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AT&T to Begin Offering Shared Data Plans in Late August
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Whorehay
macrumors 6502a
I actually think it's the other way around, where the $120 is the cost of data and $30 per line for unlimited voice and text. But that I'm not completely sure about.
And then, someone had said earlier that only the $120 data portion will be eligible for a FAN discount based on Verizon's FAN pricing. I'm still on the edge about this and will wait for confirmation when it rolls out officially. I'm pretty happy with my plan right now, but the $10 iPad add-ons will likely make me jump ship if the FAN discount pans out.
Problem is most people don't see the value in doing that. They keep their contracts because they think they are getting over by paying $200 for the phone and being committed for 2 years.
Reborn A Mac
macrumors newbie
No, it is $40 for each smartphone. The total cost for you would be $150.00 before taxes and fees that they also tack on.
It is $70 + $40 (1st smartphone) + $40 (2nd iPhone) = $150 total
May someone help make sure I got these calculations correct:
Currently my wife and I are on separate accounts. We both have the lowest minute plans with (?)unlimited texts. I am grandfathered into unlimited data, she has 5 GB. I am not a heavy data user - I think I use at most 2 GB a month, she uses less than half a gig. Each of our bills is right at $80, so around $160 combined. (We both get a discount.)
I have an iPad with 3G that I've never activated the data on because I thought the data fees were just ridiculous.
So, using the new plan:
Let's say we split 6 GB:
6GB fee: $90
Each iPhone: $35 + $35
iPad: $10
Total: $170 - but this does not include the discount. Would the discount be on the 6GB fee, or would each "iPhone fee" be discounted? Either way, it would be a pretty similar discount.
This looks like I could get more than enough data, and add my iPad, and ultimately save money (if I consider the discount.)
And, if I went with the combined 4GB plan, it'd be:
4GB: $70
Each iPhone: $40 + $40
iPad: $10
Total: $160 - and then take off discounts.
.... but, ****, those totals don't include taxes and fees, so it will probably come out at least the same, and all I'll gain is giving my iPad data access.
These new plans suck. It's so absolutely stupid that an iPad is $10, and a laptop is $25, etc. I hate AT&T.
Currently my wife and I are on separate accounts. We both have the lowest minute plans with (?)unlimited texts. I am grandfathered into unlimited data, she has 5 GB. I am not a heavy data user - I think I use at most 2 GB a month, she uses less than half a gig. Each of our bills is right at $80, so around $160 combined. (We both get a discount.)
I have an iPad with 3G that I've never activated the data on because I thought the data fees were just ridiculous.
So, using the new plan:
Let's say we split 6 GB:
6GB fee: $90
Each iPhone: $35 + $35
iPad: $10
Total: $170 - but this does not include the discount. Would the discount be on the 6GB fee, or would each "iPhone fee" be discounted? Either way, it would be a pretty similar discount.
This looks like I could get more than enough data, and add my iPad, and ultimately save money (if I consider the discount.)
And, if I went with the combined 4GB plan, it'd be:
4GB: $70
Each iPhone: $40 + $40
iPad: $10
Total: $160 - and then take off discounts.
.... but, ****, those totals don't include taxes and fees, so it will probably come out at least the same, and all I'll gain is giving my iPad data access.
These new plans suck. It's so absolutely stupid that an iPad is $10, and a laptop is $25, etc. I hate AT&T.
S.B.G
Moderator emeritus
Right. I can see folks who have several devices where these plans could help them save a few bucks. But for folks like like me, with 2 or 3 devices, these plans don't help.
Le sigh...
So keep your old plan. You're not forced to change. No skin off your nose.
----------
The FAN discounting is only off of the main data plan (think of data as the new line of minutes).
If you currently have a discount off of a data plan on your account, it may not make sense for you to switch unless you want the hotspot capability or want to add an iPad for less.
For those on the 3 GB plan where the FAN discount doesn't apply it makes sense to switch because the FAN discount will be greater on the data package than on the main line of minutes like it is currently.
