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

As a AT&T switcher now on Verizon I can comfortably say that att is dead as far as I'm concerned. Dead. Non-existent. RIP.
 
charlituna said:
If i could find a program that can SMS to non iPhones for a decent price and can port my telephone number over to something like Google Voice or Skype I would happily just use my iPad Mini phablet style and be done with it.

And yes I've started looking at such options
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Google Voice has just such an App and I believe you can port your number over.
 
All of you need to check out T-Mobile's contract-free plans. Good service, good rates. Sure some carriers may be faster in certain areas or rural areas, but T-Mobile pricing can't be beat.
 
iThinkIt said:
maybe its t-mobile for me once plan is up..... I have three iPhones on my plan Att is getting crazy.....
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I hear you. This is the main reason why I have waited for years to get the iPhone 5s on T-Mobile. Now I couldn't be happier.
I still have an iPad on AT&T Unlimited data plan; I don't want to get rid of it.
 
cmwade77 said:
Actually, here is what I expect us to see in the long term:
Unlimited Text/Data (and I mean unlimited, including tethering) and In Country Calling
First Line: $30/month
Each additional Line: $10/Month

Optional Addons:
Unlimited International Roaming - $10/month/line
Unlimited International Calling - $10/month/line

If Amazon ever gets into the mobile phone service business, I would expect those prices to be cut in half.
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I'd agree. For years the carriers were able to argue that the high costs were necessary to build out their network. Now that most are built out, it's about maintenance and upgrades which cost a fraction of what initial rollout costs. Backhaul (the bandwidth pipes and data) costs are about 1/1000th the cost they were 10 years ago... yet data pricing hasn't followed suit.
 
room237 said:
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?
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I think it's safe to say it's no longer 5% ;)
 
scapegoat81 said:
I think it's safe to say it's no longer 5% ;)
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The plans aren't designed to be a better deal for those who already have AT&T. They're designed to be a "better-than-the-competition" offering. Tho lately it seems like rather than increasing data or features, they just restructure the way a plan is marketed. We're all going to laugh in 10 years when we have a wireless technology that can have 1 tower in a city and support the backhaul to run the whole city and mom and pop operators are popping up charging $10 a month for unlimited everything, LOL
 
shenan1982 said:
The plans aren't designed to be a better deal for those who already have AT&T. They're designed to be a "better-than-the-competition" offering. Tho lately it seems like rather than increasing data or features, they just restructure the way a plan is marketed. We're all going to laugh in 10 years when we have a wireless technology that can have 1 tower in a city and support the backhaul to run the whole city and mom and pop operators are popping up charging $10 a month for unlimited everything, LOL
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That day can't get here any faster bro.
 
shenan1982 said:
It's the American way... ENTITLEMENT. We feel entitled to things we cannot afford, therefor we sign into contracts that strap us to the wall then blame everyone else but ourselves for our actions. It's a sad state we've become as a country. When I buy a car, I save up and pay cash. Most people finance and spend twice the car's value on interest. When I buy a new phone I pay cash so I can say bye bye to a carrier if something better comes out. I pay the same net cost as anyone else on a two year average, but I am in control, not the carrier. And when I buy a car, I'm in control because they can't play games with interest rates and hidden finance charges.
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Agreed completely!

I remember, a couple of years back, talking to a neighbor who was in debt and on the verge of getting his food stamps cut. Somehow the conversation turned to Apple's recent announcement. The guy told me that he was planning to get the iPhone 4 on credit and "then pay it off later". I was honestly baffled, thinking "wtf are you doing to yourself" in the back of my mind.

My uncle paid his honest debt (wife's medical bills) with 8 years of dire (14hrs/day, 7days/week) work and some rough family budget cuts, literally allotting himself zero time/money for leisure/entertainment. It seems vast majority of Americans are unable/unwilling to do anything of the sort; perhaps, because they love themselves too much. :(
 
Original Silverback iPhone owner with Edge

:D($40) Unlimited Data
+($40) 450 Talk Rollover (~4000 rollover)
+($10) 1000 text and iMessage
- (15%) Cooperate Discount
=~$76.50
and there is a LTE tower close to my home, job and the green walk where I walk and bike ride that allows me mid 20's downloads on AT&T...
After edge, figure they owe me this kinda rates... :cool:
 
mrbrown said:
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?
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Because people suck at math. I have saved thousands with prepaid over the years compared to a contract, but not a single person I know is willing to pay full price for a phone because they are 'cheaper' on contract.

iPhones DO NOT cost $200, it is just the down payment.

