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The only horrible thing about AT&T's iphone plan

asphyxiafeeling

asphyxiafeeling

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 31, 2008
199
0
Cali baby!
200 SMS. that's ridiculous!

if you want unlimited text messages, you've got to pay an extra 40 dollars! (EDIT: it's 20 extra for unlimited, i've been corrected, still expensive though!)

that is seriously the only thing that has stopped me from converting over.

right now i'm with T-Mobile using a Sidekick LX (great phone, albeit outdated tech specs. so i guess the verdict is GREAT OS, BAD HARDWARE) paying $60 a month, this includes-

600 minutes

unlimited nights and weekends

unlimited data (including a personalized e-mail address)

unlimited texts/picture messaging.

now, i'm not trying to brag or sound like some iphone hater either. i LOVE that phone, and i love the address syncing with your mac and blahblahblah. but only 200 SMS included in the plan? that's terrible! we're not in 2002 anymore!

which brings me to my next thought-

with all the speculation that the iPhone having a great subsidized rate when you get a contract, it makes me curious if rates will change at all to include umlimited SMS. what do you guys think?

well. maybe it's a stupid question since any folks that DO text are already paying 20~40$ extra already, and AT&T is unlikely to close out on those profits.

on the other hand, if Apple wanted to have a bigger mobile market share (which i think they do, judging by this rumored pretty-freaking-cheap subsidized rates) adding unlimited SMS to the normal plan could really snag more folks like me.

BOTTOM LINE: i'm a poor fella who is wishing for a revised iPhone plan. wishings free, right? :p
 
I completely agree with you...I wish I could get unlimited texting with just a few hours of talk...
 
sigh.
at least you have that.
if we wanted an iPhone with data, the minimum we could pay is around $50 (prepaid) for $270 worth of calls and SMS and only 100MB of data.
thats every 30 days
sigh.
$600 per year.
 
asphyxiafeeling said:
200 SMS. that's ridiculous!

if you want umlimited text messages, you've got to pay an extra 40 dollars! (or so i understand)
Click to expand...

Your understanding is wrong. There are three plans:
Unlimited data + 200 Text - $20
Unlimited data + 1500 Text - $30
Unlimited date + Unlimited Text - $40
 
asphyxiafeeling said:
200 SMS. that's ridiculous!
if you want umlimited text messages, you've got to pay an extra 40 dollars! (or so i understand)
Click to expand...

mrat93 said:
Your understanding is wrong. There are three plans:
Unlimited data + 200 Text - $20
Unlimited data + 1500 Text - $30
Unlimited date + Unlimited Text - $40
Click to expand...

How is he misunderstanding? That's what the flyer I got from AT&T a few months ago says

Am I missing something?
 
What you're missing is that you pay an extra $20 not $40, the whole plan is $40. But a jump from $20 to $40 is a $20 difference.
 
$20 for what is essentially kilobytes of data is outrageous. Some people calculated the price of a text message and it essentially cost .01 cent.

Obviously some smartass will come in here and say "Don't pay it if you don't like it" but that's not the issue. Texting really should be included in data plans.
 
well, hopefully they will have IM, and LOTS of phones will have IM so you can avoid ALL text charges and just instant message.

its pretty sad that at this point, people spend more time typing than talking, even when they CAN talk.
 
mmm

yeah, i realize it's "technically" only an extra 20 dollars. but at the end of the day, with the cheapest plan + unlimited SMS, you're paying 100 dollars a month.

man, i feel for you folks in other countries. ridiculous pricing!

i think since the iPhone is sort-of targeted as a "high end, expensive phone" AT&T knows they can get away with the ridiculous SMS rates. sadly, it seems they do. people who are all iWant have no problem getting ripped off (if they do actually text often, that is)

i suppose you can use a webapp or somesort to get around it (using email or something) but that's kind of cumbersome.

lindsayanng said:
well, hopefully they will have IM, and LOTS of phones will have IM so you can avoid ALL text charges and just instant message.

its pretty sad that at this point, people spend more time typing than talking, even when they CAN talk.
Click to expand...

i haven't had any phones without unlimited SMS for a few years, but back when i had a limited amount each IM counted as one text, from what i remember.
 
Corbet said:
$20 for what is essentially kilobytes of data is outrageous. Some people calculated the price of a text message and it essentially cost .01 cent.

Obviously some smartass will come in here and say "Don't pay it if you don't like it" but that's not the issue. Texting really should be included in data plans.
Click to expand...

