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supervelous

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 28, 2010
323
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If the new Iphone 5 has LTE, does anyone think the carriers will use 4G LTE on Iphone as an opportunity to kill grandfathered unlimited data plans? Has any info been released on this?
 
If the new Iphone 5 has LTE, does anyone think the carriers will use 4G LTE on Iphone as an opportunity to kill grandfathered unlimited data plans? Has any info been released on this?

I believe the answer for Verizon is an already confirmed "yes" and a likely "no" for AT&T. Verizon has said they'll be requiring a move to the shared plans for upgrades (at least to LTE phones) going forward. AT&T doesn't seem to be planning on that. Either way, I'm already on an unlimited LTE plan thanks to my Lumia 900, so I'm hoping I'll be ok
 
No.

This is not the first LTE phone. Per MB cost of delivery is cheaper with LTE.

Until demand shoots up ... at present, most users aren't on an LTE smartphone, yet.

Once everyone jumps to LTE in the coming years, that cost won't stay as low.
 
Doubt it, the carriers admit the unlimited data was a mistake, so they are trying to wean us off it, like making 3G facetime calls only on shared plans or pay full cost to keep unlimited. They won't, however, cut it off without warning, that would cause massive riots.
 
Doubt it, the carriers admit the unlimited data was a mistake, so they are trying to wean us off it, like making 3G facetime calls only on shared plans or pay full cost to keep unlimited. They won't, however, cut it off without warning, that would cause massive riots.

AT&T probably won't cut their "unlimited plan" but in my opinion by restricting FaceTime my plan has become a "limited" one. If AT&T does not change its mind before tomorrow's announcement I am jumping ship to Sprint.
 
One question to all you US guys. When you talk about unlimited, is it "real" unlimited? Because here in Austria now every plan is unlimited, but after a few GB (most of the time 1, 2 or 5) it get's slowed down. (and with slowed down I mean 128 kbit/s max)
So do you have unlimited, full speed?
 
Doubt it, the carriers admit the unlimited data was a mistake, so they are trying to wean us off it, like making 3G facetime calls only on shared plans or pay full cost to keep unlimited. They won't, however, cut it off without warning, that would cause massive riots.

No i doubt it would cause "riots" and i understand that you were most likely just exaggerating. I would like to know how many folks are actually on the unlimited plans but my guess is the numbers are waning. The only uproar will be from forums like this and some tech sites. Most folks will not care.
 
One question to all you US guys. When you talk about unlimited, is it "real" unlimited? Because here in Austria now every plan is unlimited, but after a few GB (most of the time 1, 2 or 5) it get's slowed down. (and with slowed down I mean 128 kbit/s max)
So do you have unlimited, full speed?

at&t throttles their "unlimited" LTE plans at 5gb...which would normally cost $50, but only cost $30 with the unlimited plan. So, although not unlimited, it is better.
 
Verizon already stated, if you want a discounted handset, you'll have to give it up. Also, I do get throttled with AT&T mostly after having consumed 4GB/month on my unlimited plan.
 
at&t throttles their "unlimited" LTE plans at 5gb...which would normally cost $50, but only cost $30 with the unlimited plan. So, although not unlimited, it is better.

So you are 50$ for a plan with 5GB - I am starting to feel happy with 1000min/1000texts/ 2GB for 7.50€ here in Austria =)
 
If they wanted to get rid of Unlimited Data, then they'd have just done it.

"Grandfathered in" doesn't mean that they can't change what they're offering to existing customers when they renew a contract.

Sure it'd mean that some people would move to a different carrier - but they're not going to get unlimited data there either (unless they go to Sprint).
 
I believe the answer for Verizon is an already confirmed "yes" and a likely "no" for AT&T. Verizon has said they'll be requiring a move to the shared plans for upgrades (at least to LTE phones) going forward. AT&T doesn't seem to be planning on that. Either way, I'm already on an unlimited LTE plan thanks to my Lumia 900, so I'm hoping I'll be ok

Just to clarify - Verizon will force you out of it if you buy a subsidized phone (3G or 4G) but NOT if you buy it unsubsidized (again, 3G or 4G). I switched from 3G to 4G just over a week ago, no issue with my unlimited data. Even added unlimited 4G tethering to it.
 
So you are 50$ for a plan with 5GB - I am starting to feel happy with 1000min/1000texts/ 2GB for 7.50€ here in Austria =)

yeah thats good, though 128kbps is insanely slow!
when att throttles here its 300kbps. i can at least use spotify with my throttled speeds
 
ATT could essentially say that if you want to upgrade to the next phone, you must choose one of their current data packages or buy it unsubsidized if not. I'd doubt they do that, but they can.
 
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