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AT&T's Plans for Shared Data Packages Firming Up

tido2012 said:
Why would anyone stay with AT&T with expectations of the next iPhone having LTE.
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Having both AT&T iPhones (4) and a Verizon LTE iPad they are not the same. This past weekend we took a trip that had us in every state in the Southeast US (x FL). In some areas the iPad showed LTE coverage but would not connect. And in others it was slow. (It did absolutely rock on the Auburn campus). And places where AT&T sucked, Verizon LTE was great.

You need to pick a carrier based on what is best for you in the areas you are in most. Verizon technically has my market lit if you count one tower in the downtown area, but AT&T is stronger overall.

As for the tiered data plan, with the 4 iPhones we have 2 are on unlimited, 1 on the 2GB plan and one on the 200 MB plan. So we pay 30+30+25+15 or $100 month. Even if the price stays at $100 and I am limited to 8.25GB, that is better than what I have. My wife is grandfathered on the unlimited plan, but may use 500MB. My daughter on the 2GB plan uses 2 GB. If it wasn't for WiFi at the house, she would blow 2GB away. So being able to just combine our current total data into one pool would be beneficial.
 
tasset said:
Do you think AT&T will actually let you save that much, AND give you such a large phone subsidy?? They just increased their "upgrade" fee to $36. There will be a financial tradeoff one way or the other.
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Well, considering a few days ago their CEO was crying over iMessage, I'm afraid you are most likely right.
 
tido2012 said:
Why would anyone stay with AT&T with expectations of the next iPhone having LTE. Just doesn't seem reasonable. I know that AT&T's fallback HSPA+ is faster than Verizon's but that is supposed to be a fallback so technically you should not be using that very often, especially with all the money Verizon is putting into their network, it should only get better from here. With that said, I do have AT&T and will have to stay with it for another year since I'm on the iPhone 4s contract, but more importantly since I will be moving to a location where they don't have Verizon's LTE yet. As soon as that comes though I'll be purchasing my LTE iPad. Definitely looking forward to a 5-10 fb data plan and taking my iPad to the gym and being able to watch Netflix on a reasonable size screen.
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umm lets see. They hate Verizon more,
Or AT&T service is better were they are and works for them great.
I have no reason to leave AT&T. It is not like I get a cost saving to go to Verizon and I never have had an issue with AT&T.

First rule of choosing cell service. CHOOSE WHAT WORKS IN YOUR AREA.
Rule 2. See rule 1.
Rule 3. See rule 2.

Break rule 1 2 or 3, you are stupid.

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tasset said:
Do you think AT&T will actually let you save that much, AND give you such a large phone subsidy?? They just increased their "upgrade" fee to $36. There will be a financial tradeoff one way or the other.
Click to expand...

I could see them using this to help kill off the grandfathers unlimited plans they do want to get ride of. They removed a huge incentive by having the only 1g+ plan at 30 dollars. No reason to give it up for 0 in savings.
 
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hellomoto4 said:
As a non-American reader, does anyone else think that US network specific posts should be placed in the iOS blog, rather than main page?
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Can we keep US phone carrier specific threads off the front page?
 
tido2012 said:
Why would anyone stay with AT&T with expectations of the next iPhone having LTE. Just doesn't seem reasonable. I know that AT&T's fallback HSPA+ is faster than Verizon's but that is supposed to be a fallback so technically you should not be using that very often, especially with all the money Verizon is putting into their network, it should only get better from here. With that said, I do have AT&T and will have to stay with it for another year since I'm on the iPhone 4s contract, but more importantly since I will be moving to a location where they don't have Verizon's LTE yet. As soon as that comes though I'll be purchasing my LTE iPad. Definitely looking forward to a 5-10 fb data plan and taking my iPad to the gym and being able to watch Netflix on a reasonable size screen.
Click to expand...

