AT&T's iPhone 3G Data Plan and No Longer Revenue Sharing

[Goliath]

No, but Apple store computers will. You'll have to sign up with one of the available plans from one of the available carriers before they hand you the box.

They invented this thing called the Internet a while back, and it turns out it's pretty easy to share information with it. If you have a question, a complimentary call to the service line for that carrier will probably be right at your hand. It's not any different than how it works now with the online setup, except that the actual signup will occur in-store before you take your shiny new iPhone home and activate it on your home computer.

I imagine some form of authorization code will be printed to show the Apple store clerk, showing your plan. It'll work out just fine.

If Apple make you sign the contract in-store then they will be legally obliged to give you all the information regarding contract costs, service plans etc that pertain to the contract they are selling you. And go check o2.co.uk for that info is not a valid answer.

If the iPhone is not Network exclusive then they will have to provide you with all the alternatives and the ability to compare the deals and for you to ask the salesperson those pertinent questions. Failure to do so would leave Apple open to mis-selling contract claims. This would be costly to Apple and the claimant(s) would have the right to nullify the contract if it was found they were mis-sold and be compensated.

A case in point- It was ruled many UK endowment mortgages were mis-sold. That ruling has cost the UK banks/lenders well over a billion pounds in compensation so far (and not all claims have been settled.) Not taking into account millions issued in fines and the enormous cost of processing the claims which run into many millions

UK on-line sales are governed by different rules but you have 14 days to cancel the contract under distance selling regulations if you decide to change your mind

 

[ddTaylor]

so ur getting it on one confirmed thing, and 2 purely speculated things?

I am NOT the OP but TWO of the mentioned items are FACT and ONE is speculative. It IS louder, per Apple (via telephone) and it has GPS. Basic MATH might help No offense intended.

Those are the reason I sold my iPhone to buy the new iPhone. It sucks what AT&T is doing and what Apple has allowed them to do with a great product. I guess I will go back to Verizon (maybe) as the service was MUCH better with fewer dropped calls and a data network much faster (in my area) than the always log-jammed EDGE network.

 

[Stately]

now we have a cheap plastic phone with apps that iPhone 1 users will get anyway

 

[cWeems]

@cWeems

So if I just got a new contract (saturday) with a new phone, would I still qualify for a $199-8GB/$299-16GB?

edit: it's an AT&T contract family plan

technically no, not for another 18 months or so.... u jus need to go into a store and find a really cool rep who can over ride it for your.

either return your phone and get an unlocked cheapy off ebay to hold you over or talk your way up to a manager july 11th to get the discount.

 

[Lopes]

nope, thats our "my phone is lost/stolen i need somthing temporarily" phone.... so no contract extension for her, unless someone screwed her pretty bad, in which case a manager would gladly override the upgrade so she can get the discount on the new iphone

awesome, i really appreciate the info man! She did tell the guy at the at&t store that her iphone was recently stolen, and that was wanted to buy the new one and she needed a cheapy to hold her over. Hopefully there was no foul up in the paperwork. Sounds like she'll be okay though!

 

[pilotError]

I have to say, I was on the fence about picking up a couple of 3G phones until I read this. I think I'll stick with Gen 1 and wait until the AT&T agreement is up. I only pay $39.99 for Broadband service and my provider is rolling out WiFi across my area for free.

I'm really dissapointed in AT&T gouging us, as the mobile plans are already lucrative for them. I like being able to mobile surf, but this just isn't worth it anymore.

I feel like an idiot now too. I've been telling people to wait because of the newer phone coming out. I seriously doubt people are going to fork over an extra $10 / month for this thing.

Apple gave up revenue sharing, most likely to get them to roll out 3G.

 

[cWeems]

2 year contract at $840 per year????? Monthly $40 for voice, $30 for unlimited 3g data.

70x12=840 x 2=$1,680.+$200 for the iPhone=$1,880 to use a PHONE for two years. I don't think so. To each their own.

ive seen people spend it on worse things.....

 

[xerenthar]

technically no, not for another 18 months or so.... u jus need to go into a store and find a really cool rep who can over ride it for your.

either return your phone and get an unlocked cheapy off ebay to hold you over or talk your way up to a manager july 11th to get the discount.

this goes against everything that has been posted and said so far.

