AT&T Unlimited 3G ipad plan is history!

[thehatguy]

Info. from my contact at AT&T.

Key Points to Know
· The monthly charge for enterprise Smartphone plans has been reduced to $40 for 2GB for new service activations
o Currently 98% of AT&T Smartphone subscribers use less than 2GB of data per month on average
· There is a new low entry price for personal Smartphone subscribers: $15 for 200 MBs
· Existing unlimited Smartphone plans will not be available for new customers.

· Existing Smartphone subscribers can keep their current $30, $40, or $45 unlimited data plans, or switch to a new plan without penalty or contract extension. Subscribers moving away from an unlimited Smartphone plan will not be able to return to an unlimited plan.
· Existing Smartphone unlimited subscribers can upgrade their devices and keep their unlimited plans. This includes upgrades which involve device operating system changes (e.g. Blackberry to iPhone or vice versa).
· Except as noted above, all other AT&T voice, messaging and data plans (for laptops, feature phones, and quick messaging devices) will remain unchanged.
· Tethering for iPhone customers will be available when Apple releases OS 4.0 this summer



· DataPro
– Designed for people who regularly download files or use other high bandwidth business applications. Customers have enough data (2 GB) to:
§ Send / receive 10,000 single page text emails
§ Send / receive 1,500 emails with a document attached
§ Browse 4,000 Web pages
§ Download/ upload 500 photos and stream 200 – 1 minute video clips
§ Usage above the 2GB bucket is charged $10 per 1 GB

· Tethering Plan:
– Available for an additional $20 per month for Smartphone customers who choose the DataPro plan (DataPro Enterprise w/Tethering bills at $60/month plus applicable taxes/fees)
– Existing tethering customers can keep their current tethering plan as long as they keep their current data plan and don’t switch to iPhone.

· DataPlus
– Designed for people who primarily surf the web, send email, and use social networking apps. Customers have enough data (200 MB) to:
§ Send 1,000 single-page, text-based emails
§ 150 emails with a document attached
§ Browse 400 web pages
§ Download 50 photos
§ Stream 20 1 minute video clips.
§ Usage above the 200 MB bucket is charged $15 per 200 MB.

 

[imdakine1]

I think what sucks the most is that being grandfathered in only allows you to keep the unlimited plan if you don't cancel it at all... Thus the no-contract concept is truly not a no-contract if you want the unlimited data plan.

AT&T should actually allow anyone grandfathered in the ability to switch to all plans including the unlimited option...

This is sneaky! Anyone wanting the unlimited plan will not be forced to keep it and not cancel. Thus iPad unlimited data = contract only...

 

[cherhall]

And did anyone else happen to notice that AT&T raised their early termination fees just a week or two before this announcement? Like they were planning in advance to get more money from the people who would opt out of their contracts due to theses changes.

 

[figmo10]

Mark my words: Those of us who still have it now won't have it for long.
· DataPro
– Designed for people who regularly download files or use other high bandwidth business applications. Customers have enough data (2 GB) to:
§ Send / receive 10,000 single page text emails
§ Send / receive 1,500 emails with a document attached
§ Browse 4,000 Web pages
§ Download/ upload 500 photos and stream 200 – 1 minute video clips
§ Usage above the 2GB bucket is charged $10 per 1 GB
Not a word about video use, is there?

 

[Wolffmann34]

I agree that the unlimited will go away - but it does say "stream 200 - 1 minute video clips"

Not that 200 minutes would last long --- (well about 200 minutes actually)

 

[figmo10]

I agree that the unlimited will go away - but it does say "stream 200 - 1 minute video clips"

Not that 200 minutes would last long --- (well about 200 minutes actually)

Sorry, rather upset and didn't see straight. By the way, I doubt that the time cited would actually last through an entire movie.

 

[Wolffmann34]

Actually I watched a lot of sling box video using my Verizon cell card before the 5gb cap was enacted and I mean hours and hours of streaming video and I really didn't go that far over 5gb.

 

[epb]

And did anyone else happen to notice that AT&T raised their early termination fees just a week or two before this announcement? Like they were planning in advance to get more money from the people who would opt out of their contracts due to theses changes.

Why would anyone do that? The changes don't apply to current users, so there's no reason to leave your old plan before your contract is up. And iPad users don't have a contract, so there's no termination fee.

 

[cherhall]

And did anyone else happen to notice that AT&T raised their early termination fees just a week or two before this announcement? Like they were planning in advance to get more money from the people who would opt out of their contracts due to theses changes.

Why would anyone do that? The changes don't apply to current users, so there's no reason to leave your old plan before your contract is up. And iPad users don't have a contract, so there's no termination fee.

I'm not referring to iPad users necessarily. And I have read many comments from people on other sites, saying they will leave AT&T because of the changes.

You're correct though that as a current iPhone and iPad user, it's not going to affect me other than the tethering. You can only get the tethering with the NEW plans, so to tether, I'd be giving up my unlimited. A lot of people want tethering, and losing the unlimited to get it, isn't going to set well.

 

[figmo10]

The grandfathered Ipad unlimited data plan won't be around long anyway.

 

[epb]

We'll see. AT&T might leave the old UPlan users alone if there's a high attrition rate due to the factors Cherhall mentioned.

 

[Wolffmann34]

That would be nice if they just left the plans in place, but I bet right now there is a large amount of 3G users signing up for the unlimited plan. If I had a 3G I would be all over it.

Of course another thing to look at here is that these plans may be changing due to the impending implementation of 4G, if 4G is truly 10X the speed of 3G, then a person could blast past 5GB in no time, so if they throttle the plans back now they can maybe protect their outdated network a little longer.

 

[ipadfanatic]

That would be nice if they just left the plans in place, but I bet right now there is a large amount of 3G users signing up for the unlimited plan. If I had a 3G I would be all over it.

Of course another thing to look at here is that these plans may be changing due to the impending implementation of 4G, if 4G is truly 10X the speed of 3G, then a person could blast past 5GB in no time, so if they throttle the plans back now they can maybe protect their outdated network a little longer.

In my opinion it has nothing to do with so called future 4G service. 4G is just WiMax dressed up with another name.

AT&T did not have an emergency meeting a few days ago prompting plan changes, this was in the works before the iPad was announced.

 

[GailLA]

In my opinion it has nothing to do with so called future 4G service. 4G is just WiMax dressed up with another name.

AT&T did not have an emergency meeting a few days ago prompting plan changes, this was in the works before the iPad was announced.

I absolutely agree. AT&T planned this all along.

I also believe that AT&T blindsided Apple on this. I know some believe that Apple colluded on it, but I don't. I think if Apple had known they would have advertised the new plans upfront. This bait and switch does nothing for Apple at all.

What angers me is not the new plan for the iPad as much as the sudden change a little more than a month after introduction. I currently have unlimited for the iPad, but I can't afford to keep it up and had always planned to start and stop it at will. At least AT&T isn't forcing us onto contracts for iPad service, YET. After next month I'm quitting it for a couple of months because I won't be traveling and have very poor 3G coverage at home.

 

[GailLA]

P.S. One more thought. How long do you think it will be until the 2 GB plans for the iPad are back up to $30? I think they only dropped it down to $25 because if they hadn't, the resulting storm would have made hurricane Katrina look small.