Future of AT&T UNLIMITED DATA plans

[Swampthing]

I know several member here still have these plans, as well as myself. But I'm wondering just how long this will keep going. With the announcement that all 2 year contract iPhone plans from ATT, for new and existing users, will end... what does that spell for the future? Will we STILL be grandfathered??

 

[T5BRICK]

From what I understand, you'll have to pay full price for phones next time you upgrade.

 

[bufffilm]

What will likely happen is they will raise the plan's rates up and/or conjunction with throttling bandwidth once a threshold has been reached.

IOW, make things so they 'convince' you to go to another plan.

 

[geoff5093]

Verizon took away the ability to upgrade phones and extend your contract for unlimited data users years ago, but they still allow those users to stay grandfathered.

 

[solo118]

If you pay in full you should keep the plan.... thats what I intend on doing. The question is will you be able to finance through apple if you want their option with the AC included.

 

[barkomatic]

It's hard to say what the future is for unlimited data plan users, but since AT&T allowed us to start a contract one last time I'm going to guess that it will be at least two years before they might consider ending it altogether.

 

[Mlrollin91]

As of now on AT&T you can upgrade however you want and you can keep unlimited data. 2 year contract (which ended yesterday), Next or Full Retail all retain unlimited. Verizon was the one that said if you upgraded via subsidy you would lose it.

 

[MJF1977]

What is the estimated amount each month that is in your bill for the Iphone subsidy? I realize you sign up for 2 years at the discounted iphone price, but what part of your monthly bill is the actual amortization? Because if the subsidy is now a monthly "overpayment to keep unlimited" I would like to know how much that is.

 

[sketchy]

I have unlimited on our two phones, and my wife is eligible for a 'next' upgrade on her device (contract does not change) and if they can beat two lines, unlimited data, for $135 (new cost as of next month($125 now))) before the added cost of a next upgrade, we will keep our current plan.

I use 13 to 18 gb a month, and she is around 4 a month. They day before our billing cycle I got a message from ATT about being at 16.5 GB, and I would be throttled at 22GB

My current plan:
APPLE iPhone 6s

2 Year Contract
Ends Dec 8, 2017
Eligible for an installment upgrade on:
Jul 09, 2017

 

[Newtons Apple]

AT&T will just keep raising the price on UDP until it is not worth it anymore.

 

[C DM]

As of now on AT&T you can upgrade however you want and you can keep unlimited data. 2 year contract (which ended yesterday), Next or Full Retail all retain unlimited. Verizon was the one that said if you upgraded via subsidy you would lose it.

So the contract option is still available even though it "ended yesterday"?

 

[Oridus]

So the contract option is still available even though it "ended yesterday"?

No. You only have full retail or next as an option now for smart phones.

 

[C DM]

No. You only have full retail or next as an option now for smart phones.

That's what I thought as well. It was the way that post was worded that made it seem like it was almost implying otherwise.

 

[aristobrat]

AT&T will just keep raising the price on UDP until it is not worth it anymore.

Between the $5/month UDP price increase and the loss of the phone subsidy, it seems like AT&T is making an extra ~$30/month from UDP users now. Hopefully they won't raise the price any more any time soon!

 

[bufffilm]

That's what I thought as well. It was the way that post was worded that made it seem like it was almost implying otherwise.

Mirollin91 doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[C DM]

Between the $5/month UDP price increase and the loss of the phone subsidy, it seems like AT&T is making an extra ~$30/month from UDP users now. Hopefully they won't raise the price any more any time soon!

Verizon is making way more now with their much larger unlimited plan price increase, and that's on top of them not even allowing for subsidized upgrades for those on unlimited plans for a long time now.

 

[Oridus]

Between the $5/month UDP price increase and the loss of the phone subsidy, it seems like AT&T is making an extra ~$30/month from UDP users now. Hopefully they won't raise the price any more any time soon!

At best, by that logic it would be 23.75/month. 450 /24 months = 18.85 + 5/more = 23.75.