For me it's a little more expensive to switch to the Share Plan because I have unlimited data and one 2 GB package on my account (along with two three GB packages).
However, if I want to add my iPad (something I've wanted to do for awhile) its far cheaper.
I'll be interested to know which components of these plans are impacted by corporate discounts (i.e., just the base amount or also the per-phone/device amount?). Then I can more accurately assess whether switching would be advantageous to me.
These moves by Verizon and AT&T are all about the fact that more and more people don't need unlimited minutes (with rollover minutes, I have way more than I'll ever need) or messages (thanks to Apple's messaging system) and many had started to wise up and switch to the lowest-minute plans. These companies are now, essentially, forcing people onto the most expensive minutes/messaging plans.
If you do a lot of talking and texting, have a lot of family members, and don't use much data, these plans may look great. If you're in the opposite camp, they probably suck. The one positive spin would be that if you had previously thought about wanting to tether (with an iPad or laptop), but chose not to because of the monthly cost to do so, that's now received the biggest discount. But that's a double-edged sword, because you're more apt to use up a lot more data more quickly with a laptop.
Here's my vision of a fair plan which would keep things simple but also let these companies make more money from people who use up a lot of data:
- Low-speed plan: $40 w/unlimited talk/text and unlimited slow bandwidth
- Mid-tier plan: $60 - same as above but w/medium-speed bandwidth
- Perfomance plan: $80 - same as above but w/high-speed bandwidth
* The first phone on the plan pays full-price. Add a 2nd phone and you get a $5/month per phone discount. 3+ phones gets you a $10/month per phone discount.
* Ability to tether: $10/month extra (per line).
I haven't crunched the numbers, so I just threw those out there. The point being that people who want high-speed data should pay for it, but within a family, you might have one person who really wants the highest speed bandwidth, and others who won't notice as much. For example, I'm fine limiting my daughters data speed (she ain't paying). And I also don't want my daughter to decide to go on a YouTube-watching binge and use up the whole family's data allowance which, as far as I can tell, these new plans that AT&T and Verizon are offering don't address.
These moves by Verizon and AT&T are all about the fact that more and more people don't need unlimited minutes (with rollover minutes, I have way more than I'll ever need) or messages (thanks to Apple's messaging system) and many had started to wise up and switch to the lowest-minute plans. These companies are now, essentially, forcing people onto the most expensive minutes/messaging plans.
If you do a lot of talking and texting, have a lot of family members, and don't use much data, these plans may look great. If you're in the opposite camp, they probably suck. The one positive spin would be that if you had previously thought about wanting to tether (with an iPad or laptop), but chose not to because of the monthly cost to do so, that's now received the biggest discount. But that's a double-edged sword, because you're more apt to use up a lot more data more quickly with a laptop.
Here's my vision of a fair plan which would keep things simple but also let these companies make more money from people who use up a lot of data:
- Low-speed plan: $40 w/unlimited talk/text and unlimited slow bandwidth
- Mid-tier plan: $60 - same as above but w/medium-speed bandwidth
- Perfomance plan: $80 - same as above but w/high-speed bandwidth
* The first phone on the plan pays full-price. Add a 2nd phone and you get a $5/month per phone discount. 3+ phones gets you a $10/month per phone discount.
* Ability to tether: $10/month extra (per line).
I haven't crunched the numbers, so I just threw those out there. The point being that people who want high-speed data should pay for it, but within a family, you might have one person who really wants the highest speed bandwidth, and others who won't notice as much. For example, I'm fine limiting my daughters data speed (she ain't paying). And I also don't want my daughter to decide to go on a YouTube-watching binge and use up the whole family's data allowance which, as far as I can tell, these new plans that AT&T and Verizon are offering don't address.
ipad shared?
Great forum!
Is the $10 a cell data charge like the $15 for 250 plan, or is it an access to a tethering / hotspot?
I have a wifi new ipad, just curious if I need the $10 charge?
