AT&T Replaces iPad Unlimited Data Plan with 2GB Capped Plan for New Customers

[rdlink]

Well arent you glad all iPads are unlocked?
AT&T cant pull this crap without the carrier monopoly it has on the iPhone, people will just cancel their plans (remember they're month-to-month, no contract) and move to someone else.

Unlocked yes. But that's pretty much meaningless in the US. The other GSM carrier, T-Mobile doesn't yet offer a micro SIM, and more importantly their 3G network runs on a different frequency that's not compatible with the iDevices.

AT&T has a defacto monopoly, and in their usual fashion, is using it to hose their customers.

 

[Eric-PTEK]

Not Apple's problem, really. People will blame Apple and bitch to Apple but that's in at&t's hands. Apple advertised at the rates at&t had and I'm sure they were subject to change per the agreement. Little did everyone think it would be now.

Now see I think it is an Apple problem. Steve Jobs talked about a revolutionary agreement with AT&T to provide unlimited access for $30.

I forget the exact verbage but it did not make it sound like a 1 month deal.

Once the details on the 4G phone are revealed next week I'll most likely go back to Apple and return my 3g iPad for a wifi and even though I'm over my 14 days I fully expect them to take it back.

I made a decision to buy into an infrastructure setup based on the announcement. This first iPad I bought was one of many, all based around the announcement, now a month later things change?

That is an issue I'll take up with Apple and one I really don't think I'll have a problem with.

 

[Warbrain]

It is apples problem. It is/was a big selling point.

It's a marketing persons nightmare..... And apples response will be huge in saving the customer service aspect. They are already on my **** list this week in that area.... Add in this and I'm seeing another email going out.

It is. And I bet somewhere on the site - and I don't have the time to look right now - or in the agreement on the iPad it says it can change at any time. You notice that the iPad that Apple pushes isn't the 3G + wifi but just the wifi model, right?

AT&T is the worst company in the world to deal with on the business INSTALL side. Their union installers are the laziest people around. Not a single one of my DSL installs goes right, T1 installs usually go better.

My AT&T rep cringes when the phone rings and its me on the other end. However once installed it usually works right.

The problem is they put all the crappy installers on DSL work, its even lower than the phone guys.

Of course thats what happens when you have a workforce of people who do not need to fear the repercussions of doing a crappy job.

AT&T business customer service however tends to be decent.

Our T1 installs usually go fine but every once in a while they do something really stupid or are extremely lazy.

Now see I think it is an Apple problem. Steve Jobs talked about a revolutionary agreement with AT&T to provide unlimited access for $30.

I forget the exact verbage but it did not make it sound like a 1 month deal.

Once the details on the 4G phone are revealed next week I'll most likely go back to Apple and return my 3g iPad for a wifi and even though I'm over my 14 days I fully expect them to take it back.

I made a decision to buy into an infrastructure setup based on the announcement. This first iPad I bought was one of many, all based around the announcement, now a month later things change?

That is an issue I'll take up with Apple and one I really don't think I'll have a problem with.

Again, I bet there's something that says the prices can change at any time somewhere about the data plans, either on the iPad or on Apple's site. Remember, at&t treats this thing as a cell phone. I think you'll get more resistance than you expect.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

This is really a breach of trust. I Understand the plans are "no contract," and ATT is not legally bound to continue but change things up a hair under a month after the 3G drops is a break of trust w/ customers. It also show that ATT doesn't have a clue what its doing or they would not have green lighted the unlimited plan in the first place. I formerly was not among the ATT bashers, but this changes things. It's just the timing that bothers me.

That said, if ATT is going to press the reset button they could have at least offered consumers a bone like a 24hr rate like providers in the UK and elsewhere offer. Or lower the 200MB rate or raise the cap to 300MB -- something more usable and will guarantee that light users don't get nailed for another $15 for a lousy 200KBs of overage. (I frequently go over 200MB, but never 300MB).

So? Then keep the $30/month unlimited rate. Existing iPad customers aren't affected.

They are not affected IF they currently subscribe. However, many 3G owners, myself included, do not intend to subscribe each month, but only on an as-needed basis. We are affected because we were sold on the "unlimited" concept. Even if they just changed it to the typical 5GB cap I would have been fine, but $25 for less than half of that, c'mon. That is ridiculous.

