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AT&T + FAN + Unlimited + Subsidy RANT!
- Thread starter Sonmi451
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Customers and the FCC fought ATT. So ATT went the legal route and stuck it to their customers. Not saying this is good of them, but I am also surprised the heyday of unlimited lasted as long as it did, to be quite frank.
Back when the plan originated, ATT was barely rolling out 3G. Tech moved fast and a ton of money went into contrntly upgrading towers and they want to see a huge return on this. They tried limiting your data, which worked for a while, but with the FCC forcing their hand, they've essentially decided to get rid of something that NOBODY can force them to keep; the subsidy. And while they were are it, raised prices by $5 a month.
FCC intervention here was probably worse, overall for current customers, but they squashed a dangerous precedent, which was calling something unlimited and then limiting it. Interested to see what they decide regarding TMO and binge on / music freedom.
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Depends on what sort of service OP is willing to deal with. If TMO or Sprint work out in his favor, he will get more data for less with those two. It won't be unlimited, but ATT wasn't really unlimited for a while (he even mentioned his 5GB throttle, so for all intents and purposes his unlimited was 5GB with no overages).
Yes about the subsidy part. They're all done with them.
But if I stay with the same plan on AT&T it will be more expensive now compared to T-Mobile for example that has unlimited data plans too for way less than AT&T.
I was ok with the $5 increase for unlimited data, but I also plan to leave AT&T now that they will no longer subsidize phones. My family members are very light users. They are all on the old 200 or 300MB plans, since everyone almost always has access to WiFi. I have the unlimited plan but only use 2-3GB per month, sometimes less. Nobody texts except me, and I'm on the $5 200 SMS plan.
My total bill on FamilyTalk 700 before taxes and with the FAN discount is $156. If I switch to the 5GB MobileShare Value plan while the lines are all still on contract, I would pay about $200 before tax with the FAN discount. Even if I were to wait until all the contracts are fulfilled, I would still pay $140, which isn't much of a savings at all, and I still wouldn't get subsidized phones.
I don't need unlimited minutes, and I don't need unlimited texting. 2GB isn't quite enough, and 5GB is too much. I could even get on Verizon's 3GB plan for $116 after corporate discount, since they only charge $20 per line. T-Mobile is even cheaper, but I'm a bit worried about the coverage. I guess I'll just wait a bit until the contracts are up and then decide.
My total bill on FamilyTalk 700 before taxes and with the FAN discount is $156. If I switch to the 5GB MobileShare Value plan while the lines are all still on contract, I would pay about $200 before tax with the FAN discount. Even if I were to wait until all the contracts are fulfilled, I would still pay $140, which isn't much of a savings at all, and I still wouldn't get subsidized phones.
I don't need unlimited minutes, and I don't need unlimited texting. 2GB isn't quite enough, and 5GB is too much. I could even get on Verizon's 3GB plan for $116 after corporate discount, since they only charge $20 per line. T-Mobile is even cheaper, but I'm a bit worried about the coverage. I guess I'll just wait a bit until the contracts are up and then decide.
Actually that's $450 over two years, which works out to an extra $18.75 a month.
Yes it blows, but I use a lot of data in an area where AT&T is the only carrier that gets reception, let alone decent reception (consistantly 6 M/bits sec with 3 bars where all others get zero). I upgraded my phone just before they ended the subsidized plans, and I plan to make the most of it. I don't think there's any plan out there that can compete with what I have at the moment, considering my recent data use (I have yet to be throttled, even when I'm in a major metropolitan area).
I had Verizon before I switched over to AT&T for the iPhone. I really wouldn't recommend switching to Verizon unless you know they have better service in your area. Both companies are terrible when it comes to screwing over their customers with Verizon usually being worse than AT&T. The plans are nearly identical and not worth the hassle of switching over. (Do they still do that crap where they double charge on the first months service?).
If I was in your shoes, I would either wait for AT&T to have another double data or something promotion. Or goto T-Mobile and get the 6GB per line deal for 4 lines at $120 a month (or 140 for 5, not sure ow many lines you have). This obviously depends on quality of your T-Mo service.
I don't need double data or 6GB per line. I want a plan that's equivalent in price to the $156 I'm paying now for 4 lines minus the $18.75x4=$75 in subsidies that I'm now losing. I know I won't find a plan that offers 4 lines for $81, but the point is that even AT&T's cheapest 300MB MobileShare Plan with 4 lines will run me $120.
AT&T needs to drop the per like charge to $15 for all their plans, and then their smaller data plans will be reasonable. For example, it doesn't make sense that 15GB for 4 lines is $160 but 5GB for 4 lines is $150. If you have FAN discount, then it's $140 for both plans.
I think you are missing the point. Your current price is $156 per month and the cost of your subsidies is a moot point now. The subsidies are gone and the carriers have decided to raise their bottom lines. So all you can do is look at the best deals available.
AT&T and Verizon aren't know for good deals either. So expecting AT&T to give you a great deal at a low low price is very much wishful thinking. All carriers want to upsell you to the more profitable plans.
With AT&T it's 15GB for 160 before fan n taxes.
Verizon is 3GB / 4 lines for 125 or 6GB for 140.
T-Mobile is 4 lines of 6GB per line for 120 a month, hence why I suggested it. Cuz that is the best deal.
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I mentioned that I was considering T-Mobile. I just don't need 6GB per line. They also have 4 lines of 2GB per line for $100, which I'm willing to pay for, but I'm worried that I won't be happy with the coverage.
