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AT&T to Begin Offering Shared Data Plans in Late August

AT&T New Plans

While the shared plan aren't mandatory; look for them to do what Verizon did.
If you want a subsidized phone, you WILL go to a shared or tiered individual plan.

The only way to keep unlimited will be to buy phones at full price.
 
scotth23 said:
I switched from an iPhone 4 to an Android phone in February and was allowed to carry over my unlimited data plan from my original iPhone to their LTE. There was no change in pricing or plan.

Your data plan is your data plan. If you're grandfathered into unlimited, as long as you don't change it or switch to a shared plan, you keep that plan.

Until AT&T decides otherwise.
Click to expand...

Ok cool! That's good to know, I didn't know how that worked.

I'm thinking though, if these new plans includes Hotspot coverage and everything else, they aren't that bad. Plus the cap speed for LTE I believe is 5GB which is better than the 3GB we get currently. We'll see.
 
looks like for 10.00 extra month we will go from 250 megs to 6 gigs and unlimited talk and tethering.
a tethering question if you tether to your phone with your ipad will your ipad switch to a wifi connection when one comes around? or do you have to manually start and stop tethering?
 
OriginalClone said:
What I don't understand is, with all the complaints, why not leave? Why would people complain for 5 years then stay and complain more? I'm not on AT&T's side but I'm curious.
Click to expand...

This kinda fall under "Parable of the boiled frog" All this didn't all happen all at once.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog


1. Started on AT&T with a dumbphone and the corporate discount family plan. I then upgraded to original iPhone -->iphone 3GS-->iPhone 4 and all iPhones were grandfathered in with the "unlimited" data plan. I held back on the 4s waiting for my contract to expire...sorry not going to pay the ETF of $350. I also couldn't take my GSM device over to Verizon because it's not compatible.

2. I have known for a while that i am going to jump ship...I bought the Verizon version of the "new iPad" day after release, because they have a better LTE network, and don't charge for hotspotting with the iPad.

I will definately be waiting to see how the release of the next iPhone plays out before making my move...even if that means changing carriers or even dumping the iPhone for another device if the new one falls short. To be honest after using the new iPad, the phone has become less important to me.
 
This shared pricing scheme doesn't make sense. It's significantly more expensive.

Figuring for the data portion of the bill only:

I have three iPhones each with 3GB of data. That's $25/mo. x 3 = $75/mo.

With this new shared data plan I would pay $70 + $40 + $40 + $40 = $190/mo.

With this new plan I would have the privilege of paying 2.5x more for 44% of the data (4GB vs. 9GB). WTF?

Who would this pricing scheme benefit (besides AT&T, of course)?
 
iphoneguy2 said:
This kinda fall under "Parable of the boiled frog" All this didn't all happen all at once.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog


1. Started on AT&T with a dumbphone and the corporate discount family plan. I then upgraded to original iPhone -->iphone 3GS-->iPhone 4 and all iPhones were grandfathered in with the "unlimited" data plan. I held back on the 4s waiting for my contract to expire...sorry not going to pay the ETF of $350. I also couldn't take my GSM device over to Verizon because it's not compatible.

2. I have known for a while that i am going to jump ship...I bought the Verizon version of the "new iPad" day after release, because they have a better LTE network, and don't charge for hotspotting with the iPad.

I will definately be waiting to see how the release of the next iPhone plays out before making my move...even if that means changing carriers or even dumping the iPhone for another device if the new one falls short. To be honest after using the new iPad, the phone has become less important to me.
Click to expand...

Good analogy. I am an AT&T customer too, and I was just curious as to why other people stayed.
 
So someone tell me if I am understanding this correctly. Lets say I want to put 3 iphones on a 6gb plan. That would cost me a flat rate of $90.00, plus $35.00 x 3. And taxes but thats irrelevant. Is that correct. A grand total of $195.00?
 
natedoggfdfl said:
Think about how you can get your family and friends on these plans and add up how much you pay now versus what your plan could be if you combine them together. Think Bout it.
Click to expand...

I'll think if you promise to try it too, ok? Don't you see the game here? Yes, get a whole bunch of people together on one plan... So that none of them will ever jump ship. Far easier to leave your carrier as a solo operative then once you're locked into an 8 person plan in which everyone has different activation dates and everyone is relying on each other's presence to make it a passable deal.

