Comments on: AT&T Thinks Prepaid Data Plans Could Drive 3G Everywhere

By: At $25 per MB No Wonder Carriers Love M2M: Broadband News and Analysis «

At $25 per MB No Wonder Carriers Love M2M: Broadband News and Analysis « — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:37:12 +0000

[...] on falling Average Revenue Per User doesn’t seem as scary for operators who will have an entirely new class of subscribers to go after. There is a very real possibility that consumers will draw the line at paying $15 per month for [...]

By: AT&T Bets Big on the Internet of Things - A Collection of Latest Happening in Technology Field

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:36:31 +0000

[...] Wireless to help it provide wireless connectivity for myriad partners. I’ve spoken with Glenn Lurie, the executive in charge of At&T’s machine-to-machine efforts, who was optimistic that margins would be higher in emerging devices such [...]

By: Sean Martin

Sean Martin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:37:50 +0000

“Lurie said session passes, day passes, and maybe even prepaid would work here as well.”

I use a prepaid account in Colombia (Comcel 3G) with a USB 3G model and it’s great. I leave credit in the account and when I want to use it I send a text message to activate the service for one day, seven days or two weeks at a time. Sure, it costs a bit, but I get what I want when I want it. Prepaid, use-when-you-want data plans are great.

By: Wireless Subscription Growth Is Slowing

Wireless Subscription Growth Is Slowing — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:22:48 +0000

[...] the market for selling phones to people is becoming saturated, carriers are doing their best to sell data for other devices — from notebooks to picture [...]

By: Clearwire Hires Fresh Face to Sell Wireless to the Wired

Clearwire Hires Fresh Face to Sell Wireless to the Wired — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:41:50 +0000

[...] has also said it hopes to get its 4G wireless embedded into consumer devices, a strategy being aggressively pursued by cellular carriers looking to expand their business in an increasingly saturated market — and to cater to [...]

By: GNC-2009-06-05 #483 Video is a Main Topic!

GNC-2009-06-05 #483 Video is a Main Topic! — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:04:59 +0000

[...] on Airlines? Palm Pre iTunes Support Funky Cool Clock but way to Pricey Great 4th of July Prank AT&T Prepaid Data Plans Good Idea! Have you tried Bing? Steve Jobs how bad was it? iPhone Video? Weird ring to it! FTC shuts down [...]

By: Randall Howard

Randall Howard — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:06:01 +0000

What escapes me is, if AT&T consideers prepaid 3G data so strategic, why did they suddenly stop support for the iPhone 3.0 which is currently, by far, the biggest 3G driver.

Yesterday, while on a trip to the US/Palo Alto, I added their data plan to my PAYG AT&T GoPhone SIM card, and it would not register to the data gateways. A few months ago, many colleagues were using this exact combination for mobile internet.

A call to the call center informed me that iPhone data connectivity wasn’t supported while other phones were. That kind of answer is analogous to saying you can plug your HP netbook into an electrical outlet, but not an Apple MacBook. GSM/HSDPA are all international standards, just like electrical outlets.

So, having done 3G PAYG roaming in over 10 countries, I am interested to see how this develops. Is this serious problem just a symptom of operational incompetence on the part of AT&T, or is it part of some ill-conceived tariffing strategy?

By: AT&T May Love M2M, But Show Me the Data Plans

AT&T May Love M2M, But Show Me the Data Plans — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:44:40 +0000

[...] offers of 5 GB for $60 or 200 MB for $40. Glenn Lurie, the executive in charge of M2M at AT&T, outlined to me back in June a variety of possible plans — from day passes to prepaid cards — that basically allow AT&T to charge a small [...]

By: What Will Carriers Do When the Data Gravy Train Derails?

What Will Carriers Do When the Data Gravy Train Derails? — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:01:55 +0000

[...] will not be enough to make delivering wireless broadband profitable without drastic changes in both pricing models and alternative forms of delivering the [...]

By: AT&T Thinks Prepaid Data Plans Could Drive 3G Everywhere

AT&T Thinks Prepaid Data Plans Could Drive 3G Everywhere — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:12:40 +0000

[...] More here: AT&T Thinks Prepaid Data Plans Could Drive 3G Everywhere [...]

By: ISPs Should Decide If They Provide a Utility or a Service

ISPs Should Decide If They Provide a Utility or a Service — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:02:33 +0000

[...] carriers should leave monthly broadband access alone (maybe it will be a loss leader) and concentrate on creating services like texting, or providing wireless access to send photos from cameras for a set fee. If carriers [...]

By: Lee Drake

Lee Drake — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:40:34 +0000

So while railing against broadband caps for wired appliances you are for them on wireless? 5gb is not “all you can eat” and if you go over 5gb the hit you HARD with overage fees that you don’t know are coming.

By: Jesse Kopelman

Jesse Kopelman — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:53:31 +0000

@Carl

The problem with those $10-15/month customers is that they were historically considered not worth going after. When Wall Street’s biggest concern is average revenue per user, you aren’t that keen to pick up a whole bunch of people that will lower your average. Factor in the cost of acquisition, including the billing expenses, and you see the problem. Was this shortsighted, yes.

@Om

All I know is that this was continuously a disaster for AT&T Wireless, yet other carriers used exactly the same billing platform with apparently far fewer issues. Was it because AWS was trying to maintain too many different plans, poor IT implementation, or something else? Was the AWS situation unique or did other carriers have the same problems, but as an outsider I just didn’t hear about them? You’d have to talk to people who were actually involved in that side of the business to learn the answers.

By: carl

carl — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:37:18 +0000

jesse, i don’t know anything about billing challenges but i can see your point; and i can easily imagine that correct billing is not as simple as plug and play … but — and i have no numbers to back me up — i just would have thought that, particularly w/re: to data, there must be a large group of people who won’t pay $30+ p/month for a data plan but who might pay $10-15 on an a la carte basis … and i just would have thought that this group was large enough for the wireless carriers to have already had in place the appropriate billing.

By: 7 Gadgets That Prove the Cell Network Isn’t Just for Phones

7 Gadgets That Prove the Cell Network Isn’t Just for Phones — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:31:29 +0000

[...] After writing extensively about how cell phone providers want to boost their business by offering wireless access for emerging devices, such as electric meters or e-readers, I decided to check with the nation’s four largest [...]

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:43:16 +0000

JesseK

Can you elaborate on this point?

That some carriers appear much better at it is a big mystery to me given how few vendors there are supporting backend systems. It would make a good article for GigaOm . . .