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AT&T Expects Data-Only Phone Plans Within 2 Years
An anonymous reader writes "AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said today that he expects wireless carriers to start offering data-only cellphone plans within the next 24 months. 'Analysts see such plans as a logical extension of trends in wireless technology. Smartphones with data service can already use it for Internet phone calls and texting through services such as Skype. Phone calls are also taking a back seat to other things people do with their smartphones. AT&T has been recording a decline in the average number of minutes used per month.' He says there isn't a specific plan in the works — he just think it's inevitable."
Now you see the real reason they are killing off unlimited plans. they know that data is the future and want to screw us as much as they can.
Thankfully if you manage to find wifi access most of the time you can avoid being raped on 'voice' service, and not use much of the soon to be like gold data ...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Just get an unlimited data-only stick, throw thew stick away and put the sim-card in a phone. Voilà.
No need to wait a couple of years.
Just SMS, email, surf, skype, whatsapp, etc, don't phone with it or they'll get onto you.
They'll be twice as expensive to make up for that phone bill you're not paying.
Can't have your bill going down now!
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
I speculated some time ago that voice minute usage will dwindle down to the point where they would be offered as unlimited on all plans eventually, with the plan levels (tiering) moved from minutes used to data used. Part two was right, but I didn't really expect a movement toward data-only plans.
By the way those aren't new, before everyone had smartphones those of us with Blackberries and older units could get data-only plans.
it'll be just like the way that data plans for the iPad work today?? Amazing, he must be able to see the future! It has to be getting cheaper, not more expensive though. An Optus prepaid data plan in Australia costs a $20 for 2 gigs of data. With Skype IP-based text message, you pretty much have voice & text covered. Now compare that to how much AT&T charges for data, voice & text.
Companies are supposed to tailor to the customers.
Since it won't include all those bundled minutes and SMS messages, its going to be much cheaper than current "everything" plans right? right??
Why do i have a nagging suspicion that it won't be...
add this one to the rest of the bleeding-obvious predictions, there are already defacto data only plans for those with G3-Wifi units and iPads. YAWN...
There was an unknown error in the submission.
I'd rather have a voice-only plan for smartphones.
But the data only plan will cost as much, probably more, than a calling plan and data plan combined. And if you buy a cellphone w/o a calling plan the smartphone is called a "tablet", not a phone. I'm sorry, it just isn't a phone anymore. I use my iPod Touch all the time for phone calls - Google Voice combined with some random Talk app I found" - but I never call it a phone. Because it isn't a phone.
They'll cost the same as current voice, text, and data plans.
Available in 50($50), 500($100), and 1000MB($150) plans, with incredibly low overage fees ($1 per kb).
Addons include a standard messaging plan ($0.20/instant message, messages sent determined by taking your used bandwidth and dividing my the average text message size).
Automatic enrollment in their streaming media plan (only $50/month to stream from any source you currently subscribe to).
And a set of voice packages of 100($20), 200($35), and 500($50) minutes ($1/minute overage fees, minutes used determined by taking your total bandwidth used and dividing by the average VoiP bandwidth usage rate).
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
data only pay for incoming calls and texts will they let you block calls like you can with texts?
You do get billed for calls going to voice mail even when roaming at the roaming rates.
Will you get billed at the per min rate for 911 use with a data only plan?
I'd buy it. The idea of my mobile phone being merely one more extension hanging off the Asterisk system I have installed at home is VERY appealing. Yes, I know, there are all sorts of edge cases (home phone is down, there's an emergency, blah blah blah) and Slashbots love to be stupidly pedantic about edge cases, but by and large this is the kind of thing a lot of people want -- an "extremely cordless phone" that is part of the voice plan (and phone number) they already have. Bring it on.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
VirginMobile had one for $15, with unlimited texting. (Calls and data were limited to about 500 minutes and 200MB.) Then they got rid of it. I've not seen anybody else offer this deal so far. It was a real bargain for those who do nothing but text all day long.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
With voice on LTE networks being converted to VoIP anyway, it makes sense.
One day, our kids are going to laugh at us that "minutes" were metered.
I had one from T-Mobile for quite a while. You could still talk for a high per-minute price. Since I rarely used it as a phone, it was a good deal. Since then I've added voice on the monthly plan so I don't know if they still offer the plans.
I live in Austria - data-only has been a normal option in prepaid and contract flavours for quite some time now. My tablet is on data-only prepaid, so are lots of "silent SIMs" - burgler alarms, remote sensors, parking ticket machines, you name it
I'm on a $30 T-Mobile month-to-month "plan" that's pretty close to that. I get 100 minutes a month, and unlimited text and data (5 GB at top speed).
With Google Voice, and my phone usage (I can almost always plan ahead for long calls and take them on my computer), it works out great so far.
I guess the dude never heard of his own company's iPad plans, which are ALREADY DATA ONLY
I have a Droid with prepaid Verizon ($100 / year) and no data plan. Works great.
I make usually 1 quick call per day on mine. Most of it is for email for work (I'm in IT support).
At most I use 75 to 100 minutes per month.
Every time you call tech support, a little kitten dies.
T-Mobile has an "unlimited" data (up to 5gigs full speed) plan with unlimited texts and 100 talk minutes prepaid for 30 bucks a month.
RUGBYRUGBYRUGBY
Use your phone's data plan on their 3G or 4G network, they'll charge you.
Use a device tethered through your phone, they'll charge you.
