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AT&T Introduces New Smartphone Data Plans w/3GB and 5GB Options

Just like with Bank of America's debit card fee, consumers should make a stand by threatening (or even going through) canceling their service.

You can email AT&T's president Randall Stephenson at rs2982@att.com
 
Why do these companies keep increasing their fees? First Comcast (their triple play service went from $130 to $140 this month, and their HD fee increased a dollar!), now at&t! Thank goodness my current 250MB/month plan is being grandfathered in. It's the perfect plan and price for me. I will under no circumstances pay any more than $15 a month for some data. They are forcing us to spend at least $20 now, and although they do allow more data, who said I needed it? They are essentially just raising their fees as far as I'm concerned.

If these companies keep increasing their prices, customers are going to start fighting back. There comes a point where these things just aren't worth the money they're asking for it. That time is getting awfully close.
 
Dear ATT,

I was a T Mobile customer and switched to ATT for the iPhone 3G. I have been a loyal ATT customer ever since and luckily was smart enough to keep my unlimited data plan (until you find a way to take it away too). When the iPad 3 comes out next month I will be buying one with a 3G/4G connection and will be getting the Verizon model because your service sucks and your attitude towards your customers sucks more. Thank you for making my decision easier and go ******* yourself.

Sincerely,

A customer who you ran off due to your BS schemes. :mad::mad::mad:
 
MattMJB0188 said:
Well yes, that goes for any carrier. But it seems no one is mentioning the fact that Verizon is more $$$ for less now. I know many places with excellent AT&T coverage and poor Verizon coverage.

Consumer reports doesn't mean anything btw. Obviously AT&T is doing something right if they are still the second largest carrier in the country. The ones leaving are the cry babies who are being throttled.
Click to expand...

My main complaint with them was the fact that my iPhone keps saying "Could not connect to the cellular data network" or something like that, even after 3+ new iPhones from Apple. Really, I shouldn't be complaining because my boss pays for the service...
 
While I may not have a fast connection with my unlocked 4s, I do have $50/mo unlimited talk, text and internet with T-Mobile.
 
NoHo said:
Haha. Get outta here.

You act like AT&T is on the verge of going bankrupt because they're so good to their customers and always give them what they want. And their customers are greedy spoiled brats.

Quite the contrary. AT&T is making record profit thanks to the bills they send us each month. But they want MORE. They don't want their customers to get used to using the devices they already paid for, whenever they want and however they want.

They want their customers to pay them to use their devices for as much as AT&T allows them to in order to maximize profit.

You really think AT&T is implementing tiered pricing because they are losing money and are about to go under? Not a chance. They introduced tiered pricing to maximize profit because they know that in the future, everything will be digital and they can make a killing by charging their customers for how much they use rather than charging them to let them use as much as they want.
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1) I never said they were losing money, I clearly stated in:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14180781/

That tiered pricing helps manage the limited bandwidth available at each tower - did you read that? no you didn't.

2) Learn how accounting works - here is a small clue, what they report isn't on a 'cash in cash out' basis; there is a lot of accounting wizardry and voodoo that takes place to make the numbers appear better than they are especially when it comes to counting contracts and forward looking in terms of future growth.
 
NoHo said:
Haha. Get outta here.

You act like AT&T is on the verge of going bankrupt because they're so good to their customers and always give them what they want. And their customers are greedy spoiled brats.

Quite the contrary. AT&T is making record profit thanks to the bills they send us each month. But they want MORE. They don't want their customers to get used to using the devices they already paid for, whenever they want and however they want.

They want their customers to pay them to use their devices for as much as AT&T allows them to in order to maximize profit.

You really think AT&T is implementing tiered pricing because they are losing money and are about to go under? Not a chance. They introduced tiered pricing to maximize profit because they know that in the future, everything will be digital and they can make a killing by charging their customers for how much they use rather than charging them to let them use as much as they want.
Click to expand...

Isn't the purpose of a business to maximize profits? I think they're doing a good job at that if you ask me. Until laws change in the US, it is pointless to keep arguing over small price changes. Our only recourse as consumers is to switch to a new carrier. Problem is that Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile will probably also follow suit and raise their data prices. I don't blame the telecom companies (They aren't breaking any laws and are maximizing profits), I blame our government for letting this happen.
 
AJH1993 said:
My main complaint with them was the fact that my iPhone keps saying "Could not connect to the cellular data network" or something like that, even after 3+ new iPhones from Apple. Really, I shouldn't be complaining because my boss pays for the service...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't care so much if AT&T's 3G was fast and coverage was good in my area.
 
applefan289 said:
Why do these companies keep increasing their fees?
Click to expand...
It's probably greed. Or maybe it's inflation.

How much was a gallon of unleaded gas in 1992? A bushel of wheat? An ounce of gold? 1982? 1972? 1962?

I'm not defending corporations, but clearly you are not taking into account all of the various factors that control consumer product pricing. Your shrill, harpy-like ranting might be fine for some tech rumors forum (just to evoke some sort of knee-jerk sympathy), but may be inadequate if you're trying to convince people who will run all the numbers.

Your chutzpah might be more motivating to people who aren't paying close attention to what you are actually saying.
 
BornToMac said:
Dear ATT,

I was a T Mobile customer and switched to ATT for the iPhone 3G. I have been a loyal ATT customer ever since and luckily was smart enough to keep my unlimited data plan (until you find a way to take it away too). When the iPad 3 comes out next month I will be buying one with a 3G/4G connection and will be getting the Verizon model because your service sucks and your attitude towards your customers sucks more. Thank you for making my decision easier and go ******* yourself.

