AT&T Announces iPhone Tethering, Cuts Price and Quality of 3G Service
It’s easy to make a claim that AT&T is effectively cutting the quality of its 3G service, but that’s the gist of what it announced last night via a press release. The timing of this release is odd as it conveniently came a couple of hours after Steve Jobs stood by them at Wall Street Journal’s D8 conference in Southern California. When asked about Apple’s relationship with AT&T, Steve Jobs said things are, “pretty good actually” and that the wireless provider is “handling way more data traffic than all of their other competitors combined.” Steve may be right as he followed up with an assurance that the AT&T network would improve by the end of the summer.
Shortly after journalists had their chance to weigh in on the interview, AT&T announced changes to its 3G data plans. Press releases are generally pretty dry so I’m going to lay out exactly what happened and how AT&T managed to time things perfectly to fit its needs and not the needs of its customer base.
First, let’s point out that on June 7, tethering for iPhone will be available, which is the same day Steve Jobs takes the stage at WWDC. It’s a breath of fresh air that iPhone users in the U.S. will finally be able to have tethering via an official means…only 9 months late. Of course, AT&T wasn’t just going to give us tethering for free and without limitations, since AT&T’s data network is already strained with millions of iPhones and other data-hungry smartphones.
In order to add tethering to your iPhone, you have to switch to the new data plans, specifically, the DataPro plan. Before this change, iPhone users on AT&T would pick a voice plan plus a data plan that was $30 a month and that included unlimited data and tiered SMS plans. Voice and SMS prices remain unchanged but AT&T is going to drop the term “unlimited” from its data plan offerings and let users pick between two plans.
- DataPlus: Includes 200MB of data per month for $15.
- DataPro: Includes 2GB of data per month for $25. Add $20 if you want tethering.
AT&T’s angle is that its most expensive data plan is now $5 less which is good for consumers but the fine print is that the previously unlimited plan is now a 2GB per month plan. To be fair to all wireless carriers, unlimited was a term that should have been retired long ago. Verizon and Sprint’s unlimited plans are roughly capped at 5GB even though it’s not a set in stone number. AT&T’s was rumored to be around the same cap per month. Assuming 5GB is the average data cap for U.S. carriers, prior to June 7, iPhone users on AT&T were paying $6 per gigabyte each month and now they’re paying $12.50 per gigabyte, so AT&T’s spin of making wireless data cheaper for the general public is a stretch at best.
I’ve written about AT&T before and received phone calls from corporate communications with their spin and I assume they’ll tell me that a majority of users never use more than 2GB of data so this plan is more accessible for the general public and will save the average DataPro user $60 per year over the current plan and casual data users on the DataPlus plan will save $180 per year. That’s great, but what about the users like me who would like to use their phone as Steve Jobs intended? The iPhone is one third “Internet Communicator” according to Steve’s 2007 Macworld Keynote and I’d like to be able to use it that way. Well, AT&T has an answer to that as well.
It’s promoting a free addition to all AT&T users on the DataPlus or DataPro data plans which is unlimited access to any of AT&T’s 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the U.S. This is a perk that AT&T has given away to iPhone users for quite a while now, so if you call up complaining about hitting the 2GB limit, they’ll simply direct you to the nearest Starbucks as a solution for your mobile Internet needs.
Tethering is only available to DataPro subscribers at an additional $20 a month. This is in line with what other carriers such as Verizon are charging for tethering on devices such as RIM’s Blackberry. AT&T notes that this won’t be available to iPhone owners until iPhone OS 4 ships, “this summer.” It’s unclear if tethering will affect the 2GB per month limit of the plan but I’m confident that AT&T is going to enforce it heavily.
AT&T didn’t forget about Apple’s iPad saying that, “the $25 per month 2GB plan will replace the existing $29.99 unlimited plan.” which effectively kills the deal that Apple announced at the iPad launch that many customers bought into when they purchased the 3G iPad. For legal reasons, any iPad users currently on an unlimited 3G plan at the old price will remain on this plan with no changes to service. In other words, activate your 3G iPad service immediately for unlimited 3G goodness while you still can. Remember, as soon as you cancel the 3G iPad service and decide to start back again (since there’s no contract required), you’ll be on the new $25 a month 2GB plan.
To recap, AT&T is dropping “unlimited” data, doubling the price per gigabyte for 3G customers, offering tethering but charging $20 for it on top of the $25 a month DataPro plan and telling iPad users that unlimited data is no longer an option. Steve Jobs assured us that AT&T service would be improving, but it looks like the wireless carrier has decided to simply cut our data and raise the price in order to do that instead of actually improving their service to fit the needs of the user base.
