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AT&T Wireless sets new data rates

thehatguy

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AT&T, wireless provider for Apple's iPhone, on Monday will become the first major mobile phone company to stop offering new smartphone customers a single monthly price for unlimited Internet access — likely presaging an industry shift to charges based on how much people use their phones to access videos, music and data. AT&T expects the new pricing to boost sales. "Some customers, up until now, have been hesitant to sign up for a $30 monthly data plan" for unlimited access, says Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. Existing customers can switch to the new pricing or keep their current all-you-can-eat service.
Newcomers will have two options: Under the DataPlus plan, subscribers can pay $15 a month for 200 megabytes of data; that would handle about 400 photos or 100 minutes of streaming video. The DataPro plan offers 10 times that capacity, 2 gigabytes, for $25.
AT&T will send text alerts to customers near their limits. DataPlus customers who go over will be charged $15 for an additional 200 MB. DataPro users will pay $10 for an extra 1 GB.
AT&T says 65% of its smartphone customers use less than 200 MB a month, and 98% use less than 2 GB.
But, largely due to the success of the iPhone, AT&T "has the most loaded and most used data network in the U.S.," says Roger Entner, head of telecom research at Nielsen.

And just 3% of AT&T's smartphone customers account for as much as 40% of its data traffic, contributing to slow transmissions and dropped calls. AT&T must control heavy users, or at least get them to pay more, Entner says.
With the limited airwave spectrum available for wireless broadband, he adds, it's just a matter of time before other providers — including Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile— switch to usage-based pricing.
Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said last week that it would "make sense" to have such pricing later this year when his company introduces a speedy 4G service.
Apple's new iPad tablet also uses AT&T's wireless service. The new pricing will offer those customers 2 GB for $25 a month; current customers can keep their unlimited service offer for $29.99 a month.
IPhone customers who pay an extra $20 a month soon will be able to use the phones to provide Internet connections for laptops or other devices. That process, called tethering, will be available on 3G iPhones this summer when Apple releases a new operating system, AT&T says.

New AT&T smartphone users won't get one-price Net - USATODAY.com
 

kravdog

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Wow... It would suck if you had a 3G on order, but don't get until next week when you won't be able to purchase the 30/unlimited plan anymore as a new customer....
 

figmo10

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Existing 'unlimited' iPad subscribers will be left alone for now, but I'm sure that grandfathered status will expire as well.
 

cherhall

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I can understand some iPhone users being happy with this change, but I just don't think it's good for the iPad. After being touted as having unlimited data for $30, to change it after only one month, just doesn't seem right. It is advertised as a data comsumption device, and yet we're being told not to consume. 2 gig is a couple movies.

That cheap data plan drew some people to the iPad. And for others who have yet to get their iPad or activate, they'll likely be going over 2 gig often. I used 3 gig in the first month, and I don't even have 3G, with 3G I can only imagine how high it would go, with video, etc, that I don't take advantage of on Edge.
 

Sonny Burnett

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Hopefully this will push Apple to make their products available on other carriers. What happens now is that as long as you keep on rolling your unlimited plan over you can keep it but you can't shut it off for 2 months and go back.
 

wkramer

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3G - Bait and Switch

I canceled my Ipad - 64GB - 3G order that was placed on May 30th as soon as I heard the news (with delivery scheduled for June 17th). I have a feeling that with this change in data limits, sales of the 3G Ipad have peaked and will drop to zero pretty quickly.

Its hard to believe that "Apple" did not know before the introduction of the 3G IPad that this was in the works by AT&T. Seems like bait and switch marketing on "Apples" part.
 

kravdog

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I canceled my Ipad - 64GB - 3G order that was placed on May 30th as soon as I heard the news (with delivery scheduled for June 17th). I have a feeling that with this change in data limits, sales of the 3G Ipad have peaked and will drop to zero pretty quickly.

Cant say I blame you.

At the same time, I would have to think that apple doesn't like this either... But then again, this thing is not tied to AT&T...now its up to the free market to figure out the correct price for data usage via wireless...
 

Sonny Burnett

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I canceled my Ipad - 64GB - 3G order that was placed on May 30th as soon as I heard the news (with delivery scheduled for June 17th). I have a feeling that with this change in data limits, sales of the 3G Ipad have peaked and will drop to zero pretty quickly.

Cant say I blame you.

At the same time, I would have to think that apple doesn't like this either... But then again, this thing is not tied to AT&T...now its up to the free market to figure out the correct price for data usage via wireless...

The only one that can punish them is Apple. Verizon and Sprint should get iPads and iPhones.
 

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