AT&T Considering Modifications to Deadline for iPad Unlimited 3G Service Activations

[cmaier]

Complete crock.

Everyone currently on a unlimited plan now has only to keep paying every month. 12 * $30 = $360 .... same as what a year would have cost before. So their annual cost is max $360.

If were going to save money by taking months off of 3G payments those costs $0.00 ... just as they did before.

Wrong.

If I use:
2.1, 0, 2.1, 0, 2.1, 0

Under the old plan that cost me $90. Under the new plan it costs me $180 if I keep the $30 plan, or, if I start with the $30 plan in month 1, $130 ($30+0+$50+0+$50).

 

[essinger]

Everything that Apple advertised as being a feature of the product works as advertised. When it comes to data and rates, that also works as Apple advertised it, PROVIDED AT&T sticks to their service agreement terms. Data plans are a separate product offered by AT&T that iPad's make use of, the company you actually pay for service, not Apple.

If Apple had merely advertised that the product could be used with current AT&T data plans you would be correct. But Apple went much further. They touted the "breaktrough rate of $29.99" and "flexible terms" as compelling reasons to purchase the 3G. It was a central part of the sale as anyone who looked at the advetisement on Apple's website could see. Since that money you are out is the cost of the device -- and that cost was rendered entirely to Apple -- it is Apple that owes the refund.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious that AT&T was caught off-guard by how much bandwidth iPad users were consuming, especially after the Netflix app appeared. Streaming video was never much of an issue with the iPhone. The real question is why would Apple not get some sort of a guarantee for that rate when they made the rate such a big part of their sales pitch.

Perhaps they did based on volume of 3G unit sales? I think both companies are too shrewd for this to be an accident. I could see Apple negotiating for an "unprecedented" 3G deal, while AT&T would want to give as little as they can but still win something from Apple (more exclusivity time perhaps?). If i was Apple, I would see this (launched) 3G data deal as a big selling point and push it in my marketing (and they did).

If I was AT&T, I would have great concern about having that kind of "best data deal in the entire space" apply to millions of units eating 3G bandwidth for the next few years. So, I might strike a deal based on volume of 3G units sold, so that I could hard cap how long I would allow this unlimited plan to sell and have it associated with only a certain max number of units.

If so, maybe that unit level has been reached much more quickly than expected? Anyone seen any comments from either company about their surprise at the volume of 3G unit sales vs. wifi?

 

[tigres]

Complete crock.

Everyone currently on a unlimited plan now has only to keep paying every month. 12 * $30 = $360 .... same as what a year would have cost before. So their annual cost is max $360.

If were going to save money by taking months off of 3G payments those costs $0.00 ... just as they did before.

A majority of users are likely down below 2 GB a month. So month costs is now $25 which is a 17% reduction in monthly costs. Not an increase, a reduction.

You need to go back to math class.
And you keep spinning that AT&T BS here, your likely to get a Cease & Desist threat from we hear at MR.

 

[rworne]

Complete crock.

Everyone currently on a unlimited plan now has only to keep paying every month. 12 * $30 = $360 .... same as what a year would have cost before. So their annual cost is max $360.

If were going to save money by taking months off of 3G payments those costs $0.00 ... just as they did before.

A majority of users are likely down below 2 GB a month. So month costs is now $25 which is a 17% reduction in monthly costs. Not an increase, a reduction.

I'll see your 17% "reduction" in monthly fees if you see my 250% increase in bandwidth cost. And I'm being generous and accepting the 5GB "cap" on unlimited data.

 

[Mirice]

I bet Steve Jobs is pissed at ATT right now, i mean more so than usually.

That is pretty funny if you first off thought that Steve had no idea this was coming and second had not pre approved the move before it was announced.

 

[Iso79]

Save yourself 30 bucks a month and tether your ipad to your iphone/android phone.

 

[peteo]

Actually they don't. Those folks were (or were planning to be ) hogs before. They are still hogs. They have just self identified themselves earlier than they would have. Anyone who is not planning to be hog will switch to the new plan because it saves them money . AT&T lowers the costs for 90+% of the users and have hundreds of posts about how this is a bad, evil, vile move. Surreal.


If a hog is going to pay for unlimited for several months when not using the iPad on 3G ( the period of time there were going to go contract free) then AT&T can take that money and time shift it to pay for costs when they blow out the 2GB level. This is similar to gas/electric companies that all winter month consumption charges to be spread out over the whole year. You run up a $800 in usages in January but only charge $300 and tack a $100 onto April-August bills. They still have the defacto soft cap to toss anyone who is the super hog category.


Sure, there will be some small set of folks who gratuitously use it "just because". Their numbers are limited by doing this sooner rather than later.
Everyone crying waiting longer would have been smarter are offbase. That is like proposing letting the oilspill run longer is better. If going to fix the pricing because the utilization model was off, better to do it sooner rather than later over the long term. By years end the number who had access to this plan will likely be less than 10% of all the 3G iPad users and none of the iPhone4G users who were not already a current iPhone hog. Having a known quantity of these self identified folks is worth it.

