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AT&T Launches Lower-Cost Mobile Share Value Plans for Families
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well what are you trying to do exactly? get a new phone under subsidy now and get the $15 rate?
This is correct. I switched plans yesterday. 3 iPhones, $100 for the 10GB plan, $15 per phone=$145 total, less my 20% fan discount. Saving me quite a bit, and it has now officially showed up on my "MyATT" page for my account. All of the phones were still within the 2 year subsidized plans and they switched over with no issues.
I gave up unlimited data on my line for it, but very worth it to me for this. I'm not worried about replacing the phones down the road as frankly I'm not the type that needs to upgrade right away. If the iPhone 6 comes out this fall, I'll wait till at least next summer, or when something happens to my current phone, to replace it. Even then, I'd rather buy the phone outright and have a lower monthly bill. just easier to manage for me.
I'm actually just trying to save money overall, and happen to have an iPhone 5 that I bought last Sept, and my wife just upgraded to a 5s last month. ATT online shows that I can upgrade to this 10GB plan and pay only $15/mo, but these are technically subsidized phones so it just seems too good to be true.
So, not trying to do anything shady. Just trying to figure out how ATT can offer me nearly double the data and I'll pay almost $30 less a month.
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Great to hear! I'll check my account page tomorrow to verify.
I guess in the future it will finally get to the point where they'll force us off the unlimited data plans when we upgrade. Crossing my fingers but I always feel that day is just around the corner!
Chris
bc going forward you won't be able to get a new phone at a subsidized price and keep the $15/monthly charge per device. it will be $40 under the new plan. you will either have to do NEXT, buy the phone outright, or subsidize it and pay the $40 fee.
Trust me, I'll be using every bit of that 10GB. I am paying for it afterall.
Yes, I've been on unlimited since the iPhone launched, but I've been weening myself off of all the data I used in anticipation that I'll have to switch carriers (for lower prices) that no longer offer unlimited data or that AT&T will force everyone off of grandfathered unlimited. For the last 6 months, I've used only 2-3GB's a month so I figured now would be a great time to switch to T-Mobile. Now with these new plans, I don't' have to and I can stick with AT&T as they have the best service in my city.
I think I'll just let Dropbox, Evernote, and my other cloud apps sync even without Wi-fi. I'm living dangerously.
Yes, I've been on unlimited since the iPhone launched, but I've been weening myself off of all the data I used in anticipation that I'll have to switch carriers (for lower prices) that no longer offer unlimited data or that AT&T will force everyone off of grandfathered unlimited. For the last 6 months, I've used only 2-3GB's a month so I figured now would be a great time to switch to T-Mobile. Now with these new plans, I don't' have to and I can stick with AT&T as they have the best service in my city.
I think I'll just let Dropbox, Evernote, and my other cloud apps sync even without Wi-fi. I'm living dangerously.
I understand all of that. I just expected ATT to squeeze me for every cent, and since my wife just upgraded her phone a month ago (and got it on sale for $125), I'm stunned they don't want their money back over the next 24 months.
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i think it's a last ditch effort to try to keep folks around. how many people are now willing to leave AT&T when they don't have a contract anymore like tmobile and the prices are pretty reasonable? sure i hate paying high prices like the next guy....but one thing is for sure with AT&T....their network is awesome for me. I have actually thought about leaving AT&T for tmobile, but the service is so great for me that paying a little more for that is better than any headaches tmobile would bring.
What they are counting on is you being happy for the time being and sticking with their plan. Where they start really making their money is you subsidize with them again. If you stuck with your old plan and subsidized it'd be a little cheaper etc.
i'm just glad they are separating the devices from the service. i wanna upgrade when i wanna upgrade. glad they are now making it a little bit cheaper for people. i'd rather have money to go apple than AT&T
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I see a lot of people doing the math with new full-priced iPhones factored in. I'd be curious to see how many minds will change when faced with such a high ticket price when the time comes. The enthusiasts on this forum will probably pay the premium, but I think this could be troubling for Apple since many won't see a $300 difference between iPhone and Nexus or whatever quality Android phones are out there - especially given how well Kitkat stands up to iOS 7 in terms of performance, functionality, and flexibility. When I had an iPhone 4, the gap was huge between it and the Droids at the time. Now I wouldn't trade my Moto X for my wife's iPhone 5s, and it retails at half the price.
It's called competition. Since T-Mobile is prepared to pay your ETF, AT&T has to sweeten the deal for those of us who are still under contract.
well the problem you will get to are the ones who don't understand subsidizing and think that all 16gb iphones cost between $0-$199. i have several family members that were SUPER hesitant to even buy an iphone at $50. they are so used to all these "discounts" and "free phones" that they aren't willing to pay for any devices. It will definitely be sticker shock for those people for sure.
