AT&T Launches New Aio Wireless Prepaid Brand, iPhone Plans Start at $55/Month

[Premium1]

way too expensive

i split a $266 bill with my inlaws. 4 smartphones, 10GB shared data, unlimited minutes/text and phone subsidies.

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nothing, they are only selling these plans in these areas as a test

I think he meant if you live in one of these areas but travel outside of that area if the phone will still work.

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I don't see an advantage over ST, either. I am planning to move to ST once my contract runs out, unless I decide to upgrade to a new smartphone.

At least with this you get a solid info on how much data unlike with straight talk who can(and many times will) cut you off for no reason.

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WHY does the prepaid have a "soft cap" that just throttles after 2GB but LOYAL post paid subscribers get a "hard cap" that charges more money. Once again ATT is screwing over their customers. JUST DIE ATT!!!

Good question. I wish there were no hard caps and they would just throttle your speeds. But its all about $$$$ for the carriers and to get every last cent out of you that they can.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

I don't see an advantage over ST, either. I am planning to move to ST once my contract runs out, unless I decide to upgrade to a new smartphone.

You may want to reconsider.

I've been with Straight Talk for several months. I, personally, haven't had any issues (because I've read the fine print in their TOS), but I know people who have.

My cousin's girlfriend bought a Straight Talk Android phone that runs on Verizon. The first night after activating it, they watched about 4 short YouTube videos on it. The next morning, data was terminated for the remainder of the month because streaming of ANY KIND is a violation of the user agreement. Most offenders get throttled, many get data terminated for the remainder of the month and severe repeat offenders get their service terminated indefinitely.

Straight Talk's "unlimited" data is for web surfing, email and the like ONLY. It's unlimited WEB, not DATA! HUGE difference.

I'll be switching mine over to Net10 (BYOP SIM cards on AT&T) starting next month. They don't put such silly restrictions on users, but clearly state AT&T-compatible phones and SIM BYOP customers are limited to 1.5GB per month.

Net10 is $50 per month, but offers a $5 discount for auto refill. Family plans can add a line for $40 per phone. If you have one phone, it's the same price as Straight Talk, but two or more phones is CHEAPER with Net10.

I found a Net10 SIM card bundle (AT&T: mini and micro SIMs and a T-Mobile SIM) on sale at Dollar General for $10.

 

[bearda]

I don't really see a discount here. The base iPhone plan from AT&T is $70 WITH subsidy (unlimited Talk, text, 2GB data) they are not even discounting the full subsidy (only getting $360 off instead of $450 off the iphone)

for plan parity it should be $22.50 off the base iPhone plan or $47.50 per month, not $55. They are actually charging a lot more AND getting full price for the phone.

I'm not seeing anywhere near that on AT&T's website. 450 minutes, unlimited texts, and 3G of data (2G isn't an option, and the next option down is 300M) is $90 a month. This seems a lot closer than you'd think...

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I don't see an advantage over ST, either. I am planning to move to ST once my contract runs out, unless I decide to upgrade to a new smartphone.

Keep in my ST doesn't offer AT&T SIMs anymore. The SIMs you order off their website are now T-mobile only. I really like my 4S on Straight Talk with an AT&T SIM, but I wouldn't even consider ST if it was on T-mobile.

 

[imwoblin]

AT&T seems to have adopted the old General Motors promo "If we offer it, they (the sheeple) will buy it". Well, I'm not buying it.......

 

[DipDog3]

T-Mobile vs AT&T (3 iPhones)

With 3 iPhones:

AT&T (Unlimited Talk & Text, 2GB Data)
Line 1: $55
Line 2: $55
Line 3: $55
AT&T Aio Total = $165

T-Mobile (Unlimited Talk & Text, 2.5GB Data)
Line 1: $50 + $10 (2GB Data)
Line 2: $20 + $10 (2GB Data)
Line 3: $10 + $10 (2GB Data)
T-Mobile Total = $110

Save $55/month with T-Mobile

AT&T is out of their mind if they are trying to compete with T-Mobile on price.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

I don't really see a discount here. The base iPhone plan from AT&T is $70 WITH subsidy (unlimited Talk, text, 2GB data) they are not even discounting the full subsidy (only getting $360 off instead of $450 off the iphone)

for plan parity it should be $22.50 off the base iPhone plan or $47.50 per month, not $55. They are actually charging a lot more AND getting full price for the phone.

