AT&T Drops Price of Single-Line Data Plans, 2GB Now $65/Month

[illutionz]

How did they override the $40 to $25 if your still in contract? Im in the same position and they told me i cant do it, same plan you had 450 mins, 2gb data, unlimited text.

Basically, when you sign a new 2 year contract AFTER 3/8/2014, the +25 is going to be +40. Unless you use AT&T Next program in which the device fee stays at +25... or you bring your own device and paid full price.

https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html#fbid=24DHStzWyfC

See "Step 2" section
"*** Available with AT&T NextSM or if you purchase your smartphones at full retail price. You’re also eligible if you’re out of annual contract or bring your own device. " (Re: +25/mo smartphone adder).

"**** For plans 10GB or higher, AT&T customers with smartphones on 2-yr agreements as of 2/1/14 are eligible for the $15/mo. rate. For plans 2GB to 6GB, AT&T customers with smartphones on 2-yr agreements as of 3/8/14 are eligible for the $25/mo. rate. If upgrading, must comply with then-current req's to keep discounted smartphone rate." (RE: +40/mo smartphone adder)

 

[mgb1120]

Basically, when you sign a new 2 year contract AFTER 3/8/2014, the +25 is going to be +40. Unless you use AT&T Next program in which the device fee stays at +25... or you bring your own device and paid full price.

https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html#fbid=24DHStzWyfC

See "Step 2" section
"*** Available with AT&T NextSM or if you purchase your smartphones at full retail price. You’re also eligible if you’re out of annual contract or bring your own device. " (Re: +25/mo smartphone adder).

"**** For plans 10GB or higher, AT&T customers with smartphones on 2-yr agreements as of 2/1/14 are eligible for the $15/mo. rate. For plans 2GB to 6GB, AT&T customers with smartphones on 2-yr agreements as of 3/8/14 are eligible for the $25/mo. rate. If upgrading, must comply with then-current req's to keep discounted smartphone rate." (RE: +40/mo smartphone adder)

Okay I renewed my 2 year contract in October of 2012, and was told it will be $40 not $25 so is that not true?

 

[alphaod]

So it's still $5 more (before taxes) than prepai (GoPhone)? That make no sense.

Bloody hell I downloaded 65GB last month on my true unlimited data plan with Three UK. 1000s of texts and minutes included. Tehthering too. That's for £35 / $58 which includes taxes.

Whilst you guys in the US are always cheaper in terms of goods. In the mobile / cell market you are truly being ripped off.

Your whole country is size of ones of our states. I'm sorry, but I think it's cheaper to run your network then ours.

I'm not saying I want to pay more, but I understand why I have to. Even here in China, I'm paying some $30 for like 3GB, so not exactly cheap either. Costs of running a huge network.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

This breaks down if you tether (unlimited plans block it and they bitch at you if you use workarounds) or have more than one line, though, like a tablet.

Not for me at least. I've done the math. I save $60 a year but lose unlimited data on my iPhone and iPad. ATT wins, esp if I run over.

 

[aristobrat]

I can't believe how costly data plans are in the USA ! I pay 15.99€/month for 20 GB...

The land mass of Europe is roughly the same size as the land mass of the United States. The monthly plans of the major US carriers (like AT&T) work the same no matter where you travel within the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).

Does your plan work the same no matter where you travel in Europe? Can you travel to [Ireland, Portugal, Serbia, the western part of Russia, Finland, Iceland, Estonia] and use your data and all of your calling features without any surcharge?

 

[cameronjpu]

The land mass of Europe is roughly the same size as the land mass of the United States. The monthly plans of the major US carriers (like AT&T) work the same no matter where you travel within the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).

Does your plan work the same no matter where you travel in Europe? Can you travel to [Ireland, Portugal, Serbia, the western part of Russia, Finland, Iceland, Estonia] and use your data and all of your calling features without any surcharge?

They never answer when you ask this. Sucks to have your argument destroyed

I wonder if they ever conpare their prices to sub Saharan Africa's?

 

[Rigby]

Wow, AT&T has finally made a plan that works for me! One device, ~2GB data, tethering. That is all I wanted and I finally got it at a decent price.