 

[rdlink]

So? Then keep the $30/month unlimited rate. Existing iPad customers aren't affected.

arn

Not the point. One of the big selling points to the 3G model was the ability to come and go on the unlimited plan whenever it suited your needs. It was one of the highlights of Jobs' keynote during the announcement event in January.

AT&T has changed the rules in the middle of the game. Probably not legally actionable, but another sign of what a horrible company they are. Just another reason I'm glad that I refuse to deal with them on principle. I wanted 3G, but settled for wifi because I won't put any money in AT&T's pocket. Thanks for vindicating me once again, you evil bastards.

 

[Warbrain]

Not the point. One of the big selling points to the 3G model was the ability to come and go on the unlimited plan whenever it suited your needs. It was one of the highlights of Jobs' keynote during the announcement event in January.

AT&T has changed the rules in the middle of the game. Probably not legally actionable, but another sign of what a horrible company they are. Just another reason I'm glad that I refuse to deal with them on principle. I wanted 3G, but settled for wifi because I won't put any money in AT&T's pocket. Thanks for vindicating me once again, you evil bastards.

That I will agree with. To change this soon is ridiculous. I'm happy to have my wifi iPad and a MiFi.

 

[rdlink]

What they are doing is eliminating people from downloading movies over 3G which is fine with me. It's bandwidth hogging and the people who want to replace their main internet connection with a 3g connection should pay more.

They are protecting the majority of their customers interests, it is good for the consumer and the company.

I wonder what the people who go over 2GB are doing? If it is such a great thing to download massive amounts of data via 3G then you must have a strong need for it and no problem paying for it.

That's an apologetic piece of **** reply. AT&T agreed to the $29.99 unlimited plan, then changed the rules less than a month in. If they want to "protect the majority of their customers (sic) interests" they should spend some of the of massive profits to upgrade their crappy network. Die, AT&T.

 

[iZac]

Their own marketing works against them, they and every other carrier sticks this " unlimited* data plan! " lie on their packages. then far down the page is that little asterisk’s partner

*fair use policy applies, see here for details

Then you go to a page which likely has a load of fluff about being fair to everyone and making sure all customers have good service, without any mention of what this "fair use policy" is. Then you phone Customer Services and it's like trying to get blood out of a stone!

So for clarity and honesty it’s better to have a line in the sand and say "you go over this, you pay more" but the problem here is that 2 gig a month traffic is, well it's totally pathetic. its like 65 meg a DAY. Even in "rip off Britain" you can get a mobile broadband contract (yes I know its a contract you're tied in) - 15 gig for £15, that’s what $22? and I even consider that a bad deal.

 

[Warbrain]

That's an apologetic piece of **** reply. AT&T agreed to the $29.99 unlimited plan, then changed the rules less than a month in. If they want to "protect the majority of their customers (sic) interests" they should spend some of the of massive profits to upgrade their crappy network. Die, AT&T.

If you were to bring Apple-levels of data usage to any carrier their network would crumble like at&t's.

 

[chindall]

I was on the 14.99 plan last month. I barely made it by. I'm glad I switched to the unlimited. Its not a matter of how much I use, its about options. I guess I will pay $30 for a while. I don't think its a good idea to limit the customers like that with all the streaming that's available. I am starting to feel like I should not be using the very bandwidth I pay for. I'm not a bandwidth hog in any sense. But what I notice was my iPad 3G uses about 6mb a day without any major usage. This is sending receiving email and light web browsing. Now if I load up NetFlix that switches to 20-50mb. So the 250mb plan is not very good. Why not make that 1GB at 14.99, 6GB at $30 and Unlimited at $50. That seems more like a Ipad data plan IMHO.

Thanks for listening to me.

Besides the new iPhone tethering option, AT&T also announced that they have changed the iPad 3G data plan for new customers after June 7th.

At present, AT&T offers a no-contract $29.99/month unlimited data plan. If you activate your data plan before June 7th, you can still participate in this plan. After June 7th, however, AT&T will be replacing that plan with a $25/month 2GB limited plan. From the press release:So, if this is an issue for you, you still have time to be grandfathered into the unlimited data plan. Existing iPad customers can look at their current data usage via their iPad settings.