These plans aren't about making more money per user - they're about cutting down on the chance that you ever leave your carrier.
 
aalegado said:
This shared pricing scheme doesn't make sense. It's significantly more expensive.

Figuring for the data portion of the bill only:

I have three iPhones each with 3GB of data. That's $25/mo. x 3 = $75/mo.

With this new shared data plan I would pay $70 + $40 + $40 + $40 = $190/mo.

With this new plan I would have the privilege of paying 2.5x more for 44% of the data (4GB vs. 9GB). WTF?

Who would this pricing scheme benefit (besides AT&T, of course)?
Click to expand...

It makes a LOT of sense to customers that a) have multiple lines in a family plan, b) don't use a lot of data but DO use a ton of minutes/texts and c) want to find a way to divvy up the data allotment so that the heavy data user gets what they need by sponging off the light data users.

Dad and Mom using their phones for work (heavy voice, med text and light data since they are on WiFi all day), kids tearing up the texting and data stream but hardly ever making a voice call. Mom and Dad get what they need (unlimited voice/text), kids get what they need (unlimited text/more data).

Under Verizon's similar plan, I'm saving over $120/month versus what I was paying for 5 lines. When the iPhone LTE launches, I'll up that even further to about $170/month in savings because I can ditch my LTE MiFi.

Totally a YMMV thing.

Cscottrun said:
So someone tell me if I am understanding this correctly. Lets say I want to put 3 iphones on a 6gb plan. That would cost me a flat rate of $90.00, plus $35.00 x 3. And taxes but thats irrelevant. Is that correct. A grand total of $195.00?
Click to expand...

Yup, you got it.
 
Here's a question... Since the data plans include tethering at no additional charge, why would I pay $10 to add my iPad as a device? Yeah, I get that it's a little bit of a hassle to turn on tethering in Settings on my phone, but since I'm within wifi range most of the time I won't need to do that too often. And I always have my phone with me.

Said another way, I may able able to cancel both my unlimited iPad data plan (or sell it...) as well as my wife's metered plan, and *not* add them as devices. Just tether instead.

And if we hate that I can always add the iPads as devices later.
 
aalegado said:
This shared pricing scheme doesn't make sense. It's significantly more expensive.

Figuring for the data portion of the bill only:

I have three iPhones each with 3GB of data. That's $25/mo. x 3 = $75/mo.

With this new shared data plan I would pay $70 + $40 + $40 + $40 = $190/mo.

With this new plan I would have the privilege of paying 2.5x more for 44% of the data (4GB vs. 9GB). WTF?

Who would this pricing scheme benefit (besides AT&T, of course)?
Click to expand...

But that's not data only. That $190 is all inclusive.
 
If you stripped out the ridiculous 'each smartphone' fee, then these would be reasonable prices. As it stands, it's just another piece of gouging.

We can only hope that the tiny, almost unnoticeable, element of one-upmanship over Verizon triggers a reaction from them - and we get a bit of real-life competition going.
 
Firen said:
Jesus Christ those prices seem so extreme... but I guess normal for US citizens?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately we have a model where each company is in a never ending arms race to build duplicate wireless infrastructure over 3,000,000 square miles (or at least the most populous parts). Oh, and they have to subsidize the cost of phones because Americans are too cheap to ever dream about paying fair price.

So what you get is....
 
Funny how 1GB of data costs $40, but if you go over, that same 1GB data (because data is data), it costs $15.

This whole thing is a sham.
 
Let's see if I have this right. I have an iPhone. My wife has a dumb phone, and we haven't upgraded her because she doesn't need an iPhone and doesn't want to spend another $30/month on something she doesn't really need. So, currently:

For $120/month, we get:
Unlimited text
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile
700 Anytime minutes
3GB of data for one phone
No tethering (I sometimes turn tethering on when I travel, but it's another $20/month for it now).

Under the new plan, we would get:
Unlimited text
Unlimited phone usage (mobile-to-mobile, anytime, or otherwise)
4GB data for two phones (which is all we'd need)
Tethering included
...for the monthly price of $70+40+40 = $150

An extra $30... which is what we'd be paying right now if we wanted to get my wife into an iPhone. Buuuuut... the new plan has tethering included. That makes the new plan a better value.

Plus, if I had tethering on a regular basis, my current bill would be $140, and the new plan would be $150 - making this decision a no-brainer. It would be getting my wife into a smartphone for only an extra $10 instead of an extra $30.