I’m sympathetic to AT&T’s bandwidth issues but that’s how it is when you’re the carrier of the highest selling and most data hungry smartphone on the market.
What do you think of the new changes?
Ludicrous. I will hit 2GB the first week. I watch movies on my device!
The iPhone on Verizon cannot get here soon enough. Goodbye AT&T.
Yeah as if Verizon will be any different, good luck with that.
word on the street is that it will be at LEAST 1 to 2 more years before the iPhone will be ready for Verizon
I was planning on getting the new iPhone when it comes out later this month (I don’t have one now) but this just nixed that idea. Guess I’ll be waiting for the iPhone to open up to other telco’s to provide some competition on data plan pricing. 2GB per month is ridiculous.
It’s funny you say 2GB is ridiculous. 98% of ATT users never use more than 1GB in a month. 2GB is more than enough. I had every iphone that has come out and have never used more and 500000kb. Which is well under half a GB. And I use it for work so I’m on it all the time. What the point of having “Unlimited” Data if you won’t use it? Don’t let something so stupid keep you from enjoying the fruits of the iphone!!!
Again ALL providers have a cap on their data usage. And as an FYI I have Verizon as a work line with tethering and they still cap the plan. In most instances they will let you go past, but this practices is an industry standard and not an AT&T only rule. Try going past 2GB on Verizon and they will ask you to pay a single overage fee. The cost on my work line was an additional $20 a month for the month I went over.
I just bought a 3G iPad yesterday. It will be going back. The $30. plan was an incentive to pay the extra $$ for that capability. I have an iPhone. Guess I’ll be content with that. & prolly not even get the new one. :(
Eleanor, it would seem that since you have an iPhone, you can tether for only $20.00 and use the data plan from the iphone. Then you can CHOOSE to enable the 3G interface with the iPad when it makes sense for you to do so.
The iPad doesn’t support tethering.
As a pretty heavy iPhone user, I’m pretty happy with the changes. I doubt many people hit the 2gb limit (besides those who watch movies over wifi. I knew there was a reason my connection got slow sometimes. Why did people expect to be able to do that?). This will save our 2 iPhone house $30/mo and allow tethering if we decide to use it. I’m glad that I won’t be paying as much for data I’m not using.
I think AT&T is being greedy.
Greed is Gooooooooood !
9 months late? Try 12 months late. Tethering was supported by the rest of the world in iPhone OS3.0 which was released at WWDC 2009, a year ago.
Shame on Apple for sticking with AT&T, and letting them pull the rug out of the unlimited, contract free iPad data plan after such a short time. It was surely a prime reason to buy a 3G iPad (and a reason I was considering upgrading from WiFi) but now I don’t think I’ll bother.
Not saying Verizon would be any better, but AT&T are just gouging people for their crappy service.
Well, 12 months late compared to the rest of the world…but 9 months late based on what AT&T actually said they’d do. There’s a difference.
I think that this is more of an indication that as of June 7, the iPhone will be opened up to another network. Aside from allowing users to jump ship to get away from ATT, it will in fact allow for competition which will be a good thing. Eventually, I believe that the carriers will try and cut one another’s throats and allow for larger data plans at less money. Thank gawd for capitalism…and a free market…
So I wonder if the new $15 iPad plan will only be 200MB.
Bull. Why can’t there be a middle one? my data rates seem to cap at 500mb/month. (mostly because streaming over 3g kills my battery)
maybe this time they’ll eliminate dropped calls, but probably not.
This is going to work out great for me. I just reviewed the last 18 months of data usage, and I’ve never gone over 340MB in a month. The other 3 iPhones on the account have never gone over 125MB. I should save $50 a month with this change.
If the 4.0 update for iPad in September includes bluetooth tethering to an iPhone, I’ll be over the moon.
I promise that you’ll never be able to tether to an iPad that easily. Innovation and ease-of-use have NOTHING on business and screwing the consumer at every chance.
2GB is low I expected at least 5GB here. Then it’s $10 for every additional 1GB that you use on the New Plan. This is a issue to me from photographers and bloggers who is out in the field and uploading their photos and videos. Remember Google has a 2GB limit on uploading videos to YouTube. With this you hit that quick. I mean what if there’s an event happening I can do it with iPad, so what’s Apple’s take on this. I mean it’s good that iPad is not lock to AT&T we just got to wait on other carriers to support it. What of the iPhone I rather go to Verizon now, so is the next iPhone will be on other carriers because it’s time. I’m done putting money into AT&T’s hands.