I have 3 iphones and an ipad, I was thinking on the 1g plan...
phone 45
phone 45
phone 45
ipad 10
1g data 40 = 185?
also am I looking at 18% FAN Discount... 18% on data? = $7.20 how about on the phone
... I am getting a discount on the phone and data
Great forum!
Is the $10 a cell data charge like the $15 for 250 plan, or is it an access to a tethering / hotspot?
I have a wifi new ipad, just curious if I need the $10 charge?
I have 3 iphones and an ipad, I was thinking on the 1g plan...
phone 45
phone 45
phone 45
ipad 10
1g data 40 = 185?
also am I looking at 18% FAN Discount... 18% on data? = $7.20 how about on the phone
... I am getting a discount on the phone and data
So we've been contemplating these plans since they came out yesterday. Currently we pay about $155 for both of our phones on the old grandfathered unlimited data plan with 450 voice minutes. Additionally we have Mcell with unlimited minutes (+$20) for using the phones at home. Now correct me if I'm wrong ... we should be able to do the 2 phone 6GB plan and drop the $20 Mcell unlimited minutes since the new shared plans are unlimited and come out about even. Mcell service wasn't reliable enough for the wife to rely on before but now with the unlimited minutes on the phones we will also be canceling our home landline for a substantial savings.
I think in our situation it will work out well.
Chris
I think in our situation it will work out well.
Chris
S.B.G
Moderator emeritus
I'm not changing it. I looked at the plans and determined it wasn't cost-effective for my situation.
dokujaryu
macrumors 6502
Mostly convenience. Originally we got the iPad 4G on Verizon because LTE was not available in my area on AT&T. Getting tethering on my phone would cost more and just be annoying and battery draining to setup every time I want data on the iPad.
Also, some companies scan the building for hotspots and put the hammer down. :-/
This is a rip off
I have a family plan through my company and I get 2100 Minutes for $78, and have 3 other phones on there for $10 each. My iPhone and my daughter's iPhone have $30 unlimited data and my wife has $25 data. My son just has a flip phone for no data. We have unlimited messaging at $30 That come to $223 + taxes
If I were to go with the 10GB plan I am now limiting everyones data or $120 I am assuming I would still get my discount So I would be at $93.60 for talk text and data + $120 for each of the 4 phones $213.60. I'll save a whopping $10 a month and cap my data at 10 GB/month.
Come AT&T give me a real reason to change!!! I can save more than tha by dropping to the 1400 Minute Family plan
I have a family plan through my company and I get 2100 Minutes for $78, and have 3 other phones on there for $10 each. My iPhone and my daughter's iPhone have $30 unlimited data and my wife has $25 data. My son just has a flip phone for no data. We have unlimited messaging at $30 That come to $223 + taxes
If I were to go with the 10GB plan I am now limiting everyones data or $120 I am assuming I would still get my discount So I would be at $93.60 for talk text and data + $120 for each of the 4 phones $213.60. I'll save a whopping $10 a month and cap my data at 10 GB/month.
Come AT&T give me a real reason to change!!! I can save more than tha by dropping to the 1400 Minute Family plan
But now your son can have a smartphone and you would pay $10 per month less while doing it. Now you save $40/month. That's the whole point of the plan.
It's not for everyone but it makes sense and ultimately people save if they connect a lot of devices and talk a lot.
billhelm
macrumors regular
It seems likely that the discount will only apply to the base charge given the way things have been going with AT&T. This is potentially a bad deal if you're grandfathered into FAN discount on the old $25 data 2GB data plans - depending on your % discount.
It also does some interesting things to the pricing at the higher FAN discount rates where the 4GB and 6GB plans are only a couple of bucks apart for me.
Still not for me, as I have no need to pay for unlimited text and minutes.
Got to love it when a corporation post its plans to violate millions of people, and since so many people are already accustomed to being violated, they don't notice, or care that they are setting the next generation up to continue the fun in their own family, on these plans.
Tobacco companies get a bad rap, for advertising to the next generation, Yet these jokers, set up the next generation to become dependent on extortionately priced plans that do little more than rob man, woman, and child at gunpoint. Cue applause for AT&T $ Verizon, predators for the next and future generations.