Sincerely,

A customer who you ran off due to your BS schemes. :mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...
Hmmm.

So you're going to pay Verizon $30/mo for a 2GB iPad data plan because you consider AT&T's new $30/mo for 3GB iPad data plan to be a BS scheme?
 
cvaldes said:
It's probably greed. Or maybe it's inflation.

How much was a gallon of unleaded gas in 1992? A bushel of wheat? An ounce of gold? 1982? 1972? 1962?

I'm not defending corporations, but clearly you are not taking into account all of the various factors that control consumer product pricing. Your shrill, harpy-like ranting might be fine for some tech rumors forum (just to evoke some sort of knee-jerk sympathy), but may be inadequate if you're trying to convince people who will run all the numbers.

Your chutzpah might be more motivating to people who aren't paying close attention to what you are actually saying.
Click to expand...

Wait...someone actually read my post? Thanks for the critique.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but one has to wonder if Verizon will now add the third gig to their plan to compete.
 
joeshmo2010 said:
Omg it's a whole FIVE DOLLARS extra a month. Calm the eff down.
Click to expand...

Pshh, yeah what a bunch of whiners. AT&T is totally justified in charging more as their user base increases and they make more money off consumers in a tough economy.
Especially since emerging technologies continue to make things cheaper for them...wait, WTF?!


Ps: Since it's no big deal, mind if I have $5 a month...for two years?
 
AJH1993 said:
AT&T 3G is good for downloading files, but for browsing the web... smh.
Click to expand...
SMH? Yeah, if you're browsing a mostly text site like Craiglist (or the forums here), Verizon's lower-latency 3G network might pop the page a second or two before AT&T, but if you hit a page that has some graphics to "download", or if you're waiting for an app like Facebook, Flipboard, or any of the major news sites to "refresh", AT&T's 3G network has always finished the job noticeably more quickly for me.

My iPhone is Verizon. My iPad is AT&T. I see the difference in speed every freaking day, and it's not just "web browsing" where AT&T's faster 3G speeds can make a noticeable difference.
 
MacDevil7334 said:
On it's face, your analysis is correct. However, you miss the fact that most people use less than 1GB of data a month, and almost never go over 2 GB. By forcing them to pay $30 for 3GB, AT&T is forcing customers to pay more money for data they likely won't use, even though customers are technically getting a better rate.

And for the record, the $20 for 300MB is the biggest ripoff I've seen in a long time! That comes out to $66.67 per GB!!!
Click to expand...

I feel the same way about having to pay for 450 talk minutes every month when I use maybe 30 of them.
 
MrNomNoms said:
Learn how accounting works - here is a small clue, what they report isn't on a 'cash in cash out' basis; there is a lot of accounting wizardry and voodoo that takes place to make the numbers appear better than they are especially when it comes to counting contracts and forward looking in terms of future growth.
Click to expand...

So AT&T is losing money and unless their loyal customers pay more money for less data, then the stockholders and CEO's of this conglomerate are going to be laying brick and digging ditches?
 
aristobrat said:
SMH? Yeah, if you're browsing a mostly text site like Craiglist (or the forums here), Verizon's lower-latency 3G network might pop the page a second or two before AT&T, but if you hit a page that has some graphics to "download", or if you're waiting for an app like Facebook, Flipboard, or any of the major news sites to "refresh", AT&T's 3G network has always finished the job noticeably more quickly for me.

My iPhone is Verizon. My iPad is AT&T. I see the difference in speed every freaking day, and it's not just "web browsing" where AT&T's faster 3G speeds can make a noticeable difference.
Click to expand...

Depends on your area. Here's my Thunderbolt tethered to my Mac Mini on 3G.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zemz9zPwGwo
 
AJH1993 said:
Depends on your area. Here's my Thunderbolt tethered to my Mac Mini on 3G.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zemz9zPwGwo
Click to expand...
I'm sitting in Virginia's largest city, with 4 bars of service on both of my devices. Just did speedtest.net

Verizon 3G = .67mbps down.
AT&T 3G = 5.15mpbs down.

From Boston down to VA, I've never really seen Verizon 3G much faster than 1.5mpbs down.

Your Thunderbolt is 4g, no?
 

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why can't they keep the current data plans?

i have the 200mb, now i have to decide whether I should get the 2gb plan now or not.
 
You didn't think that AT&T would so easily let go of the T-mobile deal, now did you??? The amount of money they have to pay T-mobile for the deal not going through, legal fees, oh and not going to forget the customary admin. fees incurred :D! Those short falls have to be covered, irrespective of the huge profits they make or are forecasting(that is the only way the CEO gets to keep his job and bonus) :)
 
aristobrat said:
I'm sitting in Virginia's largest city, with 4 bars of service on both of my devices. Just did speedtest.net

Verizon 3G = .67mbps down.
AT&T 3G = 5.15mpbs down.

From Boston down to VA, I've never really seen Verizon 3G much faster than 1.5mpbs down.

Your Thunderbolt is 4g, no?
Click to expand...

Yes
yallniggazjelly.jpg


I've gotten that slow on my Thunderbolt... doesn't seem that slow. When I had a 4S on Verizon it seemed less than earth-shattering too, but it still didn't seem slow.
 
I'm waiting for the iPhone 5

Hopefully it will have 4g and be available on many carriers so I won't be forced to pick AT&T
 
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