 

[autrefois]

well when the phone is activated you HAVE to choose a data plan through iTunes... but u can always come to a store and have it taken off and replaced with just a text plan or nothing at all.

so worst case scenario u keep it for a week or two after u activate it then delete the web.

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I have a month to decide if that's what I want or not.

Well unless you live in a city with 1000s of hotspots or live on campus. Buying a Iphone without a data plan is similar to buying a sport car without tires.

Not if you already have perfectly good tires laying around. It's rare that I'm not somewhere that there's Wifi, so a $30 data plan for something I may use a couple times a month at the very most is excessive in my case.

Who the hell blames Apple over AT&T's pricing.

I have seen very few complaints about Apple related to AT&T's pricing. So the answer to your first question is, almost nobody.

But since you bring it up, Apple did revise their agreement with AT&T. Do you think Apple didn't know what AT&T were planning to do? The phone is going to end up costing more for people with the data plan (nearly everyone) because of AT&T raising the prices.

So when Apple says the iPhone is more affordable, they're leaving out the fact that all told, you will be paying more. Yes, you're getting more, but you're paying for it. Apple knew this would happen. I don't think they're to "blame" for it though per se.

And who the hell blames AT&T for charging more for an additional service?

They're no longer doing revenue sharing with Apple, but they're subsidizing the phones apparently if you read between the lines of their press release. So unless they come out and clearly tell us, we don't know if they're justified in charging $10 more for data or not. If they're already likely to gett $10 more a month thanks to the new deal with Apple, then I don't think they're justified in also charging more for the data plan. If they're breaking even or losing, then it's understandable I guess.

 

[cWeems]

I am NOT the OP but TWO of the mentioned items are FACT and ONE is speculative. It IS louder, per Apple (via telephone) and it has GPS. Basic MATH might help No offense intended.

Those are the reason I sold my iPhone to buy the new iPhone. It sucks what AT&T is doing and what Apple has allowed them to do with a great product. I guess I will go back to Verizon (maybe) as the service was MUCH better with fewer dropped calls and a data network much faster (in my area) than the always log-jammed EDGE network.

dropped calls are caused by faulty sim cards... which SUCKS with the iPhone cause when you activate your phones you are, well, at home!! and when we activate phones in the store (if the rep follows procedure) we put your sim card into a cardreader application that downloads the latest updates which help the signal 10 fold!!!!!!!! that is the one downfall to the at home activations

you should go to a store, get a new sim, activate it here(assuming u have a laptop) then give the sim back to them to update it... guarenteed to help

i do it for all my iphone friends that complain. and the fact that we are 100 yards away from an apple store im always doing it. no one ever comes back to complain after that

 

[Walter P Henson]

What about importing unlocked 3G iphones from over seas? would this allow for lower data plan costs?

 

[jennybean]

That's bad news. I've noticed that my current rate plan costs more for the same # of minutes than when I signed up last July. So if I get a new 3G iPhone not only will it cost me $10 more for the higher data, but I will have to get a new 2 yr contract at the higher prices.

My understanding after talking to an AT&T rep is that your rate plan will stay the same, only the $10 extra data plan cost.

Before I own an iphone, I had a family plan that is much lower than the one for iphone, and when I bought the iphone, I stayed at the same family rate plan...but I only paid$20 extra for the data plan.

 

[macenforcer]

So when Apple says the iPhone is more affordable, they're leaving out the fact that all told, you will be paying more. Yes, you're getting more, but you're paying for it. Apple knew this would happen.

Yep. $360 more to be exact. So with the reduced cost of the iphone you end up paying $160 more to own the phone for 2yrs. LAME!

Thats $10 more for 3g and $5 extra for 200 text messages a month that you used to get for free.

 

[cWeems]

this goes against everything that has been posted and said so far.

read my longer post on page 13 or 14.

u do have to be eligable tho

 

[gstylez]

About Plan

To me it seems like $10 more if you want a faster data plan. What's the big deal you want faster you pay more right? What are the plans for the blackberry phones? Are they unlimited? I'm not seeing much of a problem with this I figure I will pay $70 instead of $60 a month which is what a pay now. By the way it includes GPS... woo hoo isn't that what everyone wanted.

