AT&T Announces New Smartphone Data Plans
AT&T today announced a new set of data plans for their smartphone users switching some things up quite a bit. Taking effect this Sunday, the 22nd, the new plans allow users to consume a larger amount of data all around, starting from the lower plans to the higher end ones, though with a slight $5 increase.
Officially from AT&T, the changes will be made this weekend. This is the first time since June of 2010 that the plans for AT&T customers have been adjusted.
“Customers are using more mobile broadband data than ever before.
More content downloading, more video streaming, more apps. Connecting with family and friends 24-7. Mobile broadband has become part of our daily lives – and data usage has skyrocketed.
Taking all of this into account – and our ongoing commitment to deliver value to our customers – we’re launching new smartphone and tablet data plans on Sunday, Jan. 22.”
For smartphone customers, the $15 and $25 options for 200 MB of data allocation and 2 GB, respectively, have been replaced by two new options. The new plans:
AT&T Data Plus 300MB: $20 for 300MB
AT&T Data Pro 3GB: $30 for 3GB
AT&T Data Pro 5GB: $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot / tethering
Customers who currently own tablets running on AT&T’s network are also offered revamped plans:
AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB
*The $14.99 plan for 250 MB of data for tablet users will remain to be available.
As the change takes place this Sunday, any new contracts signed will revolve around the above pricing. For customers who are in contracts, however, you’ll be able to choose whether or not you want to upgrade to the new plans.
Do you think we could possible see the resurrection of the unlimited data plan that was removed last year? I mean, AT&T did officially state that people are using data for almost everything nowadays.
There are multiple applications, on other hand, for tracking data usage. One is the official MyAT&T iOS app available for free which allows you to track your data, messaging, and minutes for all numbers on one AT&T account, while I tend to use this other one interchangeably for my polished-application fix, which is called Consume ($2.99/review soon).
Here’s a question from an iPhone owner with a grandfathered $30 unlimited data plan.
If the capped “AT&T Data Pro 3GB” ($30 for 3GB) data plan is not throttled until the user exceeds 3G of data usage, should a user with an unlimited data plan ($30 for unlimited data) be throttled before exceeding 3G of data usage?
If $30 represents 3G and I have a $30 unlimited plan then I have an expectation of not being throttled until I exceed 3G of data usage.
if you have the 3GB plan, you aren’t capped or throttled, but rather you pay $10 for another GB of data.
AT&T’s throttling policy for those with the unlimited data plan is a joke. AT&T has stated that it is a sliding window varies from billing cycle to billing cycle depending upon data usage by their subscribers.
AT&T’s policy could throttle unlimited data subscribers at 2.5GB (or less) – depending upon IT (AT&T) says is happening to the amount of data that subscribers are using during the billing cycle. Basically, AT&T could start throttling whenever it deems its data network is getting overloaded.
If my $30 doesn’t get me un-throttled data before exceeding 3GB of data usage, does my $30 for unlimited data have less buying power than the $30 for 3GB capped plan.
I did not ask AT&T to grandfather my unlimited data plan, but I do believe that if $30 buys 3GB of un-throttled data for the capped plan then throttling of the $30 unlimited data plan should start at 3GB of data usage.
Your question is a good one, and I don’t know the exact answer, but I think that your grandfather unlimited data plan is for the best right now. Unless you’re in the top 5% of data users, which I don’t think you are, AT&T shouldn’t be throttling your internet speeds or data allocation for any reason. The only reason I’d see them doing so is if data usage skyrocketed far beyond the current high usages, so you should be ok.
But if you don’t even use 3GB of data per month, you may want to consider switching to the new plans come this Sunday.