Whoa as me I’m uploading my work on a 3G network… Seriously?? Go to a damn Starbucks and upload your pictures and video via WIFI, it’ll take you far less time. Bad argument from you all around…boo hoo, I can only upload a 2Gb video on Youtube…well first of all you’re gonna get capped at only twice that with all the other carriers. Secondly, who the hell is gonna watch a 2Gb clip on YouTube? What does that equate to….like a 10 hour 640×480 low res movie? Seriously?
Hi Peter.
According to Wikiedia, “seven minutes of HDTV video at 19.39 Mbit/s is approximately 1 GB.” YouTube’s 1080P upload actually supports 22 Mbits/s and limits non-producers to upload only 10 minutes of video at a time. Once you upload one 1080p video at 10 minutes in length at 22 Mbits/s, you’re nearly at your 2GB per month limit from AT&T.
I come from a part of the US where the nearest Starbucks is half an hour away but there is still 3G service. There may be 20K AT&T hotspots but a majority of those are in cities and not rural areas where cell service is the preferred way of connecting when not at home.
A photographer may have a valid point when sending dailies to an editor in RAW or TIFF format for review. RAW images from a standard 10 megapixel SLR can be 50 megabytes each so 20 photos would be 1GB of transferred data.
Your argument isn’t invalid, but please weigh in on the situation of the commenter before completely calling them wrong.
Excellent response…. As a fellow photographer I agree with your concerns 100%!!
In looking at iPhone usage, I believe this makes a lot of sense. For iPad users though, I don’t think it’s very good. Watching streaming video on iPhone is not the best since the screen is tiny. On the other hand, it’s a very nice experience on the iPad. If you’re watching a high-quality video stream at 100KB/s, that’s under 3 hours of video streaming per month. Forget using the iPad for watching video!!!
It’s bait and switch.
I have a 3G iPad on reserve at the Apple Store. I’m likely to cancel it now and just get the WiFi. So much for the big unlimited data plan as a selling point. AT&T is starting to turn into the fun police. Unless the new iPhone will drive me to work and cook me dinner, then I may be switching to a Droid.
My suggestion is to just do what I did with my iPhone: Jailbreak.
I did that just for tethering, and it works very well.
Does AT&T have the legal right to charge for or license Bluetooth or USB cable services between two devices?
I’d be fine with the changes if not for the $20 for tethering. If you’re going to start capping my data, then at least let me use it how I’d like. Or give me rollover data at least.
To recap:
$20 Tethering + Unlimited Data = fair.
Free Tethering + DataPro 2GB @ $25 = fair.
$20 Tethering + DataPro 2GB @ $25 = I won’t be going to Verizon to save money, I’ll be going out of spite.
What are people seeing as their normal usage? While I’m sure there are extremes, I suspect that many of hours of analysis went into this from AT&T side to see what made sense and monetize it to their average user. My data usage? Less than 200Mb on average for a business phone (but the kids don’t play with it either). Based on my peers, I use the phone at about average levels and seek Wi-Fi when appropriate.
Am I an anomaly? Are you above or below 200MB? Above 2GB?
/J
P.S. My AT&T service works for me. It’s not perfect but neither am I and neither is my wife’s carrier which is not AT&T, but she is.
How does the “reduced quality” argument go? You never explained it. Reduced quantity I can understand, but quality? If anything this will improve quality, reducing usage by data hogs and freeing up space for the rest of us.
For those complaining about the reduced cap, seriously, have you taken a look at your actual data usage, not just what you perceive your usage must be? Using the 3G all the time, including lots of YouTube video, Pandora streaming, etc., I never go over 2Gb, and rarely over 1Gb.
And for the guy complaining about no longer being able to stream videos over WiFi, this limit has absolutely nothing to do with WiFi, it’s just 3G data.
Dear idiots,
VERIZON DOES THE SAME THING. They are not going to magically make the iPhone a 10mbps 5ghz unlimited data whizbang device. They have been ripping people off on data for ages now. sigh At least with AT&T I can use data & voice at the same time.
The only carrier that seems to be more reasonable about data like this is T-Mobile. If you had data, you could tether a Blackberry for free, as it was just using your existing data plan. I did this for a couple of years. Screw Verizon. Apple needs to get the iPhone on T-Mobile. They already do overseas.
I’m not happy about this. i used 4gb on 3G since I got my iPad, and the reason I got the iPad 3G was because of the unlimited no-contract data plan. Guess that’s screwed now, and if I cancel I’ll get stuck with the 2gb. At LEAST they could have said “Ok, we’re capping it at 5gb like the other carriers.” Jerks.
Please stop calling people names. It ruins a pleasant experience and does not contribute to the discussion.
He’s right, tho. People are arguing that AT&T is so evil, but their deal is still better than everyone else. That’s pretty idiotic.
