Easy, they are in a catch 22. iPad plans are a recurring type of contract, different from cellular plans and renew monthly under terms of the agreement for which they were assigned. Fraud would occur if AT&T were to try to end them or modify them while in effect, and they are always in effect provided the end user maintains them.
Here's my opinion on the legal long and short of it, they cannot. The plan on the iPad is a recurring charge/contract/account tied to the device, not with the end user. Because it recurs, it never ends for new changes, features, or degradations in service to take effect. The reason it is transferable is because it is not with the end user. It auto renews each billing cycle per the original agreement for the device/plan/account. Additionally because it is with the iPad device account, it is valid with any iPad device, it can only be cancelled by AT&T if you use it in something other than an iPad or if you break the continuous billing cycle. It has to be maintained by AT&T or it violates their original agreement that has not expired because it has auto renewal built into the contract. A contract phone user has an expiration date with their service, it is not a recurring plan. AT&T has a better legal leg to stand on with phone services because those are with the end user and effectively terminate once your contract is up, such as a lease on a rental house. The only way for AT&T to get out of the iPad plans is for the end user to miss a payment, switch to a different plan or use the service in something other than an iPad. If you make any of those mistakes AT&T will not let you get it back. The plan will exist for life per contract law on auto renewing policies if you always maintain it. The reason they can keep you from getting it again is because they have a right to change their policy, which they have as the Unlimited Plan is no longer available; however, because it auto renews it never ends. ie, catch 22. Sony Online Entertainment got stuck with the same legal snafu when they did their
6th year Anniversary subscriptions, the other benefit is they are not able to increase the cost either. Yes, these plans are valuable. $32/mo total for LTE/HSPA+/3G ie. Unlimited Data, Unlimited VoiP - Google Voice/Talkatone (~$2/mo), Unlimited Text - GV Connect/Google Voice is hard to beat. iPhones are compact, but iPads are the better value when it comes to UL GF data.
You know what is also similar to this?
Rent Controlled Apartments in NY, same theory except rent controlled have a maximum increase built into them, no cost increase is built into the monthly recurring GF UL iPad data plan, nor is data speed limitations outside of the naturally occurring limitations of use of service.
You know how there is a fee to be let out of a contract? Well the fee for AT&T to be let out of the iPad plan is not specified but would be on the level of fraud. It could be highly costly for them to break the semi-never ending cycle. This is why the plan was quickly pulled, they realized their mistake. Additionally, they still make money but where an iPhone will be throttled, an iPad will not. It is not because AT&T is making more money off of one or the other, but because of the nature of the contract. I never realized this until today when I read your question to know AT&T would not do this on purpose so there had to be a real reason why, and then it all made perfect sense. Can any legal professionals validate my points?
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