I don't mind forking over the money to Apple. I actually wish this were always the case and you wouldn't have every person and their dog with an iPhone bc they are only "free or $50".
Moto X and Nexus lines are all phones they lose money on to get you into the play store. Google quickly realized and is now dumping Motorola completely...wonder why that is??
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I've actually had great service and coverage in my area under ATT as well.
I also was just ranting how I don't get a discount if I don't upgrade my phone every year or so, and POOF. Here we are.
I'm all for it! Keep the competition coming (you hear that Comcast?!)
i think it's a last ditch effort to try to keep folks around. how many people are now willing to leave AT&T when they don't have a contract anymore like tmobile and the prices are pretty reasonable? sure i hate paying high prices like the next guy....but one thing is for sure with AT&T....their network is awesome for me. I have actually thought about leaving AT&T for tmobile, but the service is so great for me that paying a little more for that is better than any headaches tmobile would bring.
What they are counting on is you being happy for the time being and sticking with their plan. Where they start really making their money is you subsidize with them again. If you stuck with your old plan and subsidized it'd be a little cheaper etc.
i'm just glad they are separating the devices from the service. i wanna upgrade when i wanna upgrade. glad they are now making it a little bit cheaper for people. i'd rather have money to go apple than AT&T
I think this is the case. I thought they were going to tell me that since I just bought the phones, they were going to make me pay $40 a month, but the lady said that since I'm going to the 10GB plan, it's $15. Period. Doesn't matter if you subsidized the phone.
For some people, no longer having to jump through hoops to get their phone data plan to function as a hotspot will be worth the change. What's important to you may not be the determining factor for everyone.
I guess I'm not seeing that as a bad thing. I'll buy whatever unlocked phone I want, when I choose to, and I'll flip the previous year's model to cover part of the cost. I don't need a subsidy to get the initial phone cost lowered, only to pay a higher bill over the course of two years. And I really don't care to be locked into a two year deal for a phone that I'll only keep for one year anyway.
I'm thinking the T-Mobile "We'll pay your ETF to leave AT&T" promotion must have really gotten some traction with existing AT&T customers, and this was designed to stop the hemorrhaging.
Loss leaders will still be there for companies who don't make most of their money on hardware sales. Google's Chromecast and Amazon's Kindle Fire are also sold with little to no margin, but they aren't going anywhere. Moto was purchased primarily for patents, so dumping the handset division isn't surprising. Apple is a device company, so margins on hardware can't come down like they can for Google or Amazon.
I still very willingly pay the premium for iPad over Android tablets. Heck, this year I upgraded my iPad 3 to an Air, bought a Mini Retina for my wife, and helped my mom buy a Mini Retina. The quality gap just isn't there anymore on the phone side in my opinion.
currently i have 10gb mobile shared plan with 8 smartphones....all the 8 lines have 18 more months contract left
here is my math and it suggests me to switch to new plans....please correct me if i am wrong
for 8 lines with the current 10gb plan and subsidy i will be paying
--------------------------------------------------------------
price per line = $30
monthly fee per line = $5.5 on avg
plan cost = 120 - 28% FAN discount = 86.4
per month = ((30*8) + 86.4) + (8 * 5.5)= $370 approx
for 24-months = 370 * 24 = 8880
upfront cost per device = $199+tax(7%) = $213
total upfront cost = 8 * 213 = 1704 (if we upgraded the phones on the release day or 1st 30 days of release....if we upgrade during promotions we can reduce this total cost by at least $800 total)
Total out of pocket cost : 8880 + 1704 = 10584(all lines upgraded @ $199/line) or 8880 + 904 = 9784 (all lines upgraded @ $99.99/line) excluding phones resale value
bill for 2 months after contract = (86.4 + (15 * 8)) * 2 = $412 + tax = $456 approx
Price per line for 24 months = 10584/(24 * 8) = $55 or 9784/(24 * 8) = $51
Price per line for 26 months with subsidy = (10584 + 456)/(26 * 8) = 11040/(26 * 8) = $53 or (9784 + 456)/(26*8) = 10240/(26*8)=$49.23
for 8 lines with the new 10gb plan and NEXT-18 plan(and keeps the phone by paying 26 installments) i will be paying
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price per line = 15 + 25 = $40
monthly fees per line = $5.5 on avg