Furthermore, those of you not buying an iPhone or iPad because of this change should note that AT&T announced they would grandfather plans prior to the 7th–even if you’re an existing subscriber and upgrade to the new iPhone. In my dealings with Verizon, they’ve never been so generous.
I have 2 iphones in my home and I almost never exceed the 200MB. I will be very happy with the change. I was not willing to buy my daughter an iPhone due to the plan costs but this change will make it possible.
so you are saying that suddenly after the price drop of whopping $5, you are able to afford it?
Based on what the post you replied to actually says, he wouldn’t be saving $5. He would be saving $15, per phone, per month, or about $360 a year.
If it is less than 200mb, the drop in price is $15 per month right?
I just looked at my usage (Settings>General>Usage) and in the life of this iPhone (11 months) I’ve uploaded 200 Mbyte and downloaded 1.4 Gbyte. So the lower use plan will work just fine for me. Admittedly, i don’t stream video to this device, but I do download clips from MLB.com and others.
Double-check your usage to see if you should be concerned.
In addition to the Settings, you can download the myWireless app and see what your month-to-month usage is from AT&T directly.
All I can say is WOO HOO!!! I use my iPhone a lot, but in two years, I only have 416MB up and 2.2GB down. This is going to save a lot of people a lot of money.
At first this pissed me off, then I looked at my data usage and realized that I have never exceeded 200 mb of data in a month. So this will actual save me $15 a month. I just got a 3G iPad so I don’t know what the usage on it will be like. I’ll keep the $30 a month plan going for a couple of months and then reevaluate how much data a month I need. I may end up with both data plans for the price of just the old iPhone data plan price.
This is crap, plain and simple. I predict we’ll see some sort of class action against at least AT&T – only a few weeks and the data plans are changing for the 3G iPad?
Forget the part about it being “non-contract” – consumers bought these devices (and I was almost one of them) with the expectations based on the plan terms at the time of purchase. This reeks of bait-and-switch.
I’m not normally a fan of lawyers, but I hope that some of them band together and sink their teeth deeply into AT&T.
They deserve it.
I was SO waiting to ditch my Crackberry in a few weeks and also pick up a 3G iPad – those plans are on an indefinite hold right now until all of this shakes out.
I am ashamed to be working for such a greedy company. Because 13 billion profit just isn’t enough.
$13 billion in profit is meaningless when you include $18 billion in capital spending to upgrade the network, the largest amount of capital spent by any US company (excluding upcoming spending by BP that is)
Profit is not the same as revenue. If they had $13 billion in revenue and $18 billion in upgrade expenses, then you’d have a point. $13 billion in profit means they spent $18+ billion and still had $13 billion left to stuff their pockets.
So how do they define new user? My current contract has expired and I plan to get the next version of the iPhone. Will that make me a new user, since I will have to pick up a 2 year contract when I get the phone?
Folks I beg you…do you own research. The author of this is obviously biased and has left out a lot of important info. First of all anyone currently on the unlimited plan will be able to keep it…that goes for iPad users as well. Second of all 98% of current users of AT&T use less than 2GB of data, so check your data usage on your bill, I think most of you will be surprised that you may be able to save money. LOOK IT UP!! Likewise, 3% of current users use 40% of AT&T’s capacity…I seriously doubt this will change anything.
My wife and I currently pay $60/month for our data plans with our two iPhones. I use under 2Gb and she uses less than 200Mb…that is going to save us $20/mo.
Don’t hold your breath for the iPhone to go to Verizon…and don’t think that when it does it’ll be light years ahead. Every major telephone company will and are encountering the same issues. Everyone wants something for nothing. I want all the data usage in the world and I want it for free and I want to use it on all internet capable devices…please. If it means that much to you then sorry, you’re gonna have to pay for it. If you’re streaming videos over a 3G network…GET A LIFE!!
Nice attempt of the author to try to smear what appears to me as a legit change in policy.
Hi Peter. I’m always hesitant to respond to people who hide behind the “anon” avatar. Either way, I’d like to explain things a bit more.
When this post was drafted at 2AM, it was the 2nd post on any popular blog regarding the issue. Meaning, the AT&T statement (via their Facebook.com page) regarding existing users being “grandfathered in” was not known to anyone and this was absent from the press release AT&T put out right after midnight.
When writing articles here, I assume that most readers are the power users among peers and thus using features and pushing our devices further than most users. If all 200+ million AT&T subscribers read this blog, I’d certainly account for that in the post but, with readership like that, we’d buy our own island.
