June 8, 2010 – When Apple introduced the iPhone three years ago, the naysayers said who would ever want a touch screen phone like that. Fast forward to today, the iPhone is one of the most popular Smartphone on the market and Apple’s partnership with AT&T all but saved the wireless provider from going the way of the dinosaurs. AT&T is not the perfect wireless provider by any means, but in most populated areas where their 3G service is available, the connectivity is more than adequate for a great user experience.
AT&T as with all wireless providers, locks you in to a service contract for a specified amount of time and in return sells you a very expensive phone at a reduced rate. Most mobile phone users have learned to accept this as standard practice and just sign the contract without ever fully reading it. As part of the agreement with AT&T, iPhone users are required to spend an extra $30 a month in addition to their calling and messaging plan for an “Unlimited Data Plan”. In the beginning a lot of people complained about the $30 price, but once they started using the phone to surf the web, check and send email, download apps, play games online, share photos, stream music and YouTube videos, that $30 price suddenly didn’t seem so bad.
Now AT&T is changing their data plans claiming they are more affordable and will allow more people to experience the benefits of the mobile internet. “We’re making it possible to break free from the traditional one-size-fits-all pricing model and letting customers choose the data plan that best meets their needs and budget.” as written on the AT&T website. The new plans also include unlimited access at no additional charge to more than 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots in the U.S.
AT&T’s New Data Plans
DataPlus – 200 MB of data for $15 per month
- Designed for people who primarily surf the Web, send email, and use social networking apps.
- On average, 65% of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB per month
- If you use more than 200 MB, you’ll receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for $15, replenished as often as necessary during the billing cycle.
DataPro – 2 GB of data for $25 per month
- Designed for people who regularly download or stream music and video, or use other high bandwidth applications
- 98% of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 2 GB in a month on average
- If you exceed 2 GB, you’ll get an additional 1 GB of data for only $10. Each time an additional 1 GB is used up during a cycle, you will automatically receive another 1 GB at the same low price.
Tethering Options – Smartphone customers who choose the DataPro plan can add tethering for an additional $20 per month. With tethering, you can use your smartphone as a modem to provide a broadband connection for laptop computers, netbooks, or other computing devices. One thing to keep in mind, the amount of data you use will be deducted from your total 2 GB monthly limit. If you’re browsing the web or sending email you should be ok, but if you stream just one NetFlix movie you’ll burn through 500 to 750 MBs, that’s approximately 1/4 of your monthly allowance. Tethering will be available on the iPhone with the iOS4 release at the end of the month. If you have an existing Unlimited Plan you’re set, just upgrade to iOS4 and surf away!
Current smartphone customers are grandfathered in and are not required to switch to one of the new plans. If you choose to switch you can do so without a contract extension but keep in mind, if you make the switch you won’t be able to go back to the unlimited plan as it’s no longer available as an option.
These new plans may be a good option for the average Smartphone user and may save you a few dollars per month on your data plan. I suggest checking your data usage on your AT&T bills to get a better idea of how much data on average you actually use before making the decision to switch.
iPhone users are not your typical Smartphone user and I don’t think they’re accurately represented by the numbers AT&T is claiming above. My wife and I have a family plan and each pay the additional $30 per month for the iPhone data plan. I spend a good portion of my day on the computer so I don’t use a lot of data on my phone. My wife on the other hand uses her iPhone for most of her data needs. I wouldn’t classify her as a power user, I think she’s more of a typical user and has been averaging 257 MB a month for the past 6 months. Based on that number we couldn’t downgrade her to the DataPlus plan as she would go over every month and we would need to pay the additional $15 overage fee. At that point we’re back up to the $30 a month. Downgrading to the DataPro plan would save us $5 a month, but at that point is the $5 savings really worth giving up the “Unlimited Plan”?
AT&T made the new data plans effective on June 7, 2010 no doubt to coincide with the announcement of Apple’s new iPhone 4. New users that purchase the iPhone 4 will have to choose one of the new data plans and will not have the option of an Unlimited Plan. Existing iPhone users looking to upgrade to the iPhone 4 are grandfathered in and can keep their Unlimited Plan. If you’re a current iPhone user and your contract expires in 2010, AT&T is offering an upgrade to the new iPhone 4 at the subsidized rate with no early termination fee, but you will need to commit to a new 2 year contract. To find out if you’re eligible dial *639# and press send. You will receive a text message with the details.
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Founder of Current Photographer, co-host of The Digital Photography Cafe Show, Designer, Photographer, and overall tech geek.