i have a verizon phone for work and both carriers about the same

i use only 1GB a month or so on my iphone and don't care about LTE

ESPN gamecast does not need LTE
 
Why don't they all simply charge a flat rate per MB? These data plans are soon going to look like the USA Tax Code. The idea of screwing the micro user and reward the data-hogs is crazy. Like everyone pays the same amount per gallon of gasoline, whether they pump 1 gallon or 15. It should be the same for data. They could have users setup accounts like EZ-Pass does for toll-roads. Use $50 or $100 increments that auto draw and replenish from your credit card as the accounts are used. Why make things more complex when there's a very simple solution. Providers could then simply compete on delivery, quality, and price like everyone else.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
First rule of choosing cell service. CHOOSE WHAT WORKS IN YOUR AREA.
Click to expand...

So many people don't understand this, though. Whenever someone asks me what service to use I tell them to find people with phones on all the networks with iPhones (since they usually want an iPhone) and test the reception where they would be using their phones the most. Who cares if you get a better deal if the thing can't connect.
 
tasset said:
Do you think AT&T will actually let you save that much, AND give you such a large phone subsidy?? They just increased their "upgrade" fee to $36. There will be a financial tradeoff one way or the other.
Click to expand...
I agree, it would be hard to get this subsidy especially since ATT CEO is losing sleep over losing data bytes :D
 
sounds like att is looking for another way to squeeze even more money out of its customers.
I am sure if the ceo's only regret was that he didn't screw the customer over for unlimited data from the start, that he isn't going to approve a darn thing over a "shared data" that isn't going to improve his bottom line when the numbers are crunched.
I am sure he wants MORE $$ from the customers over this too...:rolleyes:
 
I have a feeling there won't be any savings at all.
After what this A$$ hat had to say how he felt about the unlimited plan and it's users I can only imagine how this will screw us.
 
tasset said:
Watch. Just watch. AT&T and Verizon will announce shared data plans within a week of each other. They could have done this long ago, but play off each other lock step as if there were "competition."
I wait to see how the math works out, but I would be shocked if a family will save more than $5-$10 for the privilege of 'sharing" data.
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+1000

"I'm very comfortable with the plan that will be offered to our customers," de la Vega said
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^this makes me uncomfortable.

tasset you're 100% right. I'd be surprised if there's more than $5 difference between AT&T's and Verizon's comparative plans. You better believe these guys are more worried about keeping their own customers than giving the "competitor's" customers reason to switch.
 
fanboy05 said:
sounds like att is looking for another way to squeeze even more money out of its customers.
I am sure if the ceo's only regret was that he didn't screw the customer over for unlimited data from the start, that he isn't going to approve a darn thing over a "shared data" that isn't going to improve his bottom line when the numbers are crunched.
I am sure he wants MORE $$ from the customers over this too...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Oh c'mon. It won't be THAT bad. I have two $30 data plans in my family. They won't charge $60+ for a shared data plan, because then NOONE WOULD USE IT. They won't be forcing anyone to use shared plans.

I think a more likely scenario is as follow, patterned after the voice plans:
1st data plan: $30. For each additional person/device, add $15 or $20. The only question being how the cap will be adjusted for one vs two vs three or more on the same plan.

But I agree, it is still going to be ridiculously expensive, compared to what it costs them infrastructure-wise. And the collusion between AT&T and Verizon on this matter is pretty obvious. They are clearly hammering out the details between each other to make sure they can charge as much as possible.

Yay for the Oligarchy! :rolleyes: All the appearance of competition, but none of the benefits to customers!
 
AT&T needs to do something

AT&T needs to pull something out of their bag of tricks given their slow LTE rollout and the new high probability of the "new" iPhone supporting LTE. Chances are it would be a savings of 10-15 bucks for two devices. Data allowance might be the same as getting two plans but would likely be less IMO.
Here is my guess for two devices:
- $25 for 1GB shared
- $35 for 3GB shared
- $45 for 5GB shared
Each additional data line/device would be $9.99 and add 1GB to the allowance pool.
 