Tobacco companies get a bad rap, for advertising to the next generation, Yet these jokers, set up the next generation to become dependent on extortionately priced plans that do little more than rob man, woman, and child at gunpoint. Cue applause for AT&T $ Verizon, predators for the next and future generations.
I wasn't defending AT&T. I was pointing out that (unless you're a bloody fool) if:
1) a new plan would cost you more money, and
2) the new plan gives you no tangible gain worth the increase in price, and
3) you can keep your old plan, then...
...you keep your old plan.
That's true regardless of the provider, or the details of the circumstances. So, someone claiming that this new plan *will* cost them more money is either:
A) a bloody fool, intentionally switching to a new plan which will cost them more money for no tangible gain worth the increase in price, or
B) still on their old plan, and therefore not paying anything more.
Is that clear enough for you?
----------
No. With Verizon, my understanding of the situation is that you don't get to keep your old plan past the expiration of your current contract term. (It might just be that you don't get subsidized phones any more of you stay with the old terms, though.)
AT&T, however, isn't phasing out the old plans. They're just adding a new option. (It looks like it will save me about $25-35/month and get me tethering, if I'm reading it right.)
BFizzzle
macrumors 68020
lol
yes you will pay more, $40=1gb $45 1 phone, $45 2 phone. =$130
i wish att would just offer us roll over data. its stupid data expires.
anthonymoody
macrumors 68040
Well to my surprise this actually works out very favorably for me with the exception that I'd have to give up my unlimited phone plan as well as that on my iPad.
We currently pay $190 (prior to taxes and fees) for two iPhones. Both have unlimited minutes. One has unlimited data, the other the 2GB plan. One has 200 texts, the other 1000. I think those are all old plans, no longer offered.
Add the $30 for my iPad plan, and that's $220/month.
To my shock, only ONCE over the last 18 months have my wife and I combined to go over 1GB across our phones AND my iPad. Wow. I've seriously over estimated our data usage, or seriously underestimated how often we use wifi.
So I can comfortably go with the 1GB plan for $40 with two phones at $45 each for a total of $130, or $90 less than I pay now. Given how little iPad data I've used I'll rely on tethering. And if that proves unwieldy I can always add my iPad to the pool for $10, shaving the savings to a still substantial $80/mo.
I can't wait for these to go live!
We currently pay $190 (prior to taxes and fees) for two iPhones. Both have unlimited minutes. One has unlimited data, the other the 2GB plan. One has 200 texts, the other 1000. I think those are all old plans, no longer offered.
Add the $30 for my iPad plan, and that's $220/month.
To my shock, only ONCE over the last 18 months have my wife and I combined to go over 1GB across our phones AND my iPad. Wow. I've seriously over estimated our data usage, or seriously underestimated how often we use wifi.
So I can comfortably go with the 1GB plan for $40 with two phones at $45 each for a total of $130, or $90 less than I pay now. Given how little iPad data I've used I'll rely on tethering. And if that proves unwieldy I can always add my iPad to the pool for $10, shaving the savings to a still substantial $80/mo.
I can't wait for these to go live!
My only question regarding the new shared data plans is how it will work with subsidized upgrades. I'm assuming part of the reason why smartphones are charged a much higher rate, besides to make money, is because it offsets the cost of subsidizing the phone.
Right now with our current family plan the main line gets an available upgrade about once a year while the other two add-on lines get one about every 21 months. Since with the new shared plans the add-on lines will be $30-$35 a month - depending on the plan we get - I'm wondering if the add-on lines will be able to get upgrades sooner or if all lines will have to wait 21 months for an available upgrade.
Right now with our current family plan the main line gets an available upgrade about once a year while the other two add-on lines get one about every 21 months. Since with the new shared plans the add-on lines will be $30-$35 a month - depending on the plan we get - I'm wondering if the add-on lines will be able to get upgrades sooner or if all lines will have to wait 21 months for an available upgrade.
