your abuse both to AT&T's network and to other people.
You think you are going to pay $30 a month for 65 gigs of data much longer, you must have taken a sleeping pill, because you are dreaming.
Yeah wow... the guy who sucks down 65 gigs a month on someone else's dime agrees with you shocking.
Also stop with the kid references... because either you are younger than many people here.. or if your not... well that it is even worse.
Nope not capped at all.
2 gig tethering costs $45 a month
3 gig tethering costs $55 a month
4 gig tethering costs $65 a month
5 gig tethering costs $75 a month
6 gig tethering costs $85 a month
7 gig tethering costs $95 a month
....
65 gig tethering costs $675 a month
Yes 98% of all AT&T iPhone customers now pay less per month for service. Where is the line to burn them down! In some cases people will be able to save hundreds of dollars a year... Lets hang 'em up!
It is even better than that. You can switch in the middle of the month to the higher plan, or you can even retroactively change to the higher rate plan.
Let us say you have the $15 plan and usually end up under 200 megs a month. Then one month 15 days into the billing cycle you hit over 200 megs. You can go online and change your billing to the higher plan and it will be effective back to the beginning of the billing cycle. Meaning you will now be 200 megs into a 2 gig $25 month plan.
Yeah I really think that AT&T will get some new customers out of this and the good thing is if they get all the top users to leave or pay for their bandwidth there will be more resources for everyone even with a huge influx of new customers.
Do you know how electric companies charge for electricity?
I don't see it that way. The reality is someone who is tethering will use more bandwidth than someone who is not tethering. If they did not charge extra for tethering then the cost for EVERYONE for 2 gigs and with or without tethering would be $35 or $40. Prices for everyone would have gone up.
I prefer my prices go down to match my usage and those people who want to use more data and tether have their price go up to accommodate that.
You are not going to argue that the average tethering user will use more data than the average phone only user are you? So with that being the case, why is not reasonable for them to pay more?
I don't know where that cap comes from because it has been confirmed by Verizon that there is no cap on the Smartphone for web and e-mail plans. No Softcap. No cap of any kind.
To those predicting that Verizon will also go to tiered data usage:
Their CEO talked about buying "buckets of data" that all your devices can partake from. I like that idea.
You buy X amount of data total a month for your account and use it as you wish between all devices you own. Smartphone, tablet, MiFi, it doesn't matter.
That seems fairer, and is something a lot of iPad owners wished for when informed that their iPhone data plan didn't cover their tablet.
Their CEO talked about buying "buckets of data" that all your devices can partake from. I like that idea.
You buy X amount of data total a month for your account and use it as you wish between all devices you own. Smartphone, tablet, MiFi, it doesn't matter.
That seems fairer, and is something a lot of iPad owners wished for when informed that their iPhone data plan didn't cover their tablet.