Either you're on a REALLY OLD plan, or you haven't checked their prices lately.

$70 with AT&T gets you 450 minutes and 3GB of data ONLY. Texting is another $20 for an individual. If you want texting, that's your only option (besides pay-per-text).

So, as others have pointed out, you'd get 450 minutes, 3GB of data (hard cap - +$10 for each additional GB) and unlimited texts for $90 per month.

 

[Tiger8]

For an individual user, this might be a good deal.

But what about family plans? *THAT* is what I'm interested in.

T-Mobile charges:
$50 for the first line + $10 for 2.5 GB
$30 for the second line + $10 for 2.5 GB
$10 for each additional line + $10 for 2.5 GB

AT&T's Aio charges:
$55 for the first line
$55 for the second line
$55 for each additional line

Prepaid options are typically geared towards individual user. Net10 discounts for family plans are laughable.

For a family plan, T-Mo wins.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

I'm not seeing anywhere near that on AT&T's website. 450 minutes, unlimited texts, and 3G of data (2G isn't an option, and the next option down is 300M) is $90 a month. This seems a lot closer than you'd think...

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Keep in my ST doesn't offer AT&T SIMs anymore. The SIMs you order off their website are now T-mobile only. I really like my 4S on Straight Talk with an AT&T SIM, but I wouldn't even consider ST if it was on T-mobile.

Net10 still does. Auto refill is the same price as Straight Talk. If you have 2 or more phones, the price is CHEAPER with Net10. They also clearly state AT&T-compatible phones and SIM cards have a data cap of 1.5GB - STREAMING INCLUDED.

 

[mdelvecchio]

way too expensive

i split a $266 bill with my inlaws. 4 smartphones, 10GB shared data, unlimited minutes/text and phone subsidies.

and what about for people who dont have that option? then $55/mo is much more affordable than the $75+/mo it costs to utilize the single AT&T plan.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Pure pain. $20 per month for unlimited data in Taiwan. Why so xpensive in US?

Because when it comes to cell phone service plans, Americans are gullible enough to not just pay much more than many other countries for less service but also obligate themselves to 2 or 3 years of payments whether they then use that service for the next 2 or 3 years or not.

All these guys talking about size of the country might be a little right. But size of the country also translates to size of the market. Thus, more revenues from more customers to mitigate more infrastructure costs. You're chasing the wrong thing by trying to tie infrastructure costs into why we pay more. The bulk of why it costs more is because AT&T, Verizon, etc like their profits as fat as they are and are able to flex their muscles to keep entities such as smallish or upstart competitors and or Gov regulation mostly out of their hair.

Solution: if Americans as a group would refuse to sign on or re-up at current rates, rates would come down. Those rates don't have to be where they are because America is such a big country; they're there because we're stupid enough as a group to pay that much for service.

Look no further than how much it costs in infrastructure to support texting and how much we pay to be able to text as the most blatant example of this point.

 

[DipDog3]

With 3 iPhones:

AT&T (Unlimited Talk & Text, 2GB Data)
Line 1: $55
Line 2: $55
Line 3: $55
AT&T Aio Total = $165

T-Mobile (Unlimited Talk & Text, 2.5GB Data)
Line 1: $50 + $10 (2GB Data)
Line 2: $20 + $10 (2GB Data)
Line 3: $10 + $10 (2GB Data)
T-Mobile Total = $110

Save $55/month with T-Mobile

AT&T is out of their mind if they are trying to compete with T-Mobile on price.