Data plan calculator
Confused with all the numbers?
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You completely missed my point.
Actually I am over 40 and work in large Fortune 100 company in the health insurance industry. I have no problems with companies making a profit.
My point is many MacRumor readers opinions om if a company should raise prices or make a huge profit depends on how much they like the products they make or produce.
Using your example, how do you feel about my company charging as much as they can for the drugs they produce? Are you one of those people who champion their right to do that? Or do you bemoan why they don't charge less for those products? Or you health insurance company won't cover as much as they used to?
The same goes for insurance companies, oil/gas companies, cell phone companies and on down the line.
My point wasn't that Apple was making a profit. It was the incessant complaining whenever a cell phone company doesn't to quote you 'charge as little as they can for their product.' I'm realistic enough to know they are making real world business decisions.
Do I like it? Not really. But unlike people around here I won't talk out of both sides of my mouth and cheer when Apple makes a huge profit and get angry when ATT or Verizon tries to do the same.
Snowy_River
macrumors 68030
Well, I'm disappointed, but not surprised. The reality as it seems to me is that these plans aren't aimed at convincing new people to get data using devices.
My wife and I would be relatively low data users. We'd both love to have iPhones, but the cost of data plans have been obscenely prohibitive. I understand the principle that the data cost needs to be a certain level to help offset the subsidized phone cost. But what about the more frugal consumer who has a phone that is bought outright? For example, if I bought an unlocked iPhone 3GS and simply put my SIM card into it, where is the data plan for me? Should I be forced to pay a rate that is designed to offset subsidization?
In short, what I'd like to see is something like a $30, 1GB of data that could be added to any "OUT OF CONTRACT" account as shared data, with NO DEVICE ACTIVATION fees. From the standpoint of $30 pays for 2GB of data on a single device when covering subsidization, there can be little doubt that $30 for 1GB of data would make AT&T plenty of money if it was being applied only to non-subsidized devices.
Is it so much to ask? Yeah, I know that the answer is "yes", but I can still dream...
My wife and I would be relatively low data users. We'd both love to have iPhones, but the cost of data plans have been obscenely prohibitive. I understand the principle that the data cost needs to be a certain level to help offset the subsidized phone cost. But what about the more frugal consumer who has a phone that is bought outright? For example, if I bought an unlocked iPhone 3GS and simply put my SIM card into it, where is the data plan for me? Should I be forced to pay a rate that is designed to offset subsidization?
In short, what I'd like to see is something like a $30, 1GB of data that could be added to any "OUT OF CONTRACT" account as shared data, with NO DEVICE ACTIVATION fees. From the standpoint of $30 pays for 2GB of data on a single device when covering subsidization, there can be little doubt that $30 for 1GB of data would make AT&T plenty of money if it was being applied only to non-subsidized devices.
Is it so much to ask? Yeah, I know that the answer is "yes", but I can still dream...
MacDav
macrumors 65816
Your beef is not with big companies making big undeserved profits, or people talking out of both sides of their mouths. Your beef is with the universe itself. Capitalism is an extension of evolution. It is "Natural Selection" at work. You seem to want life to be "fair". Life has never been fair, is not fair now, and never will be fair. People are not equal, and never have been equal. You can really only blame the universe for this. If everyone living were at a level of enlightenment on par with "Mother Teresa" then we would have "Heaven on Earth". Unfortunately, most humans are selfish, envious, hateful, greedy etc. Karl Marx thought he could force people to be unselfish. The Soviets bought into his ideas and they gave it their best shot. The Soviet Empire imploded, as you might recall, because that system turned out to be a worse fit for humans than Capitalism. Look at the Euro-Socialists, how is that working out? Yes, our system is far from perfect. It is only as perfect as the people who populate it. We can and will improve things. We will argue with each other about which method is best to improve things. However; one thing I know for sure, whining about how bad things are, is a waste of time. Doing something positive in your life (even a small thing) is not a waste of time. It may be all that most of us can do.