(I know, I know, they're trying to lock us in as customers, make it harder to leave and all that... but we're husband & wife, and one of us won't be jumping to a new company without the other... that wouldn't make sense.)

If we were a two-smartphone family, there would be no change in our monthly bill. The only difference would be that we'd share 4GB of data between us instead of having 3GB each and we'd have tethering included.

To get the same 6GB of data, it would be $90+35+35 = $160 a month - only ten bucks more.

While I recognize that I'm getting less data than I would if we both had smartphones, I simply don't use 3GB a month as it is. We would consistently use less than 4GB every month, so it only makes sense to pay for that plan.

I think I've thought this through correctly. Anyone spot any errors in my logic?
 
I'm curious why Verizon and AT&T have basically the exact same price. So much for competition.
 
I will point out the error in your logic. This is a plan option that isn't imposed to lower everyone's bill (AT&T would have less revenue).

It's an option for people that have multiple phones on an account that use both text and data to help them pay a little less.

This is not going to help people who have one phone with data, another phone with no text plan.

Daniel M. Clark said:
Let's see if I have this right. I have an iPhone. My wife has a dumb phone, and we haven't upgraded her because she doesn't need an iPhone and doesn't want to spend another $30/month on something she doesn't really need. So, currently:

For $120/month, we get:
Unlimited text
Unlimited mobile-to-mobile
700 Anytime minutes
3GB of data for one phone
No tethering (I sometimes turn tethering on when I travel, but it's another $20/month for it now).

Under the new plan, we would get:
Unlimited text
Unlimited phone usage (mobile-to-mobile, anytime, or otherwise)
4GB data for two phones (which is all we'd need)
Tethering included
...for the monthly price of $70+40+40 = $150

An extra $30... which is what we'd be paying right now if we wanted to get my wife into an iPhone. Buuuuut... the new plan has tethering included. That makes the new plan a better value.

Plus, if I had tethering on a regular basis, my current bill would be $140, and the new plan would be $150 - making this decision a no-brainer. It would be getting my wife into a smartphone for only an extra $10 instead of an extra $30.

(I know, I know, they're trying to lock us in as customers, make it harder to leave and all that... but we're husband & wife, and one of us won't be jumping to a new company without the other... that wouldn't make sense.)

If we were a two-smartphone family, there would be no change in our monthly bill. The only difference would be that we'd share 4GB of data between us instead of having 3GB each and we'd have tethering included.

To get the same 6GB of data, it would be $90+35+35 = $160 a month - only ten bucks more.

While I recognize that I'm getting less data than I would if we both had smartphones, I simply don't use 3GB a month as it is. We would consistently use less than 4GB every month, so it only makes sense to pay for that plan.

I think I've thought this through correctly. Anyone spot any errors in my logic?
Click to expand...
 
dokujaryu said:
My plan would be two smartphones and one iPad on about 6 gigs of data.

Current plan: (family share 700 two phones both with unlimited data (3gb))
First phone and Minutes: $70
First phone data plan: $30
Second Phone: $10
Second Phone Data Plan: $30
Unlimited Texting: $20
2GB iPad data plan: $30
--------------------------------------
Total: $190

The stupid part is I barely use 1GB on my phones and burn it up on the iPad.

Verizon Shared:
$80 + $40 + $40 + $10 = $170

AT&T Shared:
$90 + $35 + $35 + $10 = $170


This way I would have about 4GB for the iPad and the total cost would be about $20 less.
Click to expand...

Why not do what I am doing, and use your iPhone as a hotspot for the iPad, I refuse to pay an additional $10 for my iPad.
 
steve knight said:
looks like for 10.00 extra month we will go from 250 megs to 6 gigs and unlimited talk and tethering.
a tethering question if you tether to your phone with your ipad will your ipad switch to a wifi connection when one comes around? or do you have to manually start and stop tethering?
Click to expand...

On the iPhone, once you turn on tethering/hotspot, it only activates if a paired device is in range. You'll know its on because the iPhone shows a blue bar (similar to the green 'on call' bar) when hotspot is being used.

But you have to tell your iPad to choose the WiFi versus the Hotspot manually. At least I have to do that...my iPad isn't smart enough to auto-switch, nor do I know how it could without me being able to tell it priority.
 
The quesiton I want to ask will I have to jump to share plan when the new iPhone comes out I am on a family plan right now.
 
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