AT&T Shafts Smartphone Customers !!!

[apollomaker]

Just announced, AT&T will be changing its plans to put a limit on data usage, virtually eliminating the "unlimited" plan offerings to customers. See this:

AT&T Hangs Up on Unlimited Wireless Data Plans - DailyFinance

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/03/MN051DOV39.DTL&tsp=1

This will weaken AT&T's competitive position. They apparently think they have a captive audience with its greedy deal with Apple products. The impact of this move will be interesting --- and smart marketers at other service providers will capitalize on it. From another perspective, does this not equate to "CAP AND TAX" on data ??

Will other companies follow suit?

We shall see --- Regards, Bob

P.S. - I sure am glad I was not one of those that "had to have" an iPhone or iPad...

 

[jwb68]

Or everyone else could jump on the band wagon. If ATT can show big earnings then the others will not be far behind.

 

[apollomaker]

Or everyone else could jump on the band wagon. If ATT can show big earnings then the others will not be far behind.

It seems really a strange mix of radical greed and bad marketing. I can imagine the impact it would have on smartphone sales. Many users of cell data, certainly do not want a choke-chain on the very reason they bought a full featured phone for voice and data.

 

[Ares_EMS]

This certainly kills any interest I had in checking out AT&T.. but this would only affect new customers right? Existing customers on a unlimited plan would be unaffected, correct? Because if the carrier changes the terms of the contract, wouldn't that be a breach, and therefore couldn't existing customers jump ship without penalty?

 

[apollomaker]

This certainly kills any interest I had in checking out AT&T.. but this would only affect new customers right? Existing customers on a unlimited plan would be unaffected, correct? Because if the carrier changes the terms of the contract, wouldn't that be a breach, and therefore couldn't existing customers jump ship without penalty?

I would think so, but existing customers at renewal time could get the same treatment as new customers. No matter how you slice it, it is typical AT&T and one of the reasons I dumped them as a carrier even for telephone service, quite a while ago. This is certainly not a move for thier customers, as they are trying to spin it. Operations like Sprint and Verizon could really capitalize on this, if they want to.

 

[Isthmus]

IIRC once your contract expires, a carrier cannot force you to sign a new contract. So long as you continue making your monthly payment, the service you agreed to in your contract continue, even though your contract has technically expired. You can even replace your old handset with something new, the only catch is that you would have to pay the unsubsidized price for it.

IIRC this is federal law and applies to all US carriers. So you can't be forced to upgrade to a new service or sign a new contract if you don't want to. If I'm right, this means that unless you want to sign a contract for a new 4g data plan, you can keep your existing unlimited 3g one for as long as you continue making your monthly payment after your contract expires.

 

[apollomaker]

IIRC this is federal law and applies to all US carriers. So you can't be forced to upgrade to a new service or sign a new contract if you don't want to. If I'm right, this means that unless you want to sign a contract for a new 4g data plan, you can keep your existing unlimited 3g one for as long as you continue making your monthly payment after your contract expires.

Yes, this is true. I spoke with a Sprint rep today and they confirmed this is the general case. But, of course, if this is your case, then you are STUCK and they have your business....so you have no flexibility to change or they will have you by the (belt loops).

It still opens up a real opportunity for other suppliers to take market share by new customer sign-ups or service modifications.

Thanks for the response --- Bob ---

 

[Vulcan]

Gah Why wont atnt end already overpriced phones plans bad Signals (in my area) More dropped calls then i have ever had( even in Ny dallas Tx Etc and their customer service

is a bunch of indians with names of Arnt there own for example ive called 3 times and one indian serviceman's name was timothy which he said Timeohtry Time-oh-tree them cept on studering on own name Lol but im not an ass that picks sides and groups people together nor am i raceist

 

[tcv]

Gah Why wont atnt end already overpriced phones plans bad Signals (in my area) More dropped calls then i have ever had( even in Ny dallas Tx Etc and their customer service

is a bunch of indians with names of Arnt there own for example ive called 3 times and one indian serviceman's name was timothy which he said Timeohtry Time-oh-tree them cept on studering on own name Lol but im not an ass that picks sides and groups people together nor am i raceist

My head hurts.

 

[e1000sn]

Let me be a voice of dissent.