That's 20 dollars for 3x the data. And 2GB is borderline unusable while 6GB is pretty good for moderate usage.
Get a T-Mobile pay as you go sim, put 20 bucks on it or something and test out the network in your area.
So much for the adage that technology gets cheaper as time goes by. These carriers should be required to wear masks and carry weapons.
Do T-Mobile prepaid and postpaid customers get access to the same towers? I know that AT&T GoPhone users don't seem to get the same coverage as AT&T postpaid users in rural areas were roaming might be needed.
To play devil's advocate, this plan had no rate increase in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, or 2015.
I get your initial shell shock from seeing a 20% rate increase, but at some point, logic's got to kick in that a rate that has gone for that many years with no increase isn't going to last forever.
You lost me with "worse services".
Services when the plan you're on came out consisted of analog voice with EDGE data speeds for most (100kbps if you were lucky). 3G was just starting to pilot in a few major markets.
Services today have LTE deployed in all major markets (digital voice in most), 4G in most rural areas (with LTE deployment to these areas still continuing today).
IMO, cutting the cord is about accepting "lesser TV" for a reduced monthly bill. You have the same option with cellular by using one of the MVNO carriers mentioned in this thread instead of sticking with one of the top tier carriers.
Verizon, the company that got rid of the subsidy on their unlimited plans back in 2012 (iPhone 5 days), and increased the unlimited monthly plan price by $20/month last October?
If how AT&T handled changes to their unlimited plan made you as frustrated as some of your posts sound, I'm not sure Verizon would be a good choice (regardless of their current rates).
The irony of all of this is that AT&T's grandfathered unlimited is still the cheapest between the top two carriers.
In my case the subsidy by itself was 50% increase in cost and total was 58% with udp price increase. T-Moble is about a 20% price increase from AT&T udp. FYI the current unlimited plan is based on the $30 3G data plan of 2008, not 07. And inflation since 2008 has been 10%. Not even close.
In 2007 when those 3G networks were just starting to take off SSDs were $40 per GB and now they are 36C per GB. You don't think the cell technology has come down in price too since LTE went mainstream 2012. That's economics 101, prices go down over time. The fact that the prices are going up here is a redflag that competition ain't happening.
Defending AT&T with Verizon? Really. I guess if that helps you sleep better at night.
I don't know the exact details but you don't want to test roaming. You really want native coverage.
Expensive? Sprint is around $100 with the included lease/easy pay. I was paying $120 for t-mobile and Verizon I was paying $130 a month all before you add in taxes and I had the unlimited data for $70 with t-mobile and 10gb with Verizon. Sprint service for me is pretty good in NYC with averaging around 10 Mbps in most places. Service coverage itself is pretty good as well with rarely any dead spots outside at least for me.
It isn't economics 101 ..... Quite the opposite. Assuming these companies are all correct and they are having bandwidth issues then yes the cost will just go up. You can't expect it to lower in price if there is going to be more congestion on their networks.
Sprint unlimited is 250 a month for 4 lines vs 180 at T-Mobile as of right now.
I could believe that with T-Mobile since they don't have the resources of AT&T and Verizon.
But AT&T? No. 1st they are offering unlimited yet again so clearly they got a lot of capacity left. 2nd they are spending less on towers than in the past, like 21% less this year. 3rd, they said that they don't care about being competitive / pursuing customers.
AT&T isn't unlimited data .... They are offering it for people who have direct tv and want AT&T cellphone service . I for one can't have direct tv because we aren't allowed to have it in my building. 2nd towers and all that means nothing ..... Capacity is still capacity and if they are having congestion issues then they aren't going to lower prices. Mix it in with inflation your never going to see a decrease. Your lucky they didn't increase the cost years ago. You wanna cry about it go ask a Verizon customer who still has their unlimited data .... Had to buy their phones full price and increase to $50 dollars.
It just seems like you (and articocrat too) completely ignore obvious facts in favoring of defending AT&T (or Verizon's) blatant abuses of monopoly power. Again AT&T has cut infrastructure spending, they are offering unlimited again, they said they don't care about being competitive and they are even rolling out Band 30 for areas with contestation. So clearly capacity is not an issue.
No I took a macroeconomics class so I know more then you
They aren't offering unlimited data once again ... They are offering it to people who HAVE direct tv. I can't walk into an AT&T store and ask for it. Also I don't give a crap about Verizon or AT&T because they both are equally expensive. You need to stop whining about it. Verizon got shafted worse then you.
Considering you probably don't work for AT&T you don't know how bad congestion is or not with them so your just assuming with opinions not facts.
Also to your third point earlier they are being competitive otherwise why would they offer the mobile share plans .... They were in response to Verizon. AT&T next ? A response to T-Mobile. I can go on as well.
That explains a lot. Especially considering this is micro not macro economics.No I took a macroeconomics class so I know more then you
I don't understand your point? That's called a scam. Instead of giving it to everyone, they are forcing people to be on two of their services so they can make even more profit. AT&T spent billions to purchase Directv and now they want to recoup their money.
News articles are everywhere:
AT&T doesn't care about cutting prices: http://www.cnet.com/news/as-wireless-wars-cool-down-at-t-says-it-wont-chase-customers/
AT&T is spending 21% less this year and deploying Band 30 (aka 2.3Ghz WCS): http://www.fiercewireless.com/story...-capex-likely-will-be-down-21-2014/2015-11-23
Connect the dots.