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AT&T to End Traditional Voice/Data Plans, Adopt Mobile Share for New Customers on October 25

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AT&T is planning to discontinue its standard monthly voice and data plans for new customers, instead offering only its Mobile Share plans, reports Engadget.
AT&T is planning to axe its traditional monthly calling and data plans for new customers - both individual and family - in favor of the network's latest shared data options, Engadget has learned after receiving an anonymous tip and reaching out to AT&T. It appears that this move is in response to the overwhelming success of AT&T's Mobile Share since its original debut.
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First introduced during the summer of 2012, AT&T's mobile share plans offer unlimited talk and text while providing a pool of data that can be used across multiple devices.

attpricing.jpg
The plans include a monthly data cost and a per-device charge that ranges from $10 to $50 based on the type of device and the selected data plan. Data is priced between $20 and $500, for between 300MB and 50GB of usage.

At the current time, AT&T also offers individual and family plans that include separate voice, data, and messaging charges at varying price points. The company says that for 95 percent of its customers, Mobile Share plans offer a better value.

The elimination of current voice and data plans will not affect existing customers, even through phone upgrades, line activations, and other plan adjustments. New customers, however, will only be able to choose a Mobile Share plan when signing up with AT&T after the changes go into effect.

AT&T plans to continue to offer the basic $40 plan that includes 450 minutes and no texting or data for customers who require a basic option. The switch to Mobile Share for new customers will be implemented on October 25.

Article Link: AT&T to End Traditional Voice/Data Plans, Adopt Mobile Share for New Customers on October 25
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/11/att-to-end-traditional-voicedata-plans-adopt-mobile-share-for-new-customers/
Or you can pay $70 a month and get unlimited everything through T-Mobile. Or $45 a month and get unlimited everything from an AT&T MVNO such as Straight Talk (which now has LTE access).

Why would anybody be stupid enough to get price gouged like this?
 
What a ripoff. The cost of the same smartphone being added to the plan is different depending on how much data you get. Ridiculous.
 
Most basic iPhone option

So the most basic option is 300 MB with one iPhone, costing $70

Black Wireless offers a 500 MB plan, unlimited everything, including $10 free international credit, for $30

Making the phone subsidy $70 - $40 = $30

Over two years $30 X 24 = $720!

So the 16 GB iPhone 5s would be $200 + $36 (activation) + $720= $956 ($300 markup)
16 GB iPhone 5c would be $100 + $36 (activation) + $720= $856 ($300 markup)

Talk about a markup!
 
I am a current AT&T customer, one day away from being out of contract.

And I can't run fast enough to the T-mobile $30/mo 100/unlimited/unlimited plan.

It will cut our bill in half, and I get a corporate discount on ATT! Of course, I'll lose the 4700 rollover minutes and my legacy "unlimited" (but throttled after 3GB) data plan.
 
Still clutching onto my unlimited grandfathered data plan on AT&T. I could probably save $10-15 a month going with mobile share but I can't convince myself to give up the unlimited data.
 
I don't get how this can be so successful. I'm on ATT now and if I were to switch it would be $25 more. I guess there are enough large families who don't use much data?
 
$40 + for each smart device. You got to be kidding. I was looking at T-Mobile last week, now this confirms I will be moving over to them, I can get 4 phones on 2Gig for $100 (all iPhones) that same plan with AT&T is $230. Also T-Mobile also now offers global data roaming. What sort of market research do these guys do?
 
If only T-Mobile worked better in my area.....

I just switched not 3 days ago from T-Mobile to AT&T on one of these about to be discontinued plans. Cost isn't too bad with the 22% corp discount applied.

T-Mobile service in Raleigh/Durham gets spotty outside the belt line, and in certain areas within. Hate to double my mobile bill (actually double and a little more), but I was getting tired of spotty service. Considered trying Sprint as Raleigh got LTE this past summer, but didn't want to risk the restocking fee.

Wife has a "pre share" plan on Verizon, the only carrier that works well out by her school.

If the share plans from either Verizon or AT&T included more data maybe it would be a decent deal. As it is they are horribly overpriced (in my opinion).

Glad I got in under the wire for this latest change, as it is. That being said, if I move somewhere where T-Mobile has solid service I'll make the change back as soon as I can.
 
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I am grand fathered and with my 20% discount, I pay $107 per month for two iPhone 5s with 550 shared minutes with rollover, one phone with unlimited data and the other with 2gb data. It looks like the new plans are ridiculous.
 
So with my current family plan I have 2 lines, 550 minutes shared, 1000 txt on one, 2GB Data on each, and I pay (after fees) $123 per month, average.

With this new plan, a 4GB shared option with 2 smartphones will run me 70+40+40= $150 and that's before any taxes or anything.

I guess I must fall in their 5% "You gotta be f---king kidding me" group?
 
F123D said:
Verizons next. Monkey see, monkey do.
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Verizon hasn't offered single phone plans since they started data share plans. So, it is actually AT&T doing what they saw Verizon doing. I'm surprised it took so long for AT&T to do this.
 
The bleeding of AT&T has begun.

With today's announcement of T-Mobile having 200 cities live LTE, free unlimited international roaming, and already having 99% of the population covered with HSPA+ 42mbps (which is even faster than ATT's LTE_, the cards are in TMO's hands, and everyone else is on the defensive now. T-Mobile is the carrier to be afraid of if you're ATT or VZW. They're young, aggressive, and very user friendly. And with International Roaming data and text, I'm sold. I'll gladly pay $325 x 6 lines to save myself $1000 a month in data roaming charges.
 
Seems very expensive

I'm currently on AT&T and pay ~$65 after taxes for 450 minutes, unlimited data, 1M text messages. With the mobile share plan I would pay $95 + taxes per month with 2GB (I average 1.5 GB/month). I'll stick with what I have as long as I can.
 
torturegarden said:
I'm currently on AT&T and pay ~$65 after taxes for 450 minutes, unlimited data, 1M text messages. With the mobile share plan I would pay $95 + taxes per month with 2GB (I average 1.5 GB/month). I'll stick with what I have as long as I can.
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Mobileshare isn't for everyone. The break-even is at 4+ lines in most cases.
 
I think I'll stay in the UK thanks. We can get single device SIM-only plans as low as $11 for 500MB data, 150 mins talk and unlimited text. If you want unlimited everything, that'll be $24.

$70 for their cheapest data-inclusive plan is just plain crazy!
 
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We saved quite a bit when we moved to the Mobile Share, but the key is liberal use of the word family. My wife and I had a plan, and my parents were on their own plan with one other person. When we combined into one family plan with 5 phones (plus my 20% discount) we ended up saving a significant amount of money every month. My wife and I saved about $35 a month, and my parents significantly more than that.
Stinks that they are forcing everyone onto it though... choice is good.
 
b11051973 said:
Verizon hasn't offered single phone plans since they started data share plans. So, it is actually AT&T doing what they saw Verizon doing. I'm surprised it took so long for AT&T to do this.
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Wow.. I'm surprised there wasn't an uproar over this sooner since this is the first I've heard of Verizon doing it. Either way, they're both monkeys. We're the **** they toss around.
 
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