AT&T Won't Charge for FaceTime Over Cellular, Will Require New Mobile Share Plan

[PatrickHenryPDX]

"FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers"

"FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers"

OMG! Thank you so much!

 

[Small White Car]

This strikes me as a Net Neutrality issue and needs to be fought or it will set a bad precedent. Data is data: AT&T must not be allowed to discriminate against what type of data we use on its cellular network for the sake of squeezing more money out of the consumer.

Well, be careful. If you open up THAT can of worms you basically give AT&T the right to differentiate between data amount and data bandwidth. Basically, 1 GB of YouTube could cost more than 1 GB of email.

And then, the best part is, AT&T can say "well, this is what you wanted!"

I'm not too eager to force them down that path.

 

[Le Big Mac]

For the cost of adding one more iPhone to my plan, the "Shared Data" plan will allow me to add two iPhones, give me more data, enable Tethering, AND now it will give me FaceTime when iOS 6 comes out.

There are other scenarios where someone could be spending ~$300 with existing plans will see their bill drop to ~$200 with the new plans.

If the plan will cost YOU more money, then do not switch. But the new plans are definitely something that other people want.

The shared plans can save you money if you would otherwise buy unlimited text and a large amount of voice.

But if you can live without texting and don't use a lot of voice, I don't think there are many scenarios where you do better with the shared plans (at least as compared to unlimited data).

 

[jmann]

Its funny reading the ignorance on this board whenever AT&T is in the headlines. Anyone notice that the AT&T Plans are CHEAPER than Verizon? And by the way, my $290 plans (phone and tablets) with 3 iphones and 3 tablets will now be under $200, so YES, it will save money and give unlimited voice, free tethering, and unlimited texting.

You people need to read, investigate for yourself before you run at the mouth about stuff you do not understand.

Exactly why I was asking people if it saves them money. No need to be a db when answering the question!

 

[Le Big Mac]

Wonder why they are pushing shared plans so hard. The costs are about the same. Maybe market research suggests people are more likely to overpay for shared plans thinking they are more protected than before.

They're trying to push people off unlimited data, but they don't want to push too hard because they'll lose customers.

 

[monaarts]

I hate you so much ATT. What about business plans that cannot use those plans? Are we out of luck then?

Exactly what I am thinking. This is such BS. I wish my company used verizon. :-(

 

[Markiie]

Hello Sprint.

Enjoy 10 min app downloads. Not speaking from word of mouth. I had Sprint all of about 1 day. Nightmare download speeds.

 

[icrude]

Why are they changing things again!? AT&T....you charge me $10 for every GB i use after 3 gigs....just let me use facetime over 3g and if I use more than 3GB then just charge me another $10 like you do for all my other extra data usage. Why do I have to sign up for a shared plan when I only have 1 iphone!?????????????????????????????????????????

 

[jmann]

Verizon share plans saved me over $60 per month from what I was paying compared to what I was actually using:
-- 1400 minutes
-- Unlimited texting
-- 2 $30 unlimited plans
-- Tethering for my phone

I completely get that this isn't a good deal for single line users, but my wife and I barely use 1 gig *combined* per month. I had tethering for the 3-4 times per month I would be on the road and unable to find a wifi spot for my iPad. We still have a lot of friends who don't have iMessage, and my cell phone works as a home/cell/work phone, so minutes are still important to me (especially since I'm in sales).

Single line users: I get the hate.

A family of 2: probably break even

Business lines: massive savings

Thanks, it's nice to see people that benefit from this plan. We have three iPhones on our account, I'll have to see if these plans will be beneficial or not.

 

[anthony11]

ATT dominates the market, they have no incentive to provide good deals until they begin to waver.

I don't think they would even then.

If you want a consumer friendly plan, switch to Sprint or Verizon

... at the cost of buying a new phone. Feh.

If you're willing to ditch the iPhone or Jailbreak and throw out a few features T-mobile has even more impressive rates than even Sprint these days.

My experience with T-Mobile was that one of the features one would be throwing out would be coverage outside of urban cores.

 

[froggiemlm]

Did you ever take a look at the coverage map? Only 53 markets are even being serviced right now. How could they move you to LTE when over half of the population can't even get it's service?

Sprint charged a $10 "4G" fee on the EVO even if your area did not recieve "4G" serice.

 

[JS82712]

Steve would've definitely allowed this.

 

[powaking]

Hang on, to use Facetime I have to switch from grandfather plan to a shared plan but to use Skype I don't have to do anything? WTF?

 

[techiegirl]

RE Sprint: My sister has Sprint and in the Bay Area she is getting 200-300mbs. That's what I get with AT&T on Edge. With AT&T HSDPA+, I'm getting at least 10x faster.

Shared plan would be cheaper for me if they are giving me FAN discount on the data plan. If there is no FAN discount, then there won't be any savings. I'm just going to sit and wait to see what kind/if any of discount it will be.

 

[The DRis]

FaceTime is overrated guys

But still retarded they would enforce this

I wouldn't call something overrated that I use almost daily.

 

[joesegh]

I am actually seriously considering this.

Currently I have 450 min + Unlimited Text (with Mobile-to-Any-Mobile) + Unlimited data, which clocks in at $89.99. If I were to add an iPad to my account as a separate plan (which I've always considered but never followed through with), 3 GB would cost me $30. That'd be a total of $119.99.

One thing that I've had issues with on AT&T is the need for more minutes (I use this phone primarily for business). I also really never go above 1.5GB/month on my iPhone. If I used my current plans, went to unlimited minutes, AND added the iPad data, I would be paying $149.99 ($119.99 for iPhone, $30 for iPad).

