AfterDawn: News

AT&T offers new data plans for iPhone, iPad, smartphones

AT&T has announced new data plans for their smartphone line, including the iPhone and iPad tablet, which will be less expensive for customers, but will also limit data use.

The cheapest new plan is $15 per month, but will only include 200MB of data. If customers go over the limit, they will be charged $15 extra for every 200MB of data, a very expensive proposition.



A more reasonable plan is $25 per month which gives smartphone, tablet users 2GB of data for the month. For every 1GB over the cap they go, they will be charged $10.

AT&T charges $30 per month for unlimited data plans.

The company says 65 percent of smartphone owners use less than 200MB of data per month, and 98 percent use less than 2GB. For the most part, the only people who need unlimited are iPhone users.

Says Ralph de la Vega, president of AT&T's mobile unit: "We're breaking free from the traditional 'one-size-fits-all' pricing model and making the mobile Internet more affordable to a greater number of people."

The new pricing plans start June 7th.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Jun 2010 14:57

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• 10 comments

• ThePastor

  This is kind of refreshing and a model I hope other carriers will embrace.
  One thing they need to do away with is the massive penalty for going over.
  
  They should follow what Hughes net does.
  If you hit your limit you are then throttled. If you WISH to extend your limit (after being throttled) you can go to their site and arrange to pay for the extra usage BEFORE you get fined!

  2.6.2010 15:41 #1

• Ryoohki

  all i can say is that i hope verizon follows suit. i will buy the incredible right now if they had a 15$ plan. i could give a damn about using data on my phone other than occasionally checking my bank account or something. i want the phone for other features and i can't justify paying 30$ a month for something that would have minimal usage.
  

  2.6.2010 16:30 #2

• cleverick

  Originally posted by Ryoohki: all i can say is that i hope verizon follows suit. i will buy the incredible right now if they had a 15$ plan. i could give a damn about using data on my phone other than occasionally checking my bank account or something. i want the phone for other features and i can't justify paying 30$ a month for something that would have minimal usage. I work for Verizon and I can tell you this is something that will appeal to the average smart phone user. As for the user who lives and dies by their smart phone, will hate it.

  2.6.2010 20:32 #3

• lamain

  so much for switching to AT&T.. or I guess I should have switched sooner.

  2.6.2010 21:25 #4

• blueboy09

  Originally posted by cleverick: Originally posted by Ryoohki: all i can say is that i hope verizon follows suit. i will buy the incredible right now if they had a 15$ plan. i could give a damn about using data on my phone other than occasionally checking my bank account or something. i want the phone for other features and i can't justify paying 30$ a month for something that would have minimal usage. I work for Verizon and I can tell you this is something that will appeal to the average smart phone user. As for the user who lives and dies by their smart phone, will hate it. I have an Omnia from Verizon, and I use the Internet quite frequently on it. Guaranteed hatred for it, but around where I live, AT&T rules the roost (3 towers for AT&T, versus 1 for Verizon, uugh!) and yes I will hate it, but what am I to do? Gotta grit my teeth, cause this will make me mad (stupid bastards capping my data) and I guess I'll have to deal with it, although I will say that I haven't gone over 2GB of data/mnth (yet). Personally, I think that Verizon needs to improve their infrastructure substantially, but that's with all the data carriers, IMO.
  

  Life is about walking on thin ice, if you make too much drama, youll crack under pressure. - BLUEBOY

  2.6.2010 21:52 #5

• KillerBug

  "The company says 65 percent of smartphone owners use less than 200MB of data per month, and 98 percent use less than 2GB"
  
  That is because the network only runs at 900K...it is painful to use for anything. It would take about 5 hours of constant, maxed-out use to get to 2GB.

  3.6.2010 01:02 #6

• Ryoohki

  now that i think about it though 15$ for 200MB is really stingy. 1GB would be a better pricing point. non-smartphone users get unlimited for that amount.i think it should be 10$ for 200MB, 15$ for 1G and then 25$ and 30 for 2G and unlimited. its all about money and statistics though. i'm pretty sure almost nobody is going to pay 25$ for limited data usage when another 5 bucks would get you unlimited.
  

  3.6.2010 09:28 #7

• IguanaC64

  The problem with limits for the consumer is that any small overage and you could have a rather nasty phone bill. If you're on the 200mb plan for $15 and you go over they charge you another $15 for every 200mb you use. I encourage you to go check how much data you're using right now because a lot of smartphone functions transfer data in the background that you're not even aware of that you take for granted on a more liberal plan.
  
  One HD Youtube video I watched at the house was 40megs after downloading it to show my wife offline. You honestly don't know how big some of this stuff is until it shows up on your bill.

  3.6.2010 09:45 #8

• jam_k

  One thing I think was overlooked here, is that after June 7th, the $30 unlimited plan goes away for new signups. You can keep it if you have it now, but if you switch to the $25 or $15 plan, you can't go back to the $30 unlimited plan as it is no longer offered.
  
  AT&T is getting rid of their unlimited plans... (for smartphones anyway) and I hope this trend does not continue... I currently have a laptop-connect card thru them and it is unlimited, but from what I understand AT&T eventually wants to get rid of unlimited data all together.
  
  -JamieK

  3.6.2010 12:21 #9

• ThePastor

  And Sprint uncapped their network! Hmmm... Lots of iPhone users getting a new Evo tomorrow.
  

  Unfortunately for them, all Blu-ray protections have been broken and BD rips can be found around the Internet, usually before the retail even hits shelves.

  3.6.2010 14:59 #10