AT&T Announces Shared Data Plans

[bassoprofundo]

FYI...

http://www.bgr.com/2012/07/18/att-shared-data-plans-pricing-launch-date/

Nothing too earth-shattering... Pretty much in line with Verizon...

 

[JTsyo]

Voice is being used less so it makes sense to just offer unlimited voice and text and try to be competitive on the data plans. From what I have seen of their price plan, AT&T pulls ahead if you have more than 3 devices but below that Verzion is cheaper.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Again with the 1 GB baseline for a high price. I know carriers want to make money but damn. They should at least knock all their tiers down by one, eliminate the 1 GB and make 2 GB cost as much as 1 GB, and so on. They'd still make a boatload of cash.

 

[Kenmitch]

Looks like the prices suck....Except the ability to add a tablet for $10

 

[Phokus]

And American customers get it in the ass yet again, fuck verizon and AT&T

 

[Phokus]

And this is exactly why the FCC was right in not allowing AT&T and T-mobile to merge. At least we have more choice now.

 

[akugami]

And this is exactly why the FCC was right in not allowing AT&T and T-mobile to merge. At least we have more choice now.

The AT&T merger with T-Mobile will not have changed a thing in terms of consumer pricing. That's why I did not and still do not care if it ever happens. What the FCC needs to do is outlaw contract phones. When the cell phone carriers are forced to compete purely on price, I guarantee prices will drop.

Outlawing contract phones will crimp sales of smartphones, especially premium phones like the iPhones and the upper tier Samsung phones. It will create a more vibrant secondary market for phones so those buying these higher end phones will benefit with higher resale value. Long term however, it will save consumers money even if they go ahead and buy an iPhone (or similarly priced phone) with a data plan.

 

[Phokus]

The AT&T merger with T-Mobile will not have changed a thing in terms of consumer pricing. That's why I did not and still do not care if it ever happens. What the FCC needs to do is outlaw contract phones. When the cell phone carriers are forced to compete purely on price, I guarantee prices will drop.

Outlawing contract phones will crimp sales of smartphones, especially premium phones like the iPhones and the upper tier Samsung phones. It will create a more vibrant secondary market for phones so those buying these higher end phones will benefit with higher resale value. Long term however, it will save consumers money even if they go ahead and buy an iPhone (or similarly priced phone) with a data plan.

Are you insane? If AT&T bought up T-Mobile, you can say bye bye to the $30 100 minute/unlimited data prepaid plan from T-Mobile, which is fucking amazing compared to what is available now.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Are you insane? If AT&T bought up T-Mobile, you can say bye bye to the $30 100 minute/unlimited prepaid plan from T-Mobile, which is fucking amazing compared to what is available now.

This as well

AT&T is copying what Verizon is doing

Say bye bye to choices.

 

[akugami]

Are you insane? If AT&T bought up T-Mobile, you can say bye bye to the $30 100 minute/unlimited data prepaid plan from T-Mobile, which is fucking amazing compared to what is available now.

That's more an exception to the rule just because T-Mobile is doing so horrible in the USA. They are desperate for customers and we really don't know how this "blue light special" will run.

Get rid of subsidized contract phones for the industry as a whole and watch prices like that be the norm rather than the exception.

 

[quest55720]

What a complete rip off I thought my bill was sky high now. If they ever force me off my current plan I'll just go to pre paid. 2 smart phones and 2 basic phones with a measily 1 gig of data is freaking a 190 dollars a month plus taxes. The FCC needs to step in and take Verison and ATT to court for price fixing.

 

[pm]

What a complete rip off I thought my bill was sky high now. If they ever force me off my current plan I'll just go to pre paid. 2 smart phones and 2 basic phones with a measily 1 gig of data is freaking a 190 dollars a month plus taxes. The FCC needs to step in and take Verison and ATT to court for price fixing.

What you wrote more or less matches exactly my thinking when I read it. I thought I was paying a lot right now for two smartphones at $90/month - $90/month to me is a lot - especially compared to our water, heating and electric bills. But now they are talking $95/month for one phone. My response is that I'd switch to a prepaid dumb phone and just use WiFi before I'd pay that.

 

[Bateluer]

Are you insane? If AT&T bought up T-Mobile, you can say bye bye to the $30 100 minute/unlimited data prepaid plan from T-Mobile, which is fucking amazing compared to what is available now.

^ This. All of TMO's plans, post paid and pre-paid are better than AT&Ts. They'd all be gone if the buyout was allowed. Anyone who thought that merger was a good idea is totally clueless.


DL has a good side by side comparison of AT&T's and Verizon's Shared plans.

http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/18/shared-data-plans-verizon-vs-att/#more-76417

In a nutshell, your costs go up. A lot. And you get less service. I'm inclined to believe that if you're using less than 1GB of data on a smartphone, then you don't actually need a smartphone.