Article Link: AT&T Replaces iPad Unlimited Data Plan with 2GB Capped Plan for New Customers

 

[ericmooreart]

I expected this but not so soon

2 gigs a month may be good for the casual user. But if you use it for business then there's a problem. I freelance photograph for news agencies and need to upload my photos immediately to a web server. Those uploads average around 200mb. Waiting until I get to a place with wifi usually means someone else's photos are bought. Add to that my casual use is about 50mb per day

If ATT would have said this at the beginning I would never had bought an iPad.
Now I have to worry about will I be suddenly dropped to a 2 gig plan if ATT totally does away with unlimited even if your grandfatherd in

 

[yyoo]

I bought the 3G model of the iPad with the understanding that "unlimited" data would be $30.00/month. 1 month in to it's existence, and AT&T changes that to $25/2GB/month?????? You can't use a video streaming app (Netflix/ABC/MLB) without chewing through that in no time. I used up 250MB in ONE DAY using streaming video apps. Some quick math:

250MB x 30days = 7.5 GB
7.5 GB = $30 on the old plan
7.5 GB = $75 on the new plan
($25 (first 2GB) + $10 (1GB) + $10 (1GB) + $10 (1GB) + $10 (1GB) + $10 (1GB))

Are you really doing all of that streaming over 3G? I bet the vast majority of users do the bulk of their heavy content streaming over WiFi; and WiFi usage doesn't count against the limit.

 

[glocke12]

Probably wont affect me too much. Even with using mywi on my iphone the most i reach is 500 mbs, but it is bogus.

Even without the tethering I approach 400 mbs easily.

With all the money ATT makes youd think they could easily update their infrastructure.

 

[rdlink]

AT&T business customer service however tends to be decent.

Are you freaking joking!? I could take up half your day telling you horror stories about their horrible business customer service. They are rotten on all levels, with very few competent people in their organization.

 

[AveLeon]

That's BS AT&T!!

 

[Jack Lithian]

Other provider?

Besides AT&T, are there any other providers for 3G services or is it exclusively AT&T? I'm not from the US so I wouldn't know.

 

[yyoo]

If ATT would have said this at the beginning I would never had bought an iPad.
Now I have to worry about will I be suddenly dropped to a 2 gig plan if ATT totally does away with unlimited even if your grandfatherd in

By then you can be sure there will be other options (from other cellular providers).

In fact, other options exist already. Look into MiFi with Verizon or Sprint.

 

[donjuan2009]

to att lovers, suckers, keep complaining about verizon...

 

[munstedt]

Interesting how the new data plans start June 7th, you know the first day of wwdc.

 

[yyoo]

Besides AT&T, are there any other providers for 3G services or is it exclusively AT&T? I'm not from the US so I wouldn't know.

It's only AT&T for now if you want to work directly with the 3G built into the iPad. However, there are alternatives like MiFi that allow you to carry around your own portable WiFi hotspot.

 

[evansykes]

Well, I thought about getting the 3g one, but this makes my decision final. Wifi it is.

 

[rdlink]

If you were to bring Apple-levels of data usage to any carrier their network would crumble like at&t's.

Although I don't buy your premise, THAT'S NOT THE POINT! They should have known what their network was capable of when they made the promise. Does nobody at AT&T have a calculator? The only explanation here is that they were either too shortsighted and incompetent to realize the ramifications, or they planned to do this all along. The first shows them as too dumb to run a multi-national company. The second would point to their evil bent. I'd bet it's number two.

 

[dmelgar]

I just switched from an iPhone to tje jtc incredible on Verizon.
It is awesom actually having data coverage. Now I have coverage everywhere and a phone that handles flash, can download videos in the background, etc. I've discovered that when I'm away from WiFi I can use up to 1 GB in a day.
A limit of 2 GB is simply unreasonable. They should have made it 5gb cap for 25. That would have clarified the supposed unlimited while lowering the price.

Time for any serious smartphone or mobile device users to bail from ATT.

 

[300D]

The iPads would butt-rape AT&T's crappy network without a data cap. I'm surprised they didn't do it from the start.

 

[DetroitBORG]

The 3G iPad just got a lot less useful. 2GB/month is fine for the iPhone, but not for the iPad!