Only one of my lines would need the extra 2GB of Data, so the actual cost including the cost of new iPhones for 2 of the lines since I would use an old phone for the 3rd line:

T-Mobile (Unlimited Talk & Text, 500MB Data)
Line 1: $50 + $10 (2GB Data) + $20 (iPhone 5)
Line 2: $20 + $20 (iPhone 5)
Line 3: $10
Subtotal = $90 (Service) + $40 (iPhones)
T-Mobile Total = $130/month

One time fees of $198 (2 x $99 for iPhone 5s), which is $200 cheaper than AT&T Family Plan cost.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I don't see an advantage over ST, either. I am planning to move to ST once my contract runs out, unless I decide to upgrade to a new smartphone.

ST or Net10 $45 month on the AT&T network with unlimited* everything. Asterisk means the usual limited unlimited spin of all cell phone offers. This looks like $10 more for much of the same.

Offer a similar level of service under the AT&T logo at a higher price and try to spin it like it's a great deal. Classic AT&T marketing.

Nothing to see here. If you want prepaid and AT&T's network, the better option is ST or Net10. If there's 2 people on your plan, you can get the second person on for (limited) unlimited* everything for $40 more per month ($85/month for 2 unlimited* plans). Lots of iPhone users pay more than $85 for 1 phone's service.

 

[fhall1]

$55/month for 2GB data??? For once I'm glad to live in the UK -- I pay about $20/month for unlimited data, 600 mins, 2000 texts, and got about $100 cashback for signing up for 12 months

Refer to the post above your original post as to why the cost is so high in the US...a crapload more towers and associated equipment to install/maintain.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

Only one of my lines would need the extra 2GB of Data, so the actual cost including the cost of new iPhones for 2 of the lines since I would use an old phone for the 3rd line:

T-Mobile (Unlimited Talk & Text, 500MB Data)
Line 1: $50 + $10 (2GB Data) + $20 (iPhone 5)
Line 2: $20 + $20 (iPhone 5)
Line 3: $10
Subtotal = $90 (Service) + $40 (iPhones)
T-Mobile Total = $130/month

One time fees of $198 (2 x $99 for iPhone 5s), which is $200 cheaper than AT&T Family Plan cost.

Too bad T-Mobile has massive gaps in usable data coverage, or I'd be all over them.

 

[SpinThis!]

Maybe because the US needs a gazillion more cell towers to provide coverage?

Size of Taiwan = 13,972 sq miles
Size of US = 3,794,000 sq miles

That's part of it; you can't just prop up infrastructure overnight either. Combine that with the "not in my backyard" syndrome of local residents and you got a recipe of dropped calls and poor reception.

 

[slu]

Guess we now know why Straight Talk no longer offers AT&T sims.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

ST or Net10 $45 month on the AT&T network with unlimited* everything. Asterisk means the usual limited unlimited spin of all cell phone offers. This looks like $10 more for much of the same.

Offer a similar level of service under the AT&T logo at a higher price and try to spin it like it's a great deal. Classic AT&T marketing.

Nothing to see here. If you want prepaid and AT&T's network, the better option is ST or Net10. If there's 2 people on your plan, you can get the second person on for (limited) unlimited* everything for $40 more per month ($85/month for 2 unlimited* plans). Lots of iPhone users pay more than $85 for 1 phone's service.

Unlimited - definitions for each:

Straight Talk - NO STREAMING OF ANY KIND, but you have to read the fine print to know that.
Net10 - AT&T-compatible is capped to 1.5GB used any way you like (minus tethering), T-Mobile-compatible has no limits (minus tethering).

I'm dumping Straight Talk for Net10 next month. I'm not a data hog, so 1.5GB is more than enough for me.

Net10 still sells AT&T-compatible BYOP SIM cards, including nano-SIMs for AT&T or T-Mobile
Straight Talk only offers T-Mobile compatible. If you want AT&T, you're SOL with Straight Talk unless you find one left over at a Walmart or pay $50+ on eBay or Amazon for just the SIM card.

 

[Oneness]

Take your phone in Taipei and travel 500 miles to the west. Can you still use it? And 500 miles north. Still $20 per month?

There's your answer.