It is important that everyone check their usage. AT&T’s wireless site has a handy graph that shows your phone’s historical data usage that users should observe. Also, the note about existing users remaining on unlimited is accurate but if you want to add tethering, you’ll have to modify to the DataPro plan which has the 2GB limit shared between the phone’s 3G connection and any device it tethers to.
I intentionally didn’t bring up Verizon as I’m with you and very skeptical about the Verizon rumors. Smearing is not the right word choice. I explained the facts as the press release provided with a tone that would appeal to power users including new iPhone users who may choose to jailbreak their phones for tethering and hit that 2GB limit imposed by the new plans.
Another piece of news that was just revealed is that AT&T will charge $10 per gigabyte that you go over your limit which is far below the standard (Verizon charges $50 per GB).
Either way, you make some great points but I wanted to respond a bit w/ more personal details on why I presented the data in this manner.
Thanks for the comment.
I’d bet a lot of data analysis was happening at ATT to come up w/ these numbers… And I’d bet a huge percentage of people have been using 210MB, and another huge percentage using 2.1GB…
I looked it up in dec 09 i used 19 gb of course i was downloadin torrents cuz at my school network they block p2p but still last month May i used 5.1 I wasnt downloadin it was just my usual usage
Why are they not going the T-Mobile route? T-Mobile gives you unlimited data, but will throttle the speed after 1 GB of usage (depending on your plan).
To me, that sounds much better than a straight cap.
Of course that sounds better! Perhaps, AT&T simply doesn’t want to spend the money supporting that. Throttling may not be a part of their current system.
I think it’s utterly ridiculous. I feel like they’re moving backwards. They’re not providing more, they’re limiting more. They’re restricting more. All the while Sprint offers free data and it’s “unlimited”, etc. Here we have them reducing our data usage and then telling us to tether we have to pay an additional $20 on top of the $25 a month to use their service. They’re cutting my unlimited plan by $5 AND providing me less. Usually it should work the other way, right? They roll back the price and provide more as technology gets better….No, not AT&T, why the heck should they give their customers anything?!
I sure as hell hope the iPhone will find another carrier to partner with. This is just ridiculous.
I’m with you Brad, but don’t hold your breath.
The more money AT&T makes, the richer papa Jobs is.
Apple receive a chunk of the money AT&T makes due to the use of every iPhone.
Whatever partner iPhone would go, it will screw us because that’s the way they can satisfy Apple greed and their own.
Sooo I just got my 3G Ipad last week… After waiting nearly a month for Apple to ship it. Don’t get me wrong… I love it and Highly recommend it… BUT I signed up for the 14.99 250 mb plan to test out my data usage which at the moment seems like I would most likely roll in under that 200 Mb limit… I would upgrade to unlimited before Monday if that is an option instead of getting dinged every month when I accidently leave this thing on 3g or want to download a movie on netflix (seriously video is one of the best features on the IPAD that will really suck for some users!?) Does anyone know if they (AT&T) will still let people in to unlimited who JUST purchased this NEW vitually untested product? It is rather frustrating that niether of these HUGE companies chose to give us a little more time to figure out our usage needs on the Ipads…It sure seems like a broken promise for Ipad 3g purchasers Mr. Jobs. Still the 3G Ipad is awesome… apple products are the best… but I have to really question some of this timing.
Yes… as long as you activate your iPad and sign up for the unlimited service by June 6th, you will be able to keep the unlimited plan at $30 / month until you cancel it basically. It says as much right on Apple’s store page for the iPad 3G.
Coincidentally this pretty much destroys Skype’s idea to charge for Skype-to-Skype calls over 3G. With data rates doubling who would want to use AND pay extra for a service that sucks up your, now twice as expensive, data?
A disastrous move, poorly handled. I ordered my 64GB/3GS iPad two weeks ago with full expectation of the unlimited 3G access. My iPad wasn’t scheduled to arrive until mid-June, after the June 7th cutoff date. So I canceled my order.
What is most telling is the profound silence out of Apple today (outside of this, that is: http://marktrapp.com/blog/2010/06/02/steve-jobs-new-att-data-plans).
Meh, I tether my jailbroken phone now anyway. Still, it sucks that my “unlimited” data plan will be even more limited now.
COMPARING AT&T’S NEW RATES VERSUS VERIZON’S RATES:
FOR INDIVIDUAL PLANS IN THE UNITED STATES:
VERIZON:
Unlimited Talk = $70 a month
Unlimited Text = $20 a month
25 MB Data = $10 a month <— STUPID. Almost all users will exceed this.
5 GB Data = $30 a month
Tethering = $30 a month
Data over 5 GB = $0.05 per MB = $50 per GB.