But under this new plan, I would basically be paying $30 less: $40 (iPhone access) + $10 (iPad access) + $70 for 4GB of data and unlimited talk/text, or only $120.00. Sure, I get less data, but I've basically never exceeded 2GB in a month. 4GB to share between the iPad and iPhone seems pretty within my usage model.

One question I have: does this new plan allow a mix of LTE and 3G? (iPhone 4S + iPad 3)?

Am I crazy?

 

[i-John]

I hope I won't be making a mistake switching from AT&T to Sprint with the advent of the next iPhone.

If you like a speedy connection, it will be a mistake, as it's been well documented how much slower Sprint is over AT&T and Verizon.

 

[frunkis54]

I got rid of unlimited last month. Our busines has 4 phones(2iphones 2 dumb phones) a mifi and a netbook. we are saving almost $100 per month. we have wifi at our business and at our home so the choice was easy.

 

[bbplayer5]

**** you, AT&T.




Please leave this site. If you remember anything about iOS' history, you would know that you're undeniably wrong. iOS removed PdaNet from the App Store at the request of telecoms. iOS imposes download limits for apps due to telecoms. Steve Jobs has nothing to do with this and you sound like an idiot for bringing him up. Your logic is bad and you should feel bad.

Weird... verizon did this with android and got sued...

 

[Plutonius]

I can keep my UNLIMITED DATA but if I want to use Facetime™ over 3G I must switch plans. ****ing Goddamn ******** AT&T !!!!!

Just a matter of time. They will do whatever they can to get rid of the unlimited data plans. I predict that you will need to get the new plan if you upgrade to the new iPhone coming out.

 

[tigress666]

Wonder why they are pushing shared plans so hard. The costs are about the same. Maybe market research suggests people are more likely to overpay for shared plans thinking they are more protected than before.

Cause for some of us shared plans are not the same price and a lot more expensive? I know for me and my roommate a shared plan is a total rip off.

Glad it's not a killer feature for me to have facetime over 3G cause honestly, I would go to the 3Gig regular family plan over a shared plan and facetime isn't going to be worth the much more extra it would be for me to go on a "shared" plan.

I can totally understand why they wouldn't allow it for those of us on grandfathered unlimited plans (and glad they aren't going to do what Verizon did and just discontinue unlimited plans entirely, I much prefer they do the adding things you can't get if you stay on the old plan) but I don't understand why they can't offer it on the regular plans, even as a little bit extra paid to have it.

 

[i-John]

Its funny reading the ignorance on this board whenever AT&T is in the headlines. Anyone notice that the AT&T Plans are CHEAPER than Verizon? And by the way, my $290 plans (phone and tablets) with 3 iphones and 3 tablets will now be under $200, so YES, it will save money and give unlimited voice, free tethering, and unlimited texting.

You people need to read, investigate for yourself before you run at the mouth about stuff you do not understand.

Nah, that takes actual effort. It's easier to just hate and complain.

 

[KamiQuazi]

That is such ********. Let me use my own da*n data the way I want to. I pay for the $50 for 5gb + tether!

 

[S.B.G]

I posted this in another thread not long ago, but it bears repeating again in this thread. These "plans" are a horrible option to choose from.

For me, I'm staying with my unlimited plan on iPhone, and will keep the separate $30 plan for my iPad. I can have (realistically) 6GB of data that way for $60 per month. If I choose the 1GB plan, I will have to pay $85 and get a lot less. Or go with the 4GB plan, still get less and pay $120. How does that add up for people like me with one device? I have the grandfathered "unlimited" plan yet I won't be able to use FaceTime because why? AT&T wants to rob more money from me...

From my other post earlier...

This whole US cellular market of data usage is a bunch of bunk. 1GB, 3GB or unlimited, it's all irrelevant. The quantity of data a person uses has no affect on the network of AT&T, Verizon, et al. What matters and affects the network and it's users is the number of people on the network at a given time, in a given area and how many it can support. That's where the slow downs occur and congestion takes over. This is true whether a person uses 1MB or 10GB; it's all the same.

Imagine a highway with 2 lanes and 100 cars on it driving 55mph. Traffic should run fairly well. Now triple the amount of cars on the same road and traffic is going to get congested and the speed overall is going to drop significantly. If you widen the same road by 1 or 2 lanes, those 300 cars should be able to drive 55mph again and be fine. This is the same principle of the way the networks work.

The bottom line is the cellular companies are taking us for a ride and not a high speed one. They're cashing in on these "data plans" and restricting us the use of the road. We're only allowed to drive 3 miles on the unlimited length of the road each month. That is without regard to how many lanes are available and the amount of cars on the road. You could be the only car on a 3 lane road, but you're only allowed to drive 3 miles per month, or they're going to penalize you for driving further.

Then there is the text messages. Texting costs them next to nothing to accommodate as they insert that data in between regular telephone calls on the same network. Again, charging us all this money for these plans is uncalled for.

They are bringing in the cash hand over fist, yet their networks lag behind in capacity and speed. What are they doing with all this money? Perhaps they need to streamline their corporate & company structure and become more cost-effective.

 

[burnside]

Sprint charged a $10 "4G" fee on the EVO even if your area did not recieve "4G" serice.

Ouch, that sucks! When I switched to the iPhone 4 I had the original iPhone with only Edge. I was able to keep my unlimited data plan that I still use today even though I moved to the 3G network. I'm not saying that AT&T can't make us change plans when the next iPhone comes out, but there already is history that grandfathered plans can move to upgraded networks.