I cant wait to see the look on the face of the 90 year old who downloads the ABC app on her iPad, watches a couple of shows and finds out her 3G stops because she used all her bandwidth. Will be lots of fun!

 

[rworne]

That is pretty funny if you first off thought that Steve had no idea this was coming and second had not pre approved the move before it was announced.

Unlike AT&T, I really believe Steve gives a damn about the image of his company and relations with his company's customers.

 

[Blorzoga]

AT&T sure seems to be reacting a lot lately. It seems they make very hasty and quick decisions. It's obviously a good thing they're 'trying' to listen to their customers but if they were smart and actually thought about this garbage, maybe it would save them some added media scrutiny. Either way, this whole removal of the unlimited plan for the iPad after it's been out just 2 months just stinks all around. Glad I passed on mine for now I guess.

The unlimited data plan had been around for only one month since the 3g ipad only came out April 30th

 

[Fiction87]

If Apple had merely advertised that the product could be used with current AT&T data plans you would be correct. But Apple went much further. They touted the "breaktrough rate of $29.99" and "flexible terms" as compelling reasons to purchase the 3G. It was a central part of the sale as anyone who looked at the advetisement on Apple's website could see. Since that money you are out is the cost of the device -- and that cost was rendered entirely to Apple -- it is Apple that owes the refund.

Put that way it makes total sense. The thing is Apple can't control what AT&T decides to do with it's data plans after the device is released unless they ironed out that particular issue beforehand, which given this is Apple I believe 100% they didn't care to do.

So like said originally, I believe by you, I could be wrong, it comes down to an issue of reasonable time. Is two months a reasonable amount of time? Probably not to anyone that purchased the 3G ipad with unlimited data plans in mind but the only one in charge of what's reasonable and fair in regards to the service is the one that provides it, which is AT&T.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

i've had an iphone 3GS for almost a year. for the first few months i only used a few hundred MB per month. then as a game i tried to use more just to get to 1GB. even streaming pandora for hours a day it was an effort to get to 1GB usage. to get to 2GB you probably have to sit around all day with no job and stream youtube or some other video site. or update your google reader feeds. if you have 1000 feeds like me and update twice a day over 3G it will suck up a lot of data. or if you run twitbird it will suck up a lot of data if you update and follow 2000 people or so.

but no normal person has enough time in the day to consume this much media so that if you do it then you're OCD. like some of the idiots downloading off p2p so much media that it's impossible to watch. just like the TV show hoarders except digitally.

I've had an iPhone of some generation since Day 1, 2007. My data usage avgs. around 200-250MBs per month. But the iPhone is very different from the iPad.

Rather than debate you, I suggest you play w/ ATT's bandwidth calculator to see exactly why you don't need to be sitting on the couch 24/7 watching YouTube to blow through 2GBs on an iPad ("netbook" setting on the calculator). Maybe if the cap was 3GB, or more realistically 3.5GB, but 2GB isn't all that much for a 9.7in device.

 

[bpfesq]

Starbucks, mcdonalds, airports, and brothels.

Don't drink caffine ****

Don't eat fatty McDonalds crap

Been to many airports, none had functioning AT&T wifi hotspot--i seem to recall finding one once but it wouldn't let me connect.

None of the brothels i've been to had a hotspot (well, an AT&T hotspot)---don't care anyways, i don't need my internet porn then anyways.

 

[gsmumbo]

I've noticed a lot of people complain about losing the option for unlimited data when:

1. data was never really unlimited in the first place
2. you don't use as much data as you think you do

1. It's already been said that the unlimited plan is really unlimited and there is no hidden cap on iPad plans.

2. Don't try and tell me how much data I really use. In less than two weeks I'm already at 3 GB, and still counting.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I talked and chatted with Apple sales support and they clearly stated that currently the unlimited plan needs to be activated by June 7. It is not enough to order the iPad. The message on Apple's website "Order by June 6 and you qualify for the unlimited plan" is clearly mis-information, unless AT & T will indeed make some modifications.

For those interested, a guy in the other thread offered the idea of buying the appropriate sim card from an AT&T store, then using any iPad 3G you can find (including those in Apple stores) to register it for the unlimited plan. Then, when your iPad 3G arrives, use that card. Conceptually, this would lock in the unlimited plan even if your iPad arrives after June 7.

 

[mytdave]

weird data plans

First of all, I think ATT should make all iDevice data plans the same.

Second, what's with the 250MB/2GB spread? That's weird. The 250MB plan isn't enough for anyone, and 2GB is too much for some but not enough for 'road warriors'. What ATT should do is this:

$20 - 500MB
$25 - 1GB
$30 - 2GB
$35 - 4GB
$50 - Unlimited

Smaller price spreads create easy up-sell to customers, and these data transfer amounts make much more sense.

 

[IPPlanMan]

File an FTC Complaint against ATT and Apple

https://www.FTCComplaintAssistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en

The FTC needs to hear about this... The complaint wizard is pretty simple.

