AT&T Debuts New Unlimited Plan for Phone Customers With DIRECTV or U-Verse

[MacRumors]

AT&T today announced the first new unlimited data plan possibility for its customers since the company removed the option over five years ago. Officially starting tomorrow, AT&T users who already have or decide to add AT&T DIRECTV or AT&T U-Verse onto their plan can choose to opt-in to an Unlimited Plan, "offering customers more data to use for watching video, playing games and surfing the web on their mobile devices."

"Our new unlimited plan is our best offer yet. It's the perfect reward for our valued customers who like to take advantage of our integrated offers of TV and wireless services," said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions. "Video traffic continues to grow on our network as fast as ever because people enjoy viewing their favorite video content on their favorite devices."

As it does for current grandfathered customers, the new Unlimited Plan offers unlimited data, talk, and text to its users instead of a month-by-month data allotment. The pricing for the plan begins at $100 per month for the first smartphone, with additional devices costing $40 per month, although the fourth phone can be added at no additional cost. The company noted that today's announcement is the "first of many integrated video and mobility offers" coming to AT&T customers in 2016.

AT&T also noted that DIRECTV and U-Verse customers who don't yet have an AT&T wireless subscription can get $500 in credit when beginning the new Unlimited Plan, with one of the company's eligible trade-ins that would go towards the purchase of a new phone on AT&T Next. The alternative is also an option, with AT&T wireless subscribers able to add a new TV package starting at $19.99 per month for a full year after signing a 24-month agreement.

Read More: AT&T to Raise Price of Grandfathered Unlimited Plans From $30 to $35

Article Link: AT&T Debuts New Unlimited Plan for Phone Customers With DIRECTV or U-Verse

 

[A MacBook lover]

I thought unlimited wasn't feasible?

 

[joshuaclinton]

Hopefully this means that grandfathered plans are here to stay. I figured they'd push us off after ending the two year contract renewals.

 

[jetjaguar]

The article from the verge states that att says unlimited means 22gb

 

[hetrigger]

So if I understand it...you pay $180 for up to 4 phones (plus taxes)....interesting...

 

[2298754]

I'd swap over to this plan instantly... but only if I can do it without DirecTV or UVerse. I can't get either in my area.

3 lines unlimited everything = $180 - 27% FAN = ~$140 a month. Cheaper than what I pay now.

 

[cmChimera]

So, basically, all that stuff about unlimited being impossible and degrades other people's service and blah blah was all horsesh*t.

 

[Menel]

Th

Hopefully this means that grandfathered plans are here to stay. I figured they'd push us off after ending the two year contract renewals.

This is signifcantly more expensive.
$100 vs $30...
They still want to push you off or up.

 

[2298754]

Th

This is signifcantly more expensive.
$100 vs $30...
They still want to push you off or up.

The old $30 plan was ONLY the data. Text and talk was extra on top of that.

This encompasses all of that.

 

[gmanist1000]

The article from the verge states that att says unlimited means 22gb

So... not really unlimited. They shouldn't market it as such.

 

[S.B.G]

I gave up my unlimited plan a few years back and went with the 3 GB option because I wasn't using much data. Then they upgraded the allotment to 6 GB and then later on introduced the data roll over plan. So as of right now, I have just over 10 GB of data I can use for this month.

When I look at my usage history going back to October 2015, I'm averaging 1 GB of data usage.

So at this point, I still don't need unlimited data (whatever their definition of unlimited is).

 

[hetrigger]

I have seen stuff about the idea of "unlimited" to them...22gb divided by 4 is not enough...

 

[2298754]

I have seen stuff about the idea of "unlimited" to them...22gb divided by 4 is not enough...

It's not shared.

And this version is identical to T-Mobile's version of "unlimited" data. De-prioritiezed after a certain threshold.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Hopefully this means that grandfathered plans are here to stay. I figured they'd push us off after ending the two year contract renewals.

I would see this the opposite way. Now that they're offering unlimited data as a perk of Uverse, they definitely don't want people to have unlimited data without Uverse.

 

[solarguy17]

Th

This is signifcantly more expensive.
$100 vs $30...
They still want to push you off or up.

Remember the old unlimited plan didn't include texting or a voice plan.
I think the old cheapest voice plan was $40 and the old 200 text pla was $15. So that would have been roughly $85 a month for less voice or texting. Plus now the old unlimited plan is $35 instead of $30.

I'm still on an old family plan with a FAN and I would do this in heart beat if I had UVerse or DIrectTV. I have neither becuase I don't watch TV except Netflix. But I might sign up for the cheap plan now.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

So, basically, all that stuff about unlimited being impossible and degrades other people's service and blah blah was all horsesh*t.

Things change over time. Whereas their network wasn't previously resilient enough to handle people with unlimited, now maybe they are?

What exactly is DirectTV? Does this mean that I can ditch Comcast for TV + Broadband and swap to AT&T for TV + LTE, and thus pay less to get more (LTE is quite a bit faster than Broadband in my area.)

 

[CEmajr]

Great to see them finally offering unlimited again. Now we can put to rest that false narrative that the reason for ending it in the first place was because of network strain/overload.

Your move Verizon.

 

[2298754]

So... not really unlimited. They shouldn't market it as such.

Then T-Mobile shouldn't be marketing any of their plans as unlimited too. But they do it...

 

[toohectic]

Remember the old unlimited plan didn't include texting or a voice plan.
I think the old cheapest voice plan was $40 and the old 200 text pla was $15. So that would have been roughly $85 a month for less voice or texting. Plus now the old unlimited plan is $35 instead of $30.

The 200 text plan was $5, and the 1500 text plan was $15.

 

[Jillxz]

Great to see them finally offering unlimited again. Now we can put to rest that false narrative that the reason for ending it in the first place was because of network strain/overload.

Your move Verizon.

It's really not unlimited. They are calling 22gb unlimited. Dug. Not worth it.

 

[mmomega]

This comes out to the exact same price I'm paying for 9 phones and 80GB shared with rollover we usually have around 100GB/month.
And my bill will drop soon when 3 Next phone payments and 1 contract phone are done. That will remove approx. $130 from the overall bill.

 

[2298754]

It's really not unlimited. They are calling 22gb unlimited. Dug. Not worth it.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/21/technology/unlimited-data/

T-Mobile does it too. Why is it ok for them to do it? But if AT&T does it, it's wrong?

The company also has implemented a 23 GB cap on unlimited data, after which T-Mobile prioritizes other customers over the heaviest downloaders.

----
For comparison

The "unlimited" T-Mobile plan is $95 now.

AT&T's equivalent now is $100 a month. Why wouldn't you pay the extra $5 for superior coverage and reliability?

 

[abw2002]

Will they allow tethering?

 

[avanpelt]

Will they allow tethering?

This is what I want to know, too. I haven't seen anything in the AT&T press release saying that the new unlimited plan does or does not allow personal hotspot to work. If it does, I will definitely consider switching to this new plan. I also wonder if this new unlimited plan will cause the other tiered data plans to drop in price? I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

 

[dsampley]

Just saw on another forum that teathering will not be allowed on these new unlimited plans.