Do that in Texas and you would still be.... in Texas.

 

[Tinmania]

I don't see an advantage over ST, either. I am planning to move to ST once my contract runs out, unless I decide to upgrade to a new smartphone.

From the horror stories I have read about ST--including "lifetime" throttling--I think having a more established company behind it is certainly a factor.



Michael

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Unlimited - definitions for each:

Straight Talk - NO STREAMING OF ANY KIND, but you have to read the fine print to know that.
Net10 - AT&T-compatible is capped to 1.5GB used any way you like (minus tethering), T-Mobile-compatible has no limits (minus tethering).

I'm dumping Straight Talk for Net10 next month. I'm not a data hog, so 1.5GB is more than enough for me.

Net10 still sells AT&T-compatible BYOP SIM cards, including nano-SIMs for AT&T or T-Mobile
Straight Talk only offers T-Mobile compatible. If you want AT&T, you're SOL with Straight Talk unless you find one left over at a Walmart or pay $50+ on eBay or Amazon for just the SIM card.

Right. I favor NET10 myself for those reasons.

For those sim cards, you also have the option of buying the full-sized ones and cutting them down yourself. Did that. Worked fine.

 

[Zaren]

$55 a month with unlimited text and minutes, with data for a smart phone is actually a great deal in the US... unfortunately.

That's the top-end pre-paid plan with Virgin Mobile. I'm paying $25 a month with them for unlimited data (free tethering!) and text and 300 minutes of talk (I'll do 60 minutes of talk on a bad month). There's no way I'd move to this Aio plan. The big carriers still don't quite get it.

 

[RedGeminiPA]

Prepaid options are typically geared towards individual user. Net10 discounts for family plans are laughable.

For a family plan, T-Mo wins.

T-Mobile wins for family plan pricing, for sure, except that applies to post-paid only. The huge exception for T-Mobile would be the massive holes in usable data coverage. That's the only reason I haven't switched to T-Mobile.

There's a huge population that doesn't live in densely populated metro areas, which is T-Mobile's primary focus. Sad.

 

[osofast240sx]

No personal hotspot
No HD voice
No unlimited data option

The reason why I'm no longer with AT&T, they make everything so complicated.

 

[rydewnd2]

Maybe because the US needs a gazillion more cell towers to provide coverage?

Size of Taiwan = 13,972 sq miles
Size of US = 3,794,000 sq miles

A more relevant statistic would be population density. Taiwan is the second most densely populated country in the world. So yes they have less square mileage to blanket with cell towers, but they also have to deal with higher capacity demand on individual towers. I'm not saying this is directly indicative one way or the other on price, just that a single statistic doesn't paint a complete picture.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

From the horror stories I have read about ST--including "lifetime" throttling--I think having a more established company behind it is certainly a factor.

So are you implying that AT&Ts new prepaid service won't have throttling limitations or are you trying to rationalize paying $100 month for the fuller service from AT&T or similar and still having data caps?

My guess: Aio will be just as "limited" as the others. There's no interest in AT&T cannibalizing it's "full" service. This is probably a play to try to bite into some of that ST & NET10 revenue. I would fully expect a lessor experience as opposed to the $100+ per month version of AT&T service. I would expect a comparable experience- including any downsides- to ST and NET10.

The big attraction for any of these is a pretty full iPhone experience for about half the service cost of AT&T, Verizon, etc. Yes, there's some limitations but you still get to talk, text, and data for about half the usual cost. That's like 2 months of service for the price of 1, 2 years of service for the price of 1 year, etc. Those who can live with modest limitations can save a great deal of money over the "fuller" experience of $100+ per month plans and use the very same networks with a very same iPhone.

Someone joked that Aio is being positioned as the "premium prepaid plan". That is what it looks like. Close to the pricing of ST & NET10 with probably no real benefits over them. Service price competition (real competition) in this space would be good for all consumers. I'd like to see more of this in a real competitive environment. Personally, I think Republic Wireless is on the right track. I'd like to see a lot of serious competition doing what they are doing and working to compete on price at that level.