To make it worse, phones cost as much as they do because of this model. I paid $400 for my iPhone 2g before they sold them on contract. They went up to $650 once the carriers got involved.

Contracts are for suckers.
 
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shenan1982 said:
Likely the same reason you would buy a Kia over a Lexus, or buy a roll of tin foil at the dollar store instead of the grocery store. People are willing to make certain trade-offs in order to save money, and certain trade-offs are worth it to some, others are not.

There are many of us who live in major metropolitan cities where the coverage is about the same among all of the carriers. Sure I could name a dead spot on T-Mobile or Verizon, but at the end of the day in most large (defined by top 100 for the sake of argument here) cities, the coverage is fairly reasonable among the 4 carriers.

I really don't care if I can't make a call up in the hills above Bozeman, Montana, and I really don't care if LTE isn't available yet in Grand Forks, Iowa (or is Grand Forks in Michigan????). I care that when I land somewhere (in a plane) that the phone works at the airport, to the hotel, in the hotel, in the downtown area, etc.
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Agreed and I think it would be great if T-Mobile worked for the large majority of people. But the point I was trying to make is that, for many, carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint aren't an option. Especially in a time like today where many of us don't have land lines at the house anymore.
 
shenan1982 said:
Yes, and ARCO gas is 20 cents per gallon cheaper than Shell, which is a savings, but you don't hear me saying "Well gas used to cost $1.00 a gallon... you can't compare grandfathered plans to new plans, because the grandfathered plans are only available as long as you keep your account. And you can't go into a store and ask for last year's pricing... so the marketing and plans available aren't to entice you to switch plans, they're to entice customers from Verizon or Sprint to come to AT&T. ATT knows they have u by the nuts on a grandfathered plan anyhow, and they laugh all the way to the bank when you brag about what a deal it is.

Yes, we're going back in time, and that's why non-legacy carriers are becoming more and more popular (SimpleMobile, Tmobile, Straight Talk, etc). People are fed up with ATT and VZ... but until people start voting with their wallets (sorry, whining on here isn't going to get ATT to change), there's no reason for ATT to change. They'll just continue racking in record profits at your expense.
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chrfr said:
There was an uproar, but the providers like the extra revenue, and what can you do about it as a customer? Nothing.
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Its all about Corp Greedy!! They got you whether you like it or not. They like to play around with numbers and see how many many they can suck in. I think is ridiculous that they charge you for data minutes and if you go over they charge again, but if you don't use it you don't even get nothing in return. they wont even bother discount or roll over your data minutes you don't use. That's what I call AT&T Corp Greedy!! Everyone should boycott there tactic!!!
 
Farplaner said:
I can't imagine how AT&T thinks everybody needs unlimited minutes and unlimited texts...
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It's irrelevant, really. Both of these services cost AT&T almost nothing compared to data. Text, in particular. The *current* text plan prices are the real ripoff.

The change reflects the changing nature of smartphone usage.

They are giving away unlimited talk and text becuase their cost to do that is minimal.
 
This pricing is crazy.

Thank god I pay just $2 for 300 Mb data and $4 for 1GB. That's Vodafone prepaid 3G data charges in Mumbai.

I also recharge with top up of $4 for 200 minutes of talk time.

So grand total of $8 per month. Competition here is fierce and not like AT&T who almost have a monopoly.
 
musika said:
I ♥ Carriers.

Gosh, I can't even write that without laughing.
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They had to find a way to get v the word "unlimited" into their ads again without actually meaning anything.

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sanke1 said:
This pricing is crazy.

Thank god I pay just $2 for 300 Mb data and $4 for 1GB. That's Vodafone prepaid 3G data charges in Mumbai.

I also recharge with top up of $4 for 200 minutes of talk time.

So grand total of $8 per month. Competition here is fierce and not like AT&T who almost have a monopoly.
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Well this is for 4g but yea I feel you
 
Has Verizon (or ATT) ever come out with a new pricing plan that actually BENEFITS their customers with lower prices?

Their "number crunchers" always price plans so that no matter how you configure them, YOU always wind up paying MORE. There are NO good deals or cheaper prices.

I've got 5 phones on VZ, 2 smart and 3 dumb, unlimited data, a la carte messaging, for $200/mo. Switching to their mobile share plan, the cheapest I could get is $240.

Over and over, the same story with others, so how, exactly, do these plans benefit 95% of their user base? Do 95% of their customers really have 4+ phones? (I have 5 and it doesn't save me!).
 
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