plan cost = 100 - 28% FAN = $72
per month = ((40 * 8) + 72) = 392 + (5.5 * 8) = $436 approx
per 24-months = 436 * 24 = 10464
extra 2 installments for each phone will be (2 * 25) *8 = $400
Total upfront sales tax for 8 lines = $40 * 8 = $320 minimum
Total out of pocket cost = 10464 + 400 + 320 = 11184 excluding phones resale value
Price per line for 26 months with NEXT = $53.76
by keeping my current subsidized plan i either save $144 or $944 over the period of 26 depending on when i upgrade my phone
If i switch to new 10gb plan i will pay ((15*8) + 72) * 18 = 3456+taxes for the next 18 months
If i don't switch i will pay ((30*8) + 86.4) * 18= 5875+taxes for the next 18 months
if i switch i will be saving $2419 for the next 18 months
so i guess my savings over the next 18 months will compensate for my loss on NEXT plan atleast for 2 * 26-month cycles
here is my math and it suggests me to switch to new plans....please correct me if i am wrong
for 8 lines with the current 10gb plan and subsidy i will be paying
--------------------------------------------------------------
price per line = $30
monthly fee per line = $5.5 on avg
plan cost = 120 - 28% FAN discount = 86.4
per month = ((30*8) + 86.4) + (8 * 5.5)= $370 approx
for 24-months = 370 * 24 = 8880
upfront cost per device = $199+tax(7%) = $213
total upfront cost = 8 * 213 = 1704 (if we upgraded the phones on the release day or 1st 30 days of release....if we upgrade during promotions we can reduce this total cost by at least $800 total)
Total out of pocket cost : 8880 + 1704 = 10584(all lines upgraded @ $199/line) or 8880 + 904 = 9784 (all lines upgraded @ $99.99/line) excluding phones resale value
bill for 2 months after contract = (86.4 + (15 * 8)) * 2 = $412 + tax = $456 approx
Price per line for 24 months = 10584/(24 * 8) = $55 or 9784/(24 * 8) = $51
Price per line for 26 months with subsidy = (10584 + 456)/(26 * 8) = 11040/(26 * 8) = $53 or (9784 + 456)/(26*8) = 10240/(26*8)=$49.23
for 8 lines with the new 10gb plan and NEXT-18 plan(and keeps the phone by paying 26 installments) i will be paying
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
price per line = 15 + 25 = $40
monthly fees per line = $5.5 on avg
plan cost = 100 - 28% FAN = $72
per month = ((40 * 8) + 72) = 392 + (5.5 * 8) = $436 approx
per 24-months = 436 * 24 = 10464
extra 2 installments for each phone will be (2 * 25) *8 = $400
Total upfront sales tax for 8 lines = $40 * 8 = $320 minimum
Total out of pocket cost = 10464 + 400 + 320 = 11184 excluding phones resale value
Price per line for 26 months with NEXT = $53.76
by keeping my current subsidized plan i either save $144 or $944 over the period of 26 depending on when i upgrade my phone
If i switch to new 10gb plan i will pay ((15*8) + 72) * 18 = 3456+taxes for the next 18 months
If i don't switch i will pay ((30*8) + 86.4) * 18= 5875+taxes for the next 18 months
if i switch i will be saving $2419 for the next 18 months
so i guess my savings over the next 18 months will compensate for my loss on NEXT plan atleast for 2 * 26-month cycles
Perhaps we should discuss what you are probably paying for fuel
I'm Australian, so I am used to paying excessive amounts for technology and tech services.
When Adobe CS6 came out, it was actually cheaper to buy a return flight to LA and purchase the Master Collection, than to buy it here in Australia off-the-shelf.
But seriously, Australia is a nation roughly the same geographic size of the US, with only 23 Million people, and our Telco prices are roughly half that in the US.
Contracts and confusing share plans are what trap US consumers into crappy service. Subsidized phones always end up costing the consumer more in call rates/monthly fees than purchasing outright - that's why ALL the carriers do it... it makes them more money.
Buy a phone outright. Choose the cheapest No-Contract plan.
If more Americans did that, then the Telcos would actually have to compete in the market that the consumers choose.
Can someone make sure I'm not missing anything here?
(Everything below does not include any taxes)
Current
10 GB shared + 4 lines + 22% FAN discount
$120(0.78) + $120 = $213.60/month
$299 x 4 = $1196
$1196/24 = $49.83/month
Year One: $3759.20
Year Two: $2563.20
Total in 2 years: $6322.40 or $263.43/month
New plan buying phone outright (selling after 12 months)
10 GB shared + 4 lines + 22% FAN discount
$100(0.78) + $60 = $138/month
$750 x 4 = $3000
Sell each phone for $400: $3000 - ($400 x 4) = $1400
$1400/12 = $116.67
Total in 1 year: $3056 or $254.67/month
So it seems like we'd be paying about $210 less over the course of two years (dependent on how much the phones sell for, but I think it's safe to say they'd sell for a minimum of $400 each), but we'd be getting a new phone every year. Am I missing any fine print here or anything, or is this correct?