AT&T:
Unlimited Talk = $70 a month
Unlimited Text = $20 a month
200 MB Data = $15 a month <— covers 68% of iPhone users.
2 GB Data = $25 a month <— covers 98% of iPhone users.
3 GB Data = $35 a month
Tethering = $20 a month
Data over 3 GB = $0.05 per MB = $50 per GB.
NOTES:
AT&T’s rates are very favorable compared to Verizon’s rates.
AT&T’s Tethering rate is less than Verizon’s
For the 98% of users who use less than 2 GB a month, AT&T is $5 a month cheaper than Verizon, saving $60 a year. With tethering, AT&T is $15 a month cheaper than Verizon, saving $180 a year.
Ideally, AT&T should also have a limit of 5 GB a month, like Verizon. This makes it easier to use video conferencing on the new iPhones. After all, AT&T in the 1970s did envision someday having video conferencing on phones. The 5GB limit would still be a good cutoff point for heavy data users.
By the end of the year, AT&T will have upgraded its bandwidth to twice the current 3G speed.
I don’t give a sht for tethering myself here. All I really care for in my current plan of “so called unlimited” for $30 a month is that I can watch my NFL superfan, NBA league pass and MLB at bat apps anywhere from my iPhone on 3G. At my house I use my wi-fi connection which is great. But when I travel in the car or on the train or anywhere that does not offer a wi-fi connection and have no option other than 3g, I and other iPhone sports app users are screwed!!! I hope from what I heard is that us that already have a plan with AT&T will not be changed unless u change ur plan, buy a new phone and etc… I hope this is true, to keep my so called unlimited plan I will purchase my new phones solo for a little bit more with no plan and just flip my current sim card in that phone. Yeah 4g and new tech stuff coming out, oh well. Just have to wait and see what these bitches at AT&T will do… Fuk it, 12yrs here since the cellular one days, I will switch just so AT&T won’t get my skrilla anymore…
I use my G1 as the sole internet provider for me and my room mate. Its handy and no matter what my internet charges are a flat $30 rate.
For all of you who think ATT is doing a good thing (essentially you iPhone users) read this article :
http://getyourgadgetsgoing.com/2010/06/03/how-att-will-empty-your-pocket/
it breaks down how ATT is trying to trap you with statistics that mislead and device. Its true that i am an Android user but i hate to see companies take our hard earned money so this isn;t even about the whole Android-iPhone war. This is just be looking after my fellow consumers…so just check out the article the reply to me with thoughts
right I use my G1 as the sole internet provider for me and my room mate. Its handy and no matter what my internet charges are a flat $30 rate.
For all of you who think ATT is doing a good thing (essentially you iPhone users) read this article :
http://getyourgadgetsgoing.com/2010/06/03/how-att-will-empty-your-pocket/
it breaks down how ATT is trying to trap you with statistics that mislead and device. Its true that i am an Android user but i hate to see companies take our hard earned money so this isn;t even about the whole Android-iPhone war. This is just be looking after my fellow consumers…so just check out the article the reply to me with thoughts
I don’t own a functional cell phone (nor is it worth my time and money to do so), but I was excited about getting an iPad so I could have the web wherever I go—especially since the plan is month to month, so I could just cancel it whenever I don’t need it (which would likely be often). This change pretty much nixes that idea.
Nice job, AT&T. You just lost yourself a customer, and I expect I’m far from the only one.
Thats the most ridiculous thing that they can do … In one word, Get Lost AT&T …
When did we start looking like Canadians to you Ma Bell ? We absolutely would ask you questions when you try to shit us around for your greedy arse.
We should try writing letters to Apple telling them to break the contract with these stupidos … How about Iphone on Sprint ? No I don’t have a sprint, but their Everything Data plan is perfecto and the second fastest 3G network in the US … The reason I don’t want Verizon to have the Iphone is simple, They are just another greedy company who’ll charge you an arm and a leg.
I just now found out how little I really need this stuff. I have discontinued the wireless services. There is not that much I really need to get from the Internet, and now I can save a whole lot more money. Like the economy, and credit card abuse. The chickens have come home to roost. Reality has set in. A much simpler way of life ahead.
I really want the new iPhone when (not if) it comes out this summer. I’m willing to bet they make you sign up for the new data plans to get it. That will take care of a lot of folks who are grandfathered into the old plan but are looking to trade up.
Evil geniuses, I tell ya.
My phone is currently JB-ed, but even with the tethering I’ve done over the last 11 1/2 months since the 3GS was released, I’ve only sent 2.2GB and received 4.6GB. This could potentially save me money, but it’s hard to tell, what with the new features rumored for the new phone. But none of the other carriers are going to be any better. They’re all in it for a profit.