Someone tell me what the big deal is... I don't really want to see what I will pay in total for the next 2yrs... I can add my Dish Network bill for the next two years and guess what it will be a lot of freakin money too... so will dsl, netflix, etc... If you want it then you will get it if not then you won't.

 

[Towhead]

Can these be jailbroken?

Does anyone else think that these new phones will be unable to be jailbroken? For all you know, trying will brick your phone.

Oh yeah, I wonder how much some of the early iphone app developers are going to make the first week of downloads ... probably a lot!!!11!!

 

[alexandr]

what's up with the text messages?

guys, where are you getting the info about the 200 sms's not being included anymore? i didn't see anything about that..

other than that, a $10 difference won't upset me too much. i pay roughly $83 with 1500 sms's. if i can get the same with 3G for $93 i'll be fine with it.
i mean we're getting much faster internet. EDGE has always been the worst aspect of the iphone for me..

 

[elektrikq]

Compare AT&T to VZW Unlimited Data

Been following this thread for a while and I haven't seen anyone post this actual comparison. Hopefully it puts it in perspective for everyone:

New AT&T iPhone Plan:
$59.99 (900 Minutes, Rollover, Unlimited Nights, Weekends & M2M)
$30.00 (Unlimited Data Plan)
$20.00 (Unlimited Text Messaging)

$109.99 TOTAL w/ AT&T


Comparable Verizon Plan for Blackberry (from the Verizon Wireless Website link below)
$119.99 (900 Minutes, Unlimited Nights, Weekends & M2M, Unlimited Data & Texting)

$119.99 TOTAL w/ VZW

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...ion=priceSort&typeId=4&subTypeId=52&catId=934

Note: I didn't use the base 450 minute plan because VZW includes unlimited nights and weekends while AT&T includes 5000.

 

[xerenthar]

read my longer post on page 13 or 14.

u do have to be eligable tho

everywhere is saying it's just a new 2 year for current att/iphones.

 

[stagi]

I was hoping it would be the same monthly but will be happy to pay $10 month for 3x faster connection. Better service normally costs more.

 

[gwangung]

2 year contract at $840 per year????? Monthly $40 for voice, $30 for unlimited 3g data.

70x12=840 x 2=$1,680.+$200 for the iPhone=$1,880 for two years.

IMO, you need to be a serious business user to make that worth it.

IMO, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

Sprint...bottom line plan is $40. $15 for a crappy data plan that's far less capable with data limits. On EDGE. A total of $1320.

That's a mere $15 for a faster, more capable network. Or 30% more if you want. That ain't business use, no way, no how.

 

[Quillz]

LOL I'm laughing like crazy reading all the whiners here.
They are same as those that go to McDonalds and order two BigMacs and... a Diet Coke.
What a bunch of spoiled and retarded kids.
Beyond any logical explanation.
USA you have a major problem.

Yes, because a few people (who aren't even from the USA) are making an issue out of this, let's categorize the entire USA.

Idiot.

 

[gwangung]

Yep. $360 more to be exact. So with the reduced cost of the iphone you end up paying $160 more to own the phone for 2yrs. LAME!

What's lame is that you're not comparing across companies--who aren't offering anything better (and often are much worse).

 

[ddTaylor]

Yes you are. The higher monthly fee is offset by the lower price of the phone itself. Do the math..

You're lucky to be getting the newer model for about the same price as the older model.

Am I missing something here? Apple was being paid per iPhone user on the AT&T network. Let's assume (I know) that the per month kick-back to Apple was $10 a month per user (not out of line based on the increase in user-base brought in by Apple). How is AT&T subsidizing anything? Isn't it just a redistribution of funds? Instead of giving Apple the $10/month per user they are just giving it to the user. How is that any different in the eyes of the business?

There really is no subsidy (in the literal sense) but only the illusion of a subsidy as the money remains the same between both companies - but this time the customer 'gets it' in the end.

D

 

[michaelsviews]

Since Apple no longer receives money from AT&T for iPhone users, why would Apple decide to keep the new iPhone exclusive? What don't I understand?

What will have to be done to use the new iPhone on T-Mobile?

Just think if Apple would have gone to Verizon and Verizon agreed with everything AT&T and there poor network that is behind the times and still NOT fully 3G, would be hurting for customers.