Thanks
(Everything below does not include any taxes)
Current
10 GB shared + 4 lines + 22% FAN discount
$120(0.78) + $120 = $213.60/month
$299 x 4 = $1196
$1196/24 = $49.83/month
Year One: $3759.20
Year Two: $2563.20
Total in 2 years: $6322.40 or $263.43/month
New plan buying phone outright (selling after 12 months)
10 GB shared + 4 lines + 22% FAN discount
$100(0.78) + $60 = $138/month
$750 x 4 = $3000
Sell each phone for $400: $3000 - ($400 x 4) = $1400
$1400/12 = $116.67
Total in 1 year: $3056 or $254.67/month
So it seems like we'd be paying about $210 less over the course of two years (dependent on how much the phones sell for, but I think it's safe to say they'd sell for a minimum of $400 each), but we'd be getting a new phone every year. Am I missing any fine print here or anything, or is this correct?
Thanks
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Partly competition, and also partly to incentivize everyone to move to these plans so they can get the ship going in the direction they want it to go in.
It looks like AT&T's got a lot of great progress coming in the next few years when they finally pull the plug on the GSM/EDGE network and can re-farm those frequencies out for more LTE goodness! I'm assuming that eventually their HSPA network will also be phased out in favor of all LTE?
I am currently on their shared family plan, 7 users with 10GB of data with unlimited talk and text for $49 a month (per person), so this new plan lowers each users monthly payment by about $7, down to $43 a month (we also have a hospital employee discount with our account). I'll take that and not complain.
i was going to keep my iphone 5 for years until AT&T let me switch to Next. Now i might be back on the yearly upgrade path
After crunching over the numbers, I'm in a dilemma that may set my bill higher in the long run. Lucky I didn't take AT&T's bait which, I admit, is very enticing this time around.
I currently pay $220/mo for:
4 lines
700min
Unlimited text
2GB x2
300MB x2
15% off FAN ($16.50)
14% tax ($27)
If I add the cost of 4 subsidized 32GB iPhone 5S @ $225+36 each (as seen from BBY's BF promotion), it would be $260/mo for 26 months (to compare with Next).
If I go with Next 18 with the 10GB/$160 plan, it would it be $281/mo for 26 months.
Currently, the data limits are not a problem but it would be nice to have 10GB shared data for headroom. Is this worth switching plans or is there a chance iPhone subsidies will stay next year?
I currently pay $220/mo for:
4 lines
700min
Unlimited text
2GB x2
300MB x2
15% off FAN ($16.50)
14% tax ($27)
If I add the cost of 4 subsidized 32GB iPhone 5S @ $225+36 each (as seen from BBY's BF promotion), it would be $260/mo for 26 months (to compare with Next).
If I go with Next 18 with the 10GB/$160 plan, it would it be $281/mo for 26 months.
Currently, the data limits are not a problem but it would be nice to have 10GB shared data for headroom. Is this worth switching plans or is there a chance iPhone subsidies will stay next year?
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Before Feb. 2- $241 4gb
After Feb. 2- $150 10gb
I'm in.
I don't know if anyone recalls ATT president's comments on the wireless industry not being able to sustain subsidy of cell phones. This was a precursor to them finalizing the current plans.
After Feb. 2- $150 10gb
I'm in.
I don't know if anyone recalls ATT president's comments on the wireless industry not being able to sustain subsidy of cell phones. This was a precursor to them finalizing the current plans.
I just switched my plan from 15gb, 4 lines plus an ipad....before it was 290 a month, now I dropped down to 10gb and the new monthly is $170. The rep was somewhat all over the place and said the shared fee was $100 plus $40 each line, I then said well online if I switch my plan it says it's $15 a line...he mentioned that he didn't think I qualified for that rate however backed tracked and verified it that I do as long as I had a qualifying plan of 10gb+ prior to February 2nd. Said that the per line charge will likely show as $40 each, but will also include a $25 credit per line therefore dropping it to $15. Said it's not a promotional period and any new lines will be $15 as long as I don't change my plan. Dude was somewhat sketchy and confusing at first with his words, however I think he is figuring stuff out as we are also. Anyhow I'm pretty fn happy at the reduced cost!
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