I’m waiting for the Atari Sirius satellite phone to be released in early December. Stop messing with this old iPhone. The Atari runs off a sattelite network and can go anywhere in the world! It will make the iPhone look as if it’s stuck to your kitchen wall and has a cord connected to it.
U have eyt to get my ipad. The change that AT&T pulled make me step back to see what the next move is going to be. Verizon CEO did say the other day that the days of unlimited lans seem to be going away.
Ya it would be nice to be able to get coverage when I am out and about, but with so many places having free Wi-Fi now why would I want to get the 3G?
At least they are giving the chance for those of you that are on the unlimited plan to stay. I would eat that up very fast if I were ou guys.
That’s disappointing. There needs to be a 3G option which will allow for unlimited data so that we can do streaming over 3G without getting killed in bandwidth.
I’m about to cut the price of my data plan in half. This is awesome!!!
For those of us (and I’d bet this is greater than 50% of iphone users) who Internet at work and home, 200 mb is plenty.
Bummer for the top 5% of the users. But I’m not too interested in your whining as I’ve subsidized your heavy usage for the last 3 years.
Actually, that doesn’t appear to be true. They study these data caps closely. I am at about 205-225 in data average per month and have wifi and work and home. So I fit into the $25 plan. Now if I tether it will add $20 but cap me at 2GB which I would eat through quickly bringing the price to at least $55. They have it all worked out.
I can read. Thanks. Including my old bills. I never go above 200. And I have no need for tethering.
For those of us who occasionally use our phones when not at home or work, this is a huge price break.
It also means that covert wi-fi at work is now a certainty.
I checked my bandwidth usage for the last 25 days, and I’ve used 450mb. I don’t consider myself a power user by any stretch of the word, and I use wifi at work and home (as well as wherever else it is available). 200mb and 2gb is a HUGE disparity and many users fall squarely between. You say that you’ve subsidized others’ heavy usage for the last 3 years, but I’m sorry: 450mg isn’t heavy usage, no matter how you look at it. That’s not even 25% of the 2gb cap they’ve put in place.
If AT&T is going to do this, there is a right way and a wrong way. This is the wrong way. In any case, instead of “beefing up” their network, as promised, they’re just charging users roughly the same on average and giving them less.
What your missing it that the heavy users are grandfathered in. The new plan will only effect new users or ones that want to tether. Some will save money with a lesser plan but this will certainly stop some from switching to the iphone. This only hurts the new user, and if they wanted an iphone, they would have to pay 30 so how is att making more money?
at least you tell it like it is. don’t forget the pathetic call quality. I get 3-5 dropped calls a day! On the iPad the whole deal was that you could start and stop at will. Not if you cancel you are cut out of the $30/month unlimited plan. Again, pathetic why Apple puts up with this. Its time for everyone to switch and vote with your wallet.
2 GB more than enough?!
To all these iPhone backslashes you have to consider that AT&T is changing the data plans.
No more unlimited plans.
They say that the PRO version ($25 for 2GB) is more than the average use, but they haven’t consider that the video chat will be possible in this new iPhone which for sure will increase the bandwidth consumption like hell, so if you exceed your limit you will be paying the extra charge of $10 for 1 extra GB.
Not to mention the “Hundres” of new features of the new iPhone that most likely will lead to more bandwidth consumption, e.i. multitasking.
http://www.macgasm.net/2010/06/03/att-changed-smartphone-data-plans/
http://daringfireball.net/2010/06/good_and_bad_regarding_att_data_plans
Adam, you need to update is story, because a lot of follow-up has been released. Lots of specifics regarding grandfathered plans, etc. You may want to look into it.
I have some questions?
1-The new iPhone might be announce on Monday 7, but that doesn’t mean that will be on the stores for sale that day, right?
2-If that is true, how long after announcement typically takes to be in the store according with the pattern of previous iPhones?
3-If that is true, why AT&shiT is changing the data plans the very same day of the announcement?
Can somebody help me with this, please?
Thanks a lot!