We were all led to believe that there would be an ongoing unlimited data plan for the iPad 3G, which people started receiving one month ago. People bought the device for that purpose.

Now you've got people on the unlimited 3G plan, which if they fail to ever renew, cannot get back... So it's a de facto contract.

Apple said:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/3g/

No-contract 3G service.
AT&T 3G Data Plans for iPad

Data per month Price per month
250MB $14.99
Unlimited $29.99
One month is based on 30 consecutive days, and starts at the date and time of your purchase.

In the United States, 3G service is available through a breakthrough deal with AT&T. You choose the amount of data per month you want to buy — 250MB or unlimited. If you choose the 250MB plan, you’ll receive onscreen messages as you get close to your monthly data limit so you can decide whether to turn off 3G or upgrade to the unlimited plan. Best of all, there’s no long-term contract. So if you have a business trip or vacation approaching, just sign up for the month you’ll be traveling and cancel when you get back. You don’t need to visit a store to get 3G service. You can sign up, check your data usage, manage your account, or cancel your service — all from your iPad.

This is a deceitful business practice.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

No kidding. I have yet to come across ONE SINGLE AT&T wifi hotspot. EVER.

Ever heard of McDonalds? Starbucks? Barnes & Noble?

You might want to try this tool to see those near wherever you are: http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=13540

Not being apologetic for AT&T at all-- I think they're total crooks for more than just this event -- but they do have a lot of hotspots. That said, it will be a great day when iDevices work natively with more than just a sole player in the U.S. Competition is always better than a choice of just ONE.

 

[TheOrioles33]

A 2GB data cap takes out half the reason I would buy an iPad.

Yeah no kidding! Especially now with all this cloud based storage and streaming media becoming popular. 2GB will be gone real fast!!

 

[TheOrioles33]

First of all, I think ATT should make all iDevice data plans the same.

Second, what's with the 250MB/2GB spread? That's weird. The 250MB plan isn't enough for anyone, and 2GB is too much for some but not enough for 'road warriors'. What ATT should do is this:

$20 - 500MB
$25 - 1GB
$30 - 2GB
$35 - 4GB
$50 - Unlimited

Smaller price spreads create easy up-sell to customers, and these data transfer amounts make much more sense.

I agree. You still need an unlimited plan in there somewhere.

 

[TheOrioles33]

2. Don't try and tell me how much data I really use. In less than two weeks I'm already at 3 GB, and still counting.

Exacltey! Streaming Pandora all day at work every day equates to 4+ GB a month.

 

[aristotle]

Put all your cards in one basket & one must learn to live with no or little choice. This is how the Mac User can feel. All of our eggs are in one basket. This is even more true with the iPod, iPad & iPhone models.

So, tell me, how do you use Zune's or windows mobile on other platforms? There is missing sync but out of the box, windows mobile phones were locked into windows pcs.

 

[aristotle]

I agree. You still need an unlimited plan in there somewhere.

No you don't. If they offer unlimited hotspot access like the major carriers in Canada do, then you really don't need that much data. If you are using more than 2GB per month then that means that you are tethering and you don't have an ISP at home.

If you are streaming music all the day long then you are part of the problem and why you see network slow downs on AT&T in certain areas. It does not take more than 2% of the users constantly streaming data to cause issues with a cellular network. It is not an ISP.

 

[jtara]

One thing that strikes me as particularly anti-consumer about this change is the extremely short notification period.

If you'd been on vacation out of the country or absorbed with work and not paying attention to the news for just 1-2 weeks, you would miss out on the opportunity for the "unlimited" iPad plan. (Unless they change it to be based on purchase date.)

And, as far as I know, they haven't even given direct notification to the affected consumers!. It's all been fuzzy statements to the press.

I would not be surprised if this DOES violate some law, and I do expect a big, messy class-action lawsuit.

Who does this? Answer: ATT. Skeez-ball "credit for everyone" stores. Corrupt mortgage-lenders.

If nothing else, Steve Jobs has a lot of crow to eat. It's going to take a long time to repair the damaged reputation from associating with ATT. Bad choice, Steve. It's come back to bite you.

Now, how many YouTube videos cutting from proud Steve revealing the "break-through" pricing to the shot of him with the big red "FALL" (modified, of course to "FAIL") behind him?

 

[Rad99004]

Apple rep said:

As long as you place the order before June 6 At&t will honor the unlimited plan for 3g ipads received after this date.

The New York Times reports that AT&T is currently considering taking steps to accommodate users wishing to activate unlimited 3G service plans for the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G before the plan is discontinued on Monday but who have been unable to obtain a device due to shortages.Apple's own online store already suggests that such a policy is in place, claiming that the unlimited 3G service plan for the iPad is "available if ordering iPad from the Apple Online Store by June 6" and making no mention of a requirement that the device also be received and service activated by that deadline.

Article Link: AT&T Considering Modifications to Deadline for iPad Unlimited 3G Service Activations