That being said, the carriers are giving cheaper options for service. It's the users choice if they want to keep the UDP and pay the price that comes with it.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Between the $5/month UDP price increase and the loss of the phone subsidy, it seems like AT&T is making an extra ~$30/month from UDP users now. Hopefully they won't raise the price any more any time soon!

The only good thing is if under contract (I am not), this is your chance to get out of AT&T

 

[kargurin]

AT&T is trying their best to somehow connect Next with 'upgrade.' For new customers there is no such thing as upgrade. You either finance your phone through Next or you don't. Either way you will pay the full price of the phone minus any promotions. It's like calling buying a new car an 'upgrade.' You still have to pay off the old one. And unlike leasing there is no residual value involved.

 

[C DM]

AT&T is trying their best to somehow connect Next with 'upgrade.' For new customers there is no such thing as upgrade. You either finance your phone through Next or you don't. Either way you will pay the full price of the phone minus any promotions.

Well, you get a discount on your service for going with next to offset the typical subsidy recovery that is generally built into it. So given the subsidy recovery that is part of the plan pricing normally, there was no real "upgrade" before in that similar sense either then given that the phone cost is just part of the monthly service cost to which a user commits for two years thus essentially more or less similarly paying off the phone--it's just less transparent in all of that.

 

[barkomatic]

What is the estimated amount each month that is in your bill for the Iphone subsidy? I realize you sign up for 2 years at the discounted iphone price, but what part of your monthly bill is the actual amortization? Because if the subsidy is now a monthly "overpayment to keep unlimited" I would like to know how much that is.

In my opinion, the built in subsidy portion of the unlimited data plan is not what a person should focus on. Instead, figure out how much data you use in a month and then find a current capped plan that matches that amount. If you use a very small amount of data and are hanging on to unlimited then it's probably worth it to switch to another plan. This is especially true for family plans.

However, if you use a lot of data and are on a single line, then it's not worth it by any stretch because the total cost of the plan, subsidy and all is *still* cheaper than a comparable NEXT plan *without* the subsidy.

 

[kargurin]

Well, you get a discount on your service for going with next to offset the typical subsidy recovery that is built into to it. So given the subsidy recovery that is part of the plan pricing normally, there was no real "upgrade" before in that similar sense either then given that the phone cost is just part of the monthly service cost to which a user commits for two years thus essentially more or less similarly paying off the phone--it's just less transparent in all of that.

I stand corrected. I'm a new customer and I had this stuff explained to me but apparently not well enough. I remember saying to a salesperson more than once, "Next just allows you to finance the phone interest free, right? Right." Right. I get $15/month off.....that according to the CSR I just spoke to. Duh on me.

 

[Snide]

What is the estimated amount each month that is in your bill for the Iphone subsidy? I realize you sign up for 2 years at the discounted iphone price, but what part of your monthly bill is the actual amortization? Because if the subsidy is now a monthly "overpayment to keep unlimited" I would like to know how much that is.

I calculated that it would cost me $450.00 more to go with Next vs 2 year contract, so that means the subsidy works out to $18.75 / month. I ordered a iPhone 6s yesterday as it was my last chance for a contract phone. if it has an IOS higher than 9.0.2, I will likely keep using my iPhone 5 with a shattered screen until a jailbreak is released for 9.1 / 9.2. ;-)

 

[Mlrollin91]

So the contract option is still available even though it "ended yesterday"?

That's what I thought as well. It was the way that post was worded that made it seem like it was almost implying otherwise.

Mirollin91 doesn't know what he's talking about.

Hold up everyone. If you re-read what I said, I clearly said "which ended yesterday" which implies that as of yesterday and no longer after yesterday, that was an option. No where did I say that it is still an option as of today.

 

[C DM]

Hold up everyone. If you re-read what I said, I clearly said "which ended yesterday" which implies that as of yesterday and no longer after yesterday, that was an option. No where did I say that it is still an option as of today.

The leading "As of now" seemed to be in conflict with that and the part that threw it off for me originally and prompted me to ask the question in my reply.