AT&T caps phone data usage with new wireless plans

Nice, here operator usually limits speed of the mobile connection. I am paying 9.90 Euros/month unlimited usage of 384 kbit/s. And it’s not cheapest, this operator has best coverage where I living.

 

I would probably own an iPhone if they had any other carrier besides AT&T. I hate that company.

 

I ended up on AT&T because they bought the only viable local company. In this area GSM is the only service that works well, and one small company owned all of the GSM towers. They were bought out by someone a little bigger, who was then purchased by AT&T. Sometimes the free market isn't really free.

Tom

 

The did announce their tethering plan at the same time.

However Evan... the iPhone 3GS already supports tethering (in other countries). It's AT&T that hasn't supported it yet, thus we haven't seen it here in the US.

As far as this change goes, i think it's a good one. For the OP using 860 MB/month... you can get their 2GB limited plan for $5 cheaper than the unlimited plan. My highest in the past 6 months was just slightly over 200 MB. What can i say... i use wifi most of the time. For me, going for the 200 MB plan for $15 cheaper than the unlimited plan sounds like a pretty decent deal.

 

AT&T Announces iPhone Tethering and New Smartphone Data Plans - Mac Rumors

I think the most telling part of this is that 65% of their smart phone customers use less than 200MB per month, and 98% use less than 2GB per month. The plans seem to make sense to me. What i really don't get though... if you're on the 2GB plan and need more, each additional GB is $10. If you're on the 200MB plan and need more... you only get 200MB more for $15.

So if you go over the limit on a 200MB plan, you end up paying more than someone with a 2GB plan... :loco:

 

Definitely related to tethering, and ultimately, imo, this is a good thing.

The fact is that there is a small percentage of users who use a disproportionate amount of resources, and currently we all subsidize them. In addition to that, by changing from unlimited, people will begin to think a bit more about their usage and that should improve the network conditions.

ETA: I guess I should mention that I am not an ATT customer.

 

I'll tell you what I think is downright crooked: (And it applies to basic cell phone contracts as well as the data contracts mentioned above.)

You pay MUCH more per call (or per MB of data) if you buy a small contract because you expect to use little; but then you pay an EXORBITANT amount if you exceed your contract. If the crooks running the industry were honest, you would simply pay the price for the larger contract if you exceeded your basic contract.

By what logic do they charge MORE for using 400 MB than for using 2 GB??? Of course, the "logic" is the logic of greed. They want to screw you. It doesn't really affect me because I don't have a smartphone, and I use my cell phone only rarely; I have it mostly for emergencies. But I'd consider dumping my Qwest landline and go to all cell, if I didn't have to make the impossible choices involved in an essentially dishonest system of cell phone contracts. Phone contracts are like insurance policies: They are DESIGNED in such a way that you cannot make apples-to-apples comparisons to arrive at the best one for your situation. There's nothing illegal in this, but it is dishonest.

As for AT&T, my mother had AT&T service for a while. Then she decided to switch. THEY REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE her cancellation of their service, and continued to bill her for many months. That WAS illegal!

If they were honest, there would simply be a sliding scale of charges based on total usage, and you'd pay according to how much you used, instead of having to decide in advance how much you are going to use.

 

I'd like to see some more info on this such as; if 98% of AT&T's customer's used less than 2Gb per month where's the problem and how much are the other 2% using? For them to impose limits on 98% of their customers because of the actions of 2% seems poor form to me. Wonder how we could find that info?

:thumb:

 

That is certainly one side of things. But there are also less devious reasons.

With monthly contracts, the cell phone companies have guaranteed income. That is part of why the plans are structured so that you're pushed towards a plan where you will never go over the limit. For similar reasons this also allows for better planning.

In addition, it helps on the customer service side. People are much more likely to dispute overage charges than a constant bill.

 

AT&T sucks nice person big time. They're squeezing every penny out of its users. First they took away unlimited data so you're stuck with either $25 for 2GB or $45 for 4GB, then they took away the 1000 text for $10 so you have no choice but to fork out $20 for unlimited text. Now, they're making you pay $5 extra a month and give you 1 GB extra a month? That's BS. What if I use less than 2GB a month yet I am forced to pay for data that I won't use? complete BS. No wonder people are hacking their phones for tethering.

 

AT&T will allow you to switch plans towards the end of your billing cycle that goes back to the beginning of the cycle. So if you find yourself exceeding your limit you can change to the appropriate plan. You do have to check your useage yourself and call in and then switch back.

 

I've been in the phone biz for 13 years now.....and you're right. It's a dirty, nasty business going all the way back to the "photo finish" patent filings by Graham and Gray, and continuing through the development of the Strowger switch, and on through to divestiture...and now the "data wars."

Don't like "Big Bell?"
Easy.
Switch!

Telecommunications has all of the disadvantages of a commercial enterprise, and all of the disadvantages of a publicly regulated utility.
A co-worker of mine lived in a subdivision that was plagued by intermittent phone line problems (caused by a SLC power supply problem, IIRC.)
Naturally, it wasn't the top turd on Big Bell's pile, since most of the real money is made on the business side of the house, so the troubles continued until......
He mentioned to one of his neighbors that you can file a PSC complaint against the RBOC. That neighbor called others. And so on.
Two days later there were half a dozen phone vans in the neighborhood, along with a dispatched supervisor, and some contractors. They spent probably half a mil in equipment, OT and with the diggers and fillers getting about 10 dial tone customers back on line.
So.....the system does work. Fairly well in fact. I have no problem with all of this since the government uses some of the taxes and fees that they collect from your monthly bills to do things like conquer the "digital divide", and implement and regulate E911, and so what goes around comes around.
So....
Don't like AT&T?
Switch to Big Red.
Don't like them???
Use Sprint....or one of the dozen or so other digital providers.

It's a little like the retail car biz. it's complicated for a reason.
If you're an early adopter, or you gotta have the latest, best little toy........yer gonna pay for it.

 

Meanwhile, aggregate Internet speed in America continues to drop in relation to other countries, behind Belgium, Romania, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and South Korea.

Worldwide average speed is 2.6 Mbps, and America (ranked 12th worldwide) averages 5.8 Mbps.

This according to Akamai, 10/28/11.

The vast holdings and estates of Pinto have connectivity significantly slower than the worldwide average, BTW. I also have the cheapest AT&T data plan on my iPhone and never go over the limit. WiFi is everywhere, for me if I'm out of WiFi range I simply refrain from streaming videos, surfing the net aimlessly, or listening to Internet radio.