$25 for device and $40 for the 2GB Mobile share, $65 a month. My current AT&T plan was $80 after 17% discount and taxes/fees, for limited minutes/texts and 3GB of data.

Same here. This is actually a great deal. I had the 450 minute plan without tethering and pay-per-use texting. Now I have unlimited calling, texting, and tethering for $5 less (albeit with 2GB instead of 3, but I never used that much anyway).

Apparently if you have an already existing contract they let you get the $25 price.

Confirmed. I just switched and got the $25 rate. This is a great deal for those who recently started a new contract (I still have 18 months left on mine). Basically, I don't have to pay the remaining phone subsidy payments. I wanted to get off contract anyway, so this works out really well for me. Thanks AT&T (and T-Mobile ).

To stay on I think you will either have to use Next or up it to the $40 plan, but the main thing was that I wanted tethering with my already limited data...

Of course. If you want a new phone for a subsized price going forward, you'll have to pay Next or the contract rate. Personally I will simply buy my future phones for full retail.

 

[T5BRICK]

So i called and its going to cost me the Same $80 month because i am in a 2 year contract until october 19th of this year. Sucks. Was told i cant get $15 or $25 rate with the $40 Data Single line Package? ill just wait until october.....

Whoever you spoke with was wrong. If you last upgraded your phone prior to 3/8/2014, you're eligible for the $25 rate.

 

[LV426]

Unless of course, a government bean counter decides that you don't need it...or you don't die from something else during the sometimes years long wait to actually get the medical treatment that you do need. No thanks, but you can keep the socialized medicine.

Keep living in your fantasy world. My friend had an assessment in respect of her bad hip last week. She'll be getting a replacement hip in the middle of May. In the US, she would likely be a cripple for the rest of her life. So you, in fact, can shove your private healthcare where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[john123]

That's the point. Off contract. They aren't hiding it, they are separating the two. Device and phone. Bring your own or buy one from them through next. Not that hard to figure out. People will bitch about anything. They lower the price and wah wah wah. Good god.

You say they aren't hiding it, but the implications for potential switchers are also not immediately obvious. I'm sure there will be people who have been on a 450min+2GB+texting plan for a while who jump at this opportunity to "save money," only to find out when their upgrade comes along that they no longer can. And the economics on that are quite a bit more attractive, assuming you're in the habit of selling your old phone and upgrading on queue every two years.

 

[LV426]

The land mass of Europe is roughly the same size as the land mass of the United States. The monthly plans of the major US carriers (like AT&T) work the same no matter where you travel within the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).

Does your plan work the same no matter where you travel in Europe? Can you travel to [Ireland, Portugal, Serbia, the western part of Russia, Finland, Iceland, Estonia] and use your data and all of your calling features without any surcharge?

My UK data plan allows me to make calls and get online anywhere in the US for exactly the same that it does when I'm at home. Oh, and the same is true should I happen to be in Austria, Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Macau, the Republic of Ireland, Sri Lanka or Sweden.

Funny how my provider can do that and give me unlimited data for less than £20 a month, isn't it?

 

[Derek87]

I am in the same boat as you (I have 450 plan + 2GB Data + 200 messages).

Just make sure you're not planning to get a new iPhone 6 this fall and buy them for $199 subsidized price because if you do that, the +25/mo device fee is going to increase to $40.

Unless you're planning to buy the phone unlocked from Apple or do the AT&T Next program and basically paid installment for 20 months amounted to full price of the phone to keep the device fee at $25

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Remember the FAN discount usually only eligible for the plan fee and not the device fee.

You had the same 450 + 2gb + 200 text plan that i decided to keep. my FAN discount applies to the first two and costs me $58.29 before taxes.

this new plan would be $57.80 and give me tethering and unlimited minutes and texts. the former of these is welcomed, but the unlimited minutes and texts don't help me much.

as you note, if i want an iphone 6 in the autumn, then the new plan would go up to $72.80.

for me, it make the most sense to stick with my old plan unless i think tethering is worth $14.51/mo.