I don't expect any substantial saving.

At most .... it could be in the 10-20% range, perhaps 25%. Their thinking may be a family of two or more that on an average will potentially only use 50% of their combined allotted bandwidth (based on usage patterns of existing family members that are on individual plans).

Then, if they offer a 25% discount, they would still make sort of 25% off of revenues on unused bandwidth. It will also depend on how much money AT&T will lose when existing customers combine their individual plans, which is why 15-20% seems more likely in this example scenario.
 
Let me guess...my $30/month that I pay for now will jump to $55 (a $5 savings if it were 2 devices) for a "shared" plan and likely less than double the data usage.

Also, for us unlimited folks, I doubt it will be offered.

Overall, it will likely be crappy tiers like:

$55 for 2 devices for 5GB total/month
$75 for 3 devices for 5GB total/month
$100 for 4+ devices for 5GB total/month


I also don't see that many people using this feature/offering...there's so much WIFI out there for a high percentage of customers. I've been on the unlimited plan since 2008 and I don't think I've ever exceeded 500MB/month. Granted I am very often home...but even someone who travels/uses it more on the road such as 4x as much as me would still only use 2GB/month. Maybe 4GB if they were a total Youtube/video junkie or surfed all day long (teenagers).

I would guess 15% of ATTers would actually NEED and fully understand the value (or lack thereof) of this plan. The rest of us would just shrug and say "why pay more? Am I really using the 3G that much?" My guess is ATT banks on some kind of marketing to CONVINCE people they need this.
 
Herdfan said:
Having both AT&T iPhones (4) and a Verizon LTE iPad they are not the same. This past weekend we took a trip that had us in every state in the Southeast US (x FL). In some areas the iPad showed LTE coverage but would not connect. And in others it was slow. (It did absolutely rock on the Auburn campus). And places where AT&T sucked, Verizon LTE was great.

You need to pick a carrier based on what is best for you in the areas you are in most. Verizon technically has my market lit if you count one tower in the downtown area, but AT&T is stronger overall.

As for the tiered data plan, with the 4 iPhones we have 2 are on unlimited, 1 on the 2GB plan and one on the 200 MB plan. So we pay 30+30+25+15 or $100 month. Even if the price stays at $100 and I am limited to 8.25GB, that is better than what I have. My wife is grandfathered on the unlimited plan, but may use 500MB. My daughter on the 2GB plan uses 2 GB. If it wasn't for WiFi at the house, she would blow 2GB away. So being able to just combine our current total data into one pool would be beneficial.
Click to expand...
I would never give up an unlimited data plan option for a shared plan, ever! I would not expect any of the carriers subsidizing bandwidth any time in the near future.
 
Isn't Tmobile's shared plan about even (compared to individual plans) for 2 people, and becomes lower in price for 3-5 people? I would expect something similar from the bigger companies, except more expensive.

Yeah, T has 2GB shared for $40. (5GB for $70, 10GB for $130) For 2 people, that's not exactly better than individual plans. But for 5 people, assuming 2GB is enough, that's a decent deal. The higher plans include hotspot. ATT and VZW will do something similar.
 
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MacRumors said:
"I'm very comfortable with the plan that will be offered to our customers," de la Vega said on the sidelines of his company's home security and automation event at the CTIA Wireless trade show. [...]
Click to expand...

Translation: get your wallets ready, we have found a new way to rip you off.
 
FriarNurgle said:
AT&T needs to pull something out of their bag of tricks given their slow LTE rollout and the new high probability of the "new" iPhone supporting LTE. Chances are it would be a savings of 10-15 bucks for two devices. Data allowance might be the same as getting two plans but would likely be less IMO.
Here is my guess for two devices:
- $25 for 1GB shared
- $35 for 3GB shared
- $45 for 5GB shared
Each additional data line/device would be $9.99 and add 1GB to the allowance pool.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was thinking except knowing them they won't give you an extra 1GB for extra devices.
 
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