 

[Wreckem]

The pricing plan for data sharing is retarded. Pay more, get less, but hey you can share it.

 

[Wreckem]

^ This. All of TMO's plans, post paid and pre-paid are better than AT&Ts. They'd all be gone if the buyout was allowed. Anyone who thought that merger was a good idea is totally clueless.


DL has a good side by side comparison of AT&T's and Verizon's Shared plans.

http://www.droid-life.com/2012/07/18/shared-data-plans-verizon-vs-att/#more-76417

In a nutshell, your costs go up. A lot. And you get less service. I'm inclined to believe that if you're using less than 1GB of data on a smartphone, then you don't actually need a smartphone.

Or you are in a WiFi environment 99% of the time. Only time I need to use cellular data is when traveling/at a place that doesn't have free wifi. That is rare as almost everywhere has free wifi except the airport. When I am at home, I only use cellular data when I am out and about.

I average about 75MB of data/month. My wife averages 100MB of data/month. But yet we get raped on data costs even on the old plan that no longer exists. They should have done rollover data instead of data sharing. They should also start allowing people to have smart phones without data plans.

 

[Bateluer]

Or you are in a WiFi environment 99% of the time. Only time I need to use cellular data is when traveling/at a place that doesn't have free wifi. That is rare as almost everywhere has free wifi except the airport. When I am at home, I only use cellular data when I am out and about.

I average about 75MB of data/month. My wife averages 100MB of data/month. But yet we get raped on data costs even on the old plan that no longer exists. They should have done rollover data instead of data sharing. They should also start allowing people to have smart phones without data plans.

Out of curiosity, what city do you live in?

I'm in Phoenix, and while open WiFi is common, its rare that I'm actually there. There's no wifi at work, for example, and if there was, it'd be filtered and monitored, so no streaming anything, etc.

The security issues around open wifi networks shouldn't be ignored either.

 

[Wreckem]

Out of curiosity, what city do you live in?

I'm in Phoenix, and while open WiFi is common, its rare that I'm actually there. There's no wifi at work, for example, and if there was, it'd be filtered and monitored, so no streaming anything, etc.

The security issues around open wifi networks shouldn't be ignored either.

Actually, in BFE Texas.

I don't use a whole lot of open wifi networks either.

 

[lothar]

I wonder if Sprint and T-Mobile will implement this soon. What is their position on shared data plans?

-Lothar

 

[Dulanic]

I wonder if Sprint and T-Mobile will implement this soon. What is their position on shared data plans?

-Lothar

Sprint already does this.... Their data is unlimited on all family lines. They just don't charge these insane fees for each shared line.

 

[kaerflog]

The AT&T merger with T-Mobile will not have changed a thing in terms of consumer pricing.

You're freaking insane.
That's the most ludicrous thing I've heard.
You actually think Att was going to keep all the current Tmobile pricing after the merge?
The only reason why I'm not on prepaid yet is because of Tmobile.
Oh and BTW Tmobile is still making money unlike Sprint who will be bleeding cash for a while

 

[Sephire]

LOL these companies want you to pay a minimum of $100 for cellular plans.

 

[Dulanic]

LOL these companies want you to pay a minimum of $100 for cellular plans.

The scary part is the most expensive tend to be the most popular. But I know some of that is due to speed and coverage.

 

[MrX8503]

I had a feeling that carriers were going to rape the consumer again.

 

[Cobalt]

Thankfully the current plans will still be available. You can save a bit of money with these new plans only if you have 2-3 smartphones and a larger pool of data option. Add basic/messaging phones and that's where the value declines.

 

[akugami]

You're freaking insane.
That's the most ludicrous thing I've heard.
You actually think Att was going to keep all the current Tmobile pricing after the merge?
The only reason why I'm not on prepaid yet is because of Tmobile.
Oh and BTW Tmobile is still making money unlike Sprint who will be bleeding cash for a while

Look at T-Mobile's prices prior to the failed merger. They weren't much better than AT&T or Verizon. Granted they were slightly better, but nothing you couldn't get from smaller carriers such as Cricket. The only reason why the price for that plan is so cheap is because they are hemorrhaging customers.

Do you think for a moment that T-Mobile would be offering cheaper plans if it was doing better than it is? Which is relatively flat or declining revenues and bleeding customers?

Now, as you noted, T-Mobile is still profitable but they've been bleeding customers for a long while now. Outlook is not bad by any means but not great. At some point, losing that many customers is going to negatively impact their bottom line.

And for the record, the T-Mobile plan you guys are mentioning is not widely advertised and is known as the "walmart" plan. There is also a negative in that if you use your phone even moderately, you can easily exceed the 100 minutes. I don't do much phone calls but I exceed 300 minutes a month.

Bottom line. Eliminating contract phones is the only way we're going to see lower priced plans across the board on all carriers.