WELL, in case u didnt know... the point of any business is to make money.

business wants money, you want text, you pay money for text. simple.

but anyway some people may only do 2000 text and others do 15000 text, that .01 cent spread over the 50 million or w/e customers that text will add up quick
 
cWeems said:
WELL, in case u didnt know... the point of any business is to make money.

business wants money, you want text, you pay money for text. simple.

but anyway some people may only do 2000 text and others do 15000 text, that .01 cent spread over the 50 million or w/e customers that text will add up quick
Click to expand...

i understand and realize that businesses want money, and profits are important.

fact is, other major carriers have better rate plans then that, and STILL make large profits. i believe AT&T has the 40 dollar unlimited SMS charge simply because they know wealthy suckers will not mind paying all that extra, NOT because it actually costs them alot of money.

factoring in that I WOULD MOST DEFINITELY get an iphone if unlimited SMS was included in the standard plan, you're looking at me signing up for a two-year contract with AT&T, which i'm sure is going to make them more money then the oh-so-huge .01 cent cost per text message i'd send.
 
Ok:
The cheapest plan is $60 a month and that includes unlimited data and 200 texts. Then, to add more texts is $10 for 1500 and $20 for Unlimited. So, to correct you, the price, per month, of the cheapest plan + Unlimited texting is $80/month.
 
JohnnyQuest said:
Ok:
The cheapest plan is $60 a month and that includes unlimited data and 200 texts. Then, to add more texts is $10 for 1500 and $20 for Unlimited. So, to correct you, the price, per month, of the cheapest plan + Unlimited texting is $80/month.
Click to expand...

ah, thank you. i was misunderstood. :)

that's a little better- but still a bad deal for me. cmon AT&T!
 
asphyxiafeeling said:
i understand and realize that businesses want money, and profits are important.

fact is, other major carriers have better rate plans then that, and STILL make large profits. i believe AT&T has the 40 dollar unlimited SMS charge simply because they know wealthy suckers will not mind paying all that extra, NOT because it actually costs them alot of money.

factoring in that I WOULD MOST DEFINITELY get an iphone if unlimited SMS was included in the standard plan, you're looking at me signing up for a two-year contract with AT&T, which i'm sure is going to make them more money then the oh-so-huge .01 cent cost per text message i'd send.
Click to expand...

yea i hear ya on that... BUT due to the fact our coverage is significantly better than THOSE carriers, we have alot more towers/maintenance to pay for. the ONLY carrier that compares and i will admit is verizon, their coverage is pretty awesome, but CDMA and their phone selection sucks so that stinks for them.
 
cWeems said:
yea i hear ya on that... BUT due to the fact our coverage is significantly better than THOSE carriers, we have alot more towers/maintenance to pay for. the ONLY carrier that compares and i will admit is verizon, their coverage is pretty awesome, but CDMA and their phone selection sucks so that stinks for them.
Click to expand...


gotta concede with you there. T-mobile, my current carrier, has great rates, but the coverage here in southern california is often sub-par inside buildings etc. :(
 
JohnnyQuest said:
Ok:
The cheapest plan is $60 a month and that includes unlimited data and 200 texts. Then, to add more texts is $10 for 1500 and $20 for Unlimited. So, to correct you, the price, per month, of the cheapest plan + Unlimited texting is $80/month.
Click to expand...

also, there's a five dollar option for unlimited at&t mobile to moble messaging, an excellent price if the majority of your texts are with at&t users.
 
asphyxiafeeling said:
gotta concede with you there. T-mobile, my current carrier, has great rates, but the coverage here in southern california is often sub-par inside buildings etc. :(
Click to expand...

lol yea i used to love tmobile in my younger sidekick days, till i left the florida to go visit family in other states... man if i was in a small town i would jus have that damn X where the signal should have been :(

very cool company tho, good line of phones, and probly the best customer service over the phone ever!
 
cWeems said:
lol yea i used to love tmobile in my younger sidekick days, till i left the florida to go visit family in other states... man if i was in a small town i would jus have that damn X where the signal should have been :(

very cool company tho, good line of phones, and probly the best customer service over the phone ever!
Click to expand...

yes, they do have good customer service, and a couple damn cool phones.

i kind of think of them as "the cool kid" of the major carriers :p

funny, i've got a sidekick myself right now!
 
cWeems said:
WELL, in case u didnt know... the point of any business is to make money.

business wants money, you want text, you pay money for text. simple.
Click to expand...

What's your point? Obviously businesses are made to make money but that doesn't me they need to rip off customers.

I guess you're OK with $4.50 gallons of gas too. :rolleyes:
 
So has anyone successfully negotiated a custom contract - fewer minutes in exchange for more texts at the same price? I'd love that.
 
SRSound said:
So has anyone successfully negotiated a custom contract - fewer minutes in exchange for more texts at the same price? I'd love that.
Click to expand...

don't think AT&T plays that way, sadly :(

i'd love that too though.

i'm totally down for 300 anywhere minutes + 1000 night/weekend minutes + unlimited SMS for 50-60 a month :p
 
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