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AT&T Rolling Out LTE Micro-SIM Cards, Sparking Speculation on iPad 3 Link
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Oh, 3G data with a GoPhone SIM runs the same speed as an on-contract AT&T SIM. To get data, you need to install a custom APN, then buy a data package for your GoPhone account.
I chose GoPhone over MVNOs since my cellular network usage is really low.
I get relatively few voice calls; I've been using Google Voice since before Grand Central was acquired by Google. The majority of calls actually ring my work landline. Outbound calls (US domestic) are free when I use the Talkatone app over WiFi.
At home and work, I have good WiFi reception, so really the only time I'm using the cellular data network is on weekends when I'm out of the house. My monthly 3G data usage appears to be about 100MB. I don't pay for GoPhone text packages since I get free texting through Google Voice. Plus, it's more cost effective to get GV texts via a data connection than pay for true SMS.
If I had heavier cellular network usage, I'd use an MVNO, but not Red Pocket which looks rather pricey. I'd opt for Straight Talk instead, which offers no-contract unlimited talk/text and at least 2GB of data for $45 a month. Straight Talk uses AT&T network (and Sprint for their CDMA handsets) and the chairman of the parent company (America Movil), Mexican billionnaire Carlos Slim has personally encouraged iPhone users to switch to Straight Talk.
My current monthly cellular expenses are about $11-12 so it really doesn't make any sense for me to spend $33 more per month for unlimited service if I'm not using it. With GoPhone, I get what I pay for, and I don't pay for stuff I don't use.
Naturally, I had to pay full retail for an unlocked iPhone. However, my calculations show that my break even point is at 9.5 months.
Unlocked iPhone + GoPhone service
$849 handset + no activation fee + ($12/mo x 9.5 mo.) = $963
Subsidized iPhone + AT&T cheapest voice/data plan (no text) in November 2011
$399 handset + $39 activation fee + ($55/mo x 9.5 mo.) = $960.50
By month 10, I'm saving money. If I keep my iPhone for two years, the savings in total cost of ownership is $621 versus the cheapest on-contract plan. Plus, I am free to sell my phone at any time and it would command a higher resell price anyhow being factory unlocked.
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Well, the original iPhone (2G/EDGE) came with an AT&T 3G SIM card, yet wasn't 3G; so the fact that they're moving their SIM cards to be LTE doesn't really mean much of anything about any particular product.
Also I don't really see how this speculates to an iPad 3 having LTE. AT&T is updating there sim cards so it must me the iPad 3 will have it. AT&T sells other devices too. It'd be awesome if it does have LTE
Yup.
On top of all of those savings, when traveling abroad, I would drop in a local carrier's prepaid SIM since my iPhone is unlocked. As a matter of fact, I'd have to since AT&T GoPhone doesn't support international roaming.
I'd still get Google Voice texts, and I could check my GV voicemails. Outgoing calls back to the US would be $0.01 per minute via Google Voice on Talkatone over WiFi.
Why is it such a surprise that ATT would roll out LTE Micro-SIMs if ATT is rolling out its LTE network. It's not all about iPad and iPhones ya know. (And I say this as owner of each). 2012 is the year of LTE. Isn't that a "duh" already around here?
First let me start by saying you don't NEED an unlocked iPhone to use it on GoPhone service, but meh.
I used a 3GS on GoPhone while I had my Verizon suspended because I lost my job. I was PLAGUED with EDGE-like 3G speeds, un-delivered texts and dropped calls/poor call quality. I was wrongly informed that I could go to canada and use my $50 unlimited calls and texts, and my 500MB of data without any roaming charges.
I come back to the US and they send me a bill for $3,300 in roaming fees. I later inform them they have no right to send me a bill for anything as I am not on post paid. My state attorney general found them in the wrong and I did not need to pay them anything. They are still badgering me today.
Verizon actually started their first LTE markets in December 2010
...but at the end of 2011 Verizon's LTE was available to about 2/3 of the population of the US. That's why I said "2011 was Verizon's 'year of LTE'".
AT&T. Not so much.
I'm looking forward to how AT&T is going to advertise its LTE coverage - without admitting how bad their 3G coverage is.
Thanks for sharing your story.
I know you don't need an unlocked iPhone to use a GoPhone SIM, but I had no other way to acquire the iPhone 4S (my first iPhone) anyhow.
As to your AT&T network issues, those aren't GoPhone-specific. AT&T issues in certain markets are well documented online. San Francisco has notoriously poor AT&T reception (lots of dropped calls) and it's really neither better nor worse with GoPhone; they use the same towers, same cellular equipment.
Concerning your exorbitant Canadian roaming charges, it looks like they mislead you. Standard airtime rates in Canada are $0.39 per minute for voice; data is about $20 per megabyte ($0.0195 per KB) per the international GoPhone rate chart.
The next ipad won't be LTE. Apple will go at least one rev beyond every other competitor stating that it's rubbish technology, until they eventually adopt it.
It would not surprise me that the iPad 3 is the first Apple device to get 3GPP LTE support, mostly because Apple has the buying clout to buy the new power-efficient LTE-enabled cellphone chipsets based on the latest Broadcom or Qualcomm designs before anyone else.
Sure, but in the way 2011 was the Year of ThunderBolt for Apple. From a nationwide product availability and notable revenue generating standpoint LTE will come into its own this year, VZW's earlier rollout notwithstanding.