Use your phone on your wifi, they'll charge you. (After all, the data is coming THROUGH the phone you only paid $200 for on a 2-year contract!)
We already have data only plans :P
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but doesn't the LTE spec eventually make ALL cellular traffic (voice, data, SMS) IP based?
It seems logical that if all services over the entire network are provided via IP, that's what you pay for.
It's a good thing we have visionaries like this guy running corporate america. Without guys like him the BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS might not be so.
Virgin Mobile is begining to offer data only plans for phones also. Ofcoure they call it data only, but they make you get a couple minutes along with it.. not sure why.
Mr. Stephenson? You have a call on the clue-phone from a Mr. Ric Romero. Will you take it?
Seriously? Expects? Within? I have a data-only cell plan today. Not just a phone-with-data plan that I only use for data, but I literally have no way* to even try to make a phone call with my plan.
And I count as something of a late adopter here - A friend suggested I grab a VzW MiFi over a year ago, and I regret waiting until recently to do so. Full disclaimer, though - I have no "real" broadband available, nor even 4G service, but plain ol' 3G beats the fuck out of Hughesnet seven ways to Tuesday.
* I have to admit, I kinda wonder what would happen if I put my SIM card in an unlocked phone, but I neither have such a phone, or any interest in getting one.
So they are thinking about catching up to the Nokia 810 which ran Maemo Linux?
Too bad the 810 was discontinued.
He expects wireless carriers to start offering data-only cellphone plans within the next 24 months.
You mean like they've been doing in Europe for at least a couple of years now?
Data only phone plan: $99.50 a month
Phone plan with data and voice: $100 a month.
Phone companies: Obviously voice is important to our users, because no one is doing the data only thing! We have to upgrade our networks so are raising our rates to $130 a month!
i.e the 3g iPad and mobile hotspots. I have a moblie hotspot. It's extremely useful for my line of work as I'm not tied to an office. I pay $50 a month for 6GB of data and have yet to use more than 4GB in a month. Granted I still have cable at home and that's where I do major downloading like software updates, etc..
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
VoLTE/VoLGA is currently going nowhere in the US and even more nowhere in the rest of the world. It'll be at least five years we see any type of adoption.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Ting already offers data only, voice only, text only, or any combination thereof. Use as much or as little as you want. Add family members or employees for $6. Quite a future.
Don't trust Randall. His idea of fun is hiding in closets and scaring little girls.
I have an "unlimited" data plan with AT&T. In the 20 months on the current phone I've used approximately 10 gig of data, total. Lately they've been throttling my data service to almost nothing if I cross 500 MB in one billing period. They claim they're still giving data service, but at a "lower" rate. This "lower" rate is so slow a web page cannot load before the browser times out (60 seconds). That is service denial, while I'm still under contract with a fat cancellation fee. Note that they're only blocking web traffic. Email still works, and maps still load.
Think carefully before signing up with AT&T, and if any AT&T people are reading this, yes I am researching what agencies regulate your asses, because you are a utility, and I'm documenting your behavior.
Remain calm! All is well!
But when the internet goes down, how do you call them to see if their problem or yours?
AT&T used to have something like a data only cellphone/plan. The OGO. It was like $14.95 a month, unlimited text messaging, IM with like MSN, AOL, and Yahoo messenger, and unlimited Email. There was no web browsing, but for email and messaging data it was unlimited and SMS was unlimited. It was great deal back then. Always hoped they'd bring back an updated OGO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogo_(handheld_device)
Everyone seems to think this just means that you can get an internet/text only plan with no voice capabilities or per-minute voice, but I have another theory.
They want to count voice minutes as data (it is transmitted digitally to the cell provide). Same for texts. That simplifies billing quite a bit and allows them to offer "premium" bit rate calls - since they would use more data, it could just be programmed into the phone, and the increased data usage would result in an increased charge.
It's because all the iPhones (at least gen 1, 2, 3, and I don't know about 4) don't work worth a crap for voice and people have given up trying unless it's absolutely necessary. My wife has an iPhone 2 on AT&T in Riverside, Ca., and the chances of completing a call with her are about 1 in 20. Friends with iPhones in dental school in Mesa, Az. were also the same way.
Yeah, I know- they are all just ignoring my calls because I'm such an a-hole...
Excuse me while I don my flame-proof suit...
OK, fire away!
The ipad data plan is data only. and you can take that sim and put it in a iPhone and use it data only.
Did the AT&T guy even know what his company offers?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
One day, our kids are going to laugh at us that "minutes" were metered.
...because metering bits is such an improvement
Metering makes sense when there is a finite amount of capacity. Unless you want to be lied to, offered "unlimited", and then complain when throttling to maintain network integrity occurs.
my point was the kids don't have much to laugh at us for. they will still be metered. does it matter if it is bits verses minutes?
Tmobile has it data only plans for a long time. It brought was it out ,somewhat unadvertised, back when the original sidekicks came out (first phone with a keyboard I believe. That phone was a big hit with the deaf and speech impaired community and they had no reason to pay for a voice plan.
But as for me, I am being ripped off. My family plans has no options for under 1000 minutes, and we typically use 100 or less a month on 2 lines.
They are already here.
My HotSpot has a Data Only plan now. There is no voice component and doesn't use the phone number allocated to it at all.
China is predominately Chinese. Japan is predominantly Japanese. In 1965, the United States was 89% White