 

[fark]

Funny how my provider can do that and give me unlimited data for less than £20 a month, isn't it?

It's irrelevant, not funny.

 

[illutionz]

Okay I renewed my 2 year contract in October of 2012, and was told it will be $40 not $25 so is that not true?

Huh? What do you mean? If you are still under contract and switching now, it should be $25, however, if you decided to get a new contract this fall for new phone or whatnot, it will go up to $40 unless you use AT&T Next.

----------

You had the same 450 + 2gb + 200 text plan that i decided to keep. my FAN discount applies to the first two and costs me $58.29 before taxes.

this new plan would be $57.80 and give me tethering and unlimited minutes and texts. the former of these is welcomed, but the unlimited minutes and texts don't help me much.

as you note, if i want an iphone 6 in the autumn, then the new plan would go up to $72.80.

for me, it make the most sense to stick with my old plan unless i think tethering is worth $14.51/mo.

Exactly my thought! I did the same exact math as you and it makes absolutely no sense for me to switch because if that's the case, in order to keep the plan cheaper, I will have to start buying full price phone or use AT&T Next program which is basically buying phone at full price anyway. Makes 0 sense.

PS: Damn your FAN discount is big! Mine is only 21%

 

[JulienNantes]

The land mass of Europe is roughly the same size as the land mass of the United States. The monthly plans of the major US carriers (like AT&T) work the same no matter where you travel within the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).

Does your plan work the same no matter where you travel in Europe? Can you travel to [Ireland, Portugal, Serbia, the western part of Russia, Finland, Iceland, Estonia] and use your data and all of your calling features without any surcharge?

Good question. I have no idea. And I have no idea because last time I traveled outside of my country was like 10 years ago... So paying an extra 40€/month for such a rare event would be a bit sad.

Ok, I just took a look at the contract, and it would cost around 0.27€/mn for a call, and 0.51€/MB for data from a european country. This is not cheap. But again, traveling is not something you do every day. Also this is evolving very fast, currently (just a few years ago, we also had very costly data plans.)

They never answer when you ask this. Sucks to have your argument destroyed

I wonder if they ever conpare their prices to sub Saharan Africa's?

Well, "they" can't when they're sleeping or at work, you know... Plus you could be a little bit more civil, thank you : we're not here to be insulting or aggressive. MacRumors is read by people from all around the world, and european readers are surprised by this article, obviously.

 

[cameronjpu]

Good question. I have no idea. And I have no idea because last time I traveled outside of my country was like 10 years ago... So paying an extra 40€/month for such a rare event would be a bit sad.

Ok, I just took a look at the contract, and it would cost around 0.27€/mn for a call, and 0.51€/MB for data from a european country. This is not cheap. But again, traveling is not something you do every day. Also this is evolving very fast, currently (just a few years ago, we also had very costly data plans.)


Well, "they" can't when they're sleeping or at work, you know... Plus you could be a little bit more civil, thank you : we're not here to be insulting or aggressive. MacRumors is read by people from all around the world, and european readers are surprised by this article, obviously.

Heh... There goes the myth of the isolated American and the worldly euro and you might want to read some of your continental neighbors' rude posts above before you say what you're all here to be because insulting and aggressive fit the bill pretty well

 

[guzhogi]

Your whole country is size of ones of our states. I'm sorry, but I think it's cheaper to run your network then ours.

This kind of argument always confuses me a little. Sure, the total cost of the network in the UK probably costs less than the US, but that doesn't take into account the amount of customers, either. The US may have to have a bigger network to cover the entire area, but the US also probably has a lot more customers, too. So I think a better comparison is cost of network per capita rather than total cost.

 

[mgb1120]

Huh? What do you mean? If you are still under contract and switching now, it should be $25, however, if you decided to get a new contract this fall for new phone or whatnot, it will go up to $40 unless you use AT&T Next.

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Exactly my thought! I did the same exact math as you and it makes absolutely no sense for me to switch because if that's the case, in order to keep the plan cheaper, I will have to start buying full price phone or use AT&T Next program which is basically buying phone at full price anyway. Makes 0 sense.