I use stock market apps. and watch a few YouTube vids, and I am right up at or past 2GB every month. I find what ATT is doing to be very disappointing. It is a little bit of a help, yes, that you can keep existing unlimited plans, at least for now. But, this entire thing by ATT is really a negative when it comes to how technology is pressing forward. We are going to see more and more HD vids, more and more HD photo sites, more and more businesses and vendors wanting to use more bandwidth to deliver products. A narrower pipe and more restrictions is not the answer. ATT should be focusing instead on improving the bandwidth and upgrading service. Not trying to go back to the age of vacuum tubes.
yep, the wireless pricing opacity is def becoming clearer. To steal a line from the SEC: “past performance is no indicator of future results.” Looking at your past usage without taking into account the new phone OS and the iPad suckers you right into opting for the new plan. If I stay on my old devices, it may work out…but if I upgrade and cave in to the iPad froth, look out…
I think having a data “lite” plan for the iPhone is long overdue. There are a lot of folks using iPhones that are not heavy data users. This will definitely save them money. I’m also OK with a higher usage data plan like the new 2GB plan. What I find deeply disappointing is that they don’t offer an option for super users, folks who are doing things that will burn through a 2GB allotment in a couple of weeks (I expect a lot of iPad users will fall into this category if they stream video). I would have liked to see them still offer an unlimited plan with a somewhat higher price tag, maybe $40.
As for the whole tethering issue, I agree with the reader who said that paying $20 for tethering on an unlimited plan is fair. Free tethering on a limited plan is fair (you’ll just burn through your data faster, which means you will end up paying for extra data). Charging $20 for tethering on a limited plan without giving users more data for their $20 is gouging. I don’t care if Verizon is doing it too. It’s still gouging. You are being charged $20 for NOTHING except the privilege of using data you’ve already paid for the way you want to. And another thing, the fact that AT&T is requiring users who currently have an unlimited plan to switch to a limited 2GB plan in order to use tethering is nothing short of strong-arming.
For the record, tethering is a non-issue for me personally. I don’t tether and have no interest in doing so. If I had an iPad (soon, my Precious, soon!) I would be interested in tethering that to my iPhone, but that isn’t a possibility at this time anyway, so the point is moot.
I manage 10 iphones at work and no one comes close to using 2gb. Most will be happy with the 200mb and not know the difference. AT&T has got a bad rap, but Verizon wouldn’t have been any better, why do you think they turned Apple down?
AT&T are crooks. Paying moreSteve Jobs had to know this was coming. Dont they have meetings on this stuff. No way he didn’t know. Im a current ATT guy and I hope the Iphone is sold on Verizon, cause I am leaving. AT&T are frauds , there service is lousy and once there are more alternative to this horrible company, many of us will leave. They can open wide for a bigfatdidikindahass
This is ridiculous! You have millions of people that have changed phone carriers just to own an iPhone and this is how you repay us? I spend majority of my time online on my iPhone, I pay all my bills on my iPhone, you have people who have a hard enough time trying to pay the unlimited bill, now you’re limiting us with the Internet with a greater chance of going over with the MBs and GBs you’re giving us. That’s just completely not right as far as business on you guys part. I thought business was all about making and keeping the people who keeps you in business happy? “Dont bite the hand that feeds you” that’s what I was always taught. I guess you guys should get prepared for a good percentage of iPhone users to go to with another cell phone carrier or another phone because what you guys are presenting to us is just plain greediness and selfishness and I don’t want to be apart of it. Thanks but no thanks!
Haha, AT&T is screwing you guys over, in Canada, we get 5GB/$35 through Bell. Also 250mb/$15, so overall we spend less(at least with the $15) and get more. That works out to about half of what you guys pay per GB with the higher one.
AT&T is the only carrier able to have the iPhone. Verizon would collapse. They are not able to handle the tens of millions of iPhone and now iPad users. Whether this plan fails or wins depends on how reliable these 20,000 wifi hot spots are. If they are frequent and plentiful, then 3G would be a last resort. I would never depend on 3G and so it is not a problem for me. Most of the time, I hope to be near a wifi hotspot.
Personally I think that this “we gotta have it attitude” is killing us as Americans. Nowadays you got so many people stuck with their faces in their i-phones and i-pads that there is practically no personal interaction anymore. Lets face it as technology improves we will continue our descent into disassociation and forget how to actually communicate face to face. Apple is actually pushing this along with their “new” technology. I know I’m dreaming but I actually hope that Americans come to realize just how stupid they look and how much money they are just throwing away to AT&T and Apple.
Does the tethering now offered on iPhone 4G work outside the US, or only IN the USA?
while i was about to pre order the iPhone on Verizon. i notice the tethering plan was set at 2 gigs. but they had the unlimited plan for data use on the phone. i feel they going to do the same thing so i wouldn’t rush to Verizon just yet. i highly doubt anyone can go over two gigs unless you on it too much looking at hd videos.
I have a iphone 4 currently and i tether wit it everyday.. I am going alot of there 5gb limit. But im grandfathered in so mine is def unlminted. But i download about 60gb’s which is water over.. But it has been 4 months i have been doing this and not receiving any kind of call from them i am assuming that my grandfather clause excludes me from the limit?