Imagine for a second that every voice plan had unlimited minutes? That may have worked when there were only a hundred cell phones per tower, but now it would be ridiculous. Say the cost was $80 a month; people using 200 minutes would be paying high rates to cover those who used 5000 minutes per month.

Data uses bandwidth too, but people seem to think that it would somehow be possible to let everybody use 5 gigs a month and still have usable airwaves. It just isn't possible in the spectrum available with the current technology. Tiered pricing may not be great for the top 10% of users (most of the people on this forum) but it is good for the other 90%. I hope that Verizon offers this because I would happily sacrifice Pandora and excessive web browsing for a smaller monthly bill. If Verizon doesn't offer it, I see a Motorola back-flip in my future.

 

[nb_mitch]

I have my concerns but also hope it lowers my initial cost. I am currently on a AT&T unlimited BLACKBERRY data plan which may not translate to a Android Unlimited data plan next month when I change devices to a Dell Streak. So they may not grandfather me in because I will be switching to a "different" data plan.

Initially, I think I will save money with the cheaper/lower plans. I seem to be about 200 MB per month on my current BB Curve, but with a faster device, I think that usage will go up as I plan to use more of it's web features. I wonder if you sign up for the $15 plan, what will the overage be if you exceed 200 MB, just $10 bump to the next plan level or a outrageous $/kb.

In the end, I am still hoping wifi connections will reduce usage enough to save money but only time will tell.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I like the lower price options for the people who want a smart phone but, don't want to pay 30$..

Although.. I wonder if when they gave those statistics.. they took into account all the millions of teenagers with blackberries who just have it for txting.. Or phones that do a similar thing

And I wonder just HOW much that 2% that uses over 2 megs DOES use..

ALso.. the unlimited dumb phone data is gunna bite them in the buttox when dumb phones use 5 gigs of data >.>;

 

[tsanuri]

Let me be a voice of dissent.

Imagine for a second that every voice plan had unlimited minutes? That may have worked when there were only a hundred cell phones per tower, but now it would be ridiculous. Say the cost was $80 a month; people using 200 minutes would be paying high rates to cover those who used 5000 minutes per month.

Data uses bandwidth too, but people seem to think that it would somehow be possible to let everybody use 5 gigs a month and still have usable airwaves. It just isn't possible in the spectrum available with the current technology. Tiered pricing may not be great for the top 10% of users (most of the people on this forum) but it is good for the other 90%. I hope that Verizon offers this because I would happily sacrifice Pandora and excessive web browsing for a smaller monthly bill. If Verizon doesn't offer it, I see a Motorola back-flip in my future.

I actually have no problem with the tiered pricing what I have a problem with is the price per mb now is way out of proportion with the other carriers now. And the fact that on the higest plan of 2gb the price per mb has more than doubled. I even think we have gotten used to cheap data and that the price maybe did need to come up abit but to double it is going too far to me. The added 1gb at $10 is a price of approx 1 cent which I think would be fair. Put a minimum charge of $15 for smartphones and it gives you 1.5gb and then charge per mb after that. Then we would have a true pay per use system that I would think is at a fair price. Anyone not using the 1.5 gb would be paying more than per mb and it would allow the carriers to recoup costs of the phone that way. But everyone that goes over would just pay for what they use.

The Big Four: Data Plans Compared-TechnoBuffalo

 

[e1000sn]

I actually have no problem with the tiered pricing what I have a problem with is the price per mb now is way out of proportion with the other carriers now. And the fact that on the higest plan of 2gb the price per mb has more than doubled. I even think we have gotten used to cheap data and that the price maybe did need to come up abit but to double it is going too far to me. The added 1gb at $10 is a price of approx 1 cent which I think would be fair.

One thing to note is that price per megabyte currently has little to do with what carrier charges and has everything to do with how much you use. If I had a blackberry and I used 90 megabytes a month now (a reasonable amount on a blackberry), I would be paying 33 cents per megabyte. Whereas a person using 3 gigs now is paying 1 cent per megabyte. This is tiered pricing at it's worst: there is only one tier.

Multiple tiers still has varying prices per megabyte. But the likelihood of finding a price that fits you is better. 2 tiers isn't great, it's like having a 200 minute plan and a 1500 minute plan. I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon comes out the gate with 3 tiers to try and give At&t a black eye.