PS: Damn your FAN discount is big! Mine is only 21%

Yes I'm in a two year contract until October and I've called 10 times and get the same answer of $40 not $25, frustrated. Going to att store today. Should be $40, $25 $65 total plus my 18% discount.

 

[aristobrat]

This kind of argument always confuses me a little. Sure, the total cost of the network in the UK probably costs less than the US, but that doesn't take into account the amount of customers, either. The US may have to have a bigger network to cover the entire area, but the US also probably has a lot more customers, too. So I think a better comparison is cost of network per capita rather than total cost.

FWIW, the United States has 40x more land than the UK does, but only 5x more people than the UK does. I don't think that helps the per capita cost.

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Good question. I have no idea. And I have no idea because last time I traveled outside of my country was like 10 years ago... So paying an extra 40€/month for such a rare event would be a bit sad.

Many areas of the US have smaller "regional" carriers that usually offer less expensive plans for people who don't frequently travel outside of their "general area" in the US.

 

[unplugme71]

I'm sure the rate drop works for regular phone users and not just Next or Pay in Full up front.

My AT&T bill dropped a LOT on the family plan. I'm saving a boat load of money per year now.

23% employer and $45 less (rate drop). That's almost 75 in savings per month!

 

[Derek87]

Huh? What do you mean? If you are still under contract and switching now, it should be $25, however, if you decided to get a new contract this fall for new phone or whatnot, it will go up to $40 unless you use AT&T Next.

----------



Exactly my thought! I did the same exact math as you and it makes absolutely no sense for me to switch because if that's the case, in order to keep the plan cheaper, I will have to start buying full price phone or use AT&T Next program which is basically buying phone at full price anyway. Makes 0 sense.

PS: Damn your FAN discount is big! Mine is only 21%

Ha! My discount is 18%:

(39.99 nation 450 + 25 2gb data )0.82 + 5 text200 = $58.29/mo

 

[Rigby]

Two more goodies for switchers:

- Until 3/31, you can get a $100 bill credit for activating an additional line on the mobile share plan and keeping it active for 45 days. So you can e.g. activate an iPad for $10/month, and either cancel after 2 cycles and pocket $80, or get 10 months of free iPad service.

- You also get 50GB of cloud storage for free.

 

[KdParker]

This is great…. they are in a price-lowering war to attract customers!

I really wanted to thank T-Mobile primarily for stimulating this round of "price cut wars".

Let's keep this going carrier war going.

Waiting on Verizon to let me upgrade early to get new iPhone 6 (if there is a new form factor) on two of my lines.

 

[conigs]

Almost, but not quite

This is almost worth it for me, but not quite.

I'm still on an old 450 minute/200 text/300MB plan (plus 200 text/300MB for 2nd line). I upgrade every two years, the second line about every three. The new plans are about an extra $8/month more when averaging out the cost of the phones per month of life (with either Next or full price). If on-contract it's an extra $25/month. I could maybe work the numbers more to get closer if I bought the iPhones on ebay a few month after launch and avoid contract, but the savings just aren't there—it looks to be maybe $1 or $2 cheaper per month overall.

That said, this is only true because I'm on older plans and especially and older text message plan.

 

[The Oak]

For a single phone ...

I have my iPhone 5 with AIO ... $35 (unlimited calling and texting ... .5MB data).

I also have 2 iPads on Verizon ... $50 (4GB + tethering/hotspot).

So ... if I really need to tether or FaceTime ... I use my iPad ... which is better suited for tethering due to its larger battery anyway. (The wife uses the second iPad and she barely goes outside of the house with it.) For work, when I travel ... I actually tether/hotspot quite a bit. Depending on the hotel the internet charges can be quite high.

Now ... current AT&T prices for my same 3 devices would also be $85, but that would only be 2GB shared. Also ... if I needed more data ... to jump 2 GB to 4GB is $30 (ouch!). Currently with my iPad setup on Verizon, if I want to jump 2 GB to 6GB ... only $10 more.

I feel I am getting the best of both worlds here. My GSM phone gets AT&T coverage on AIO. My iPads get Verizon coverage for data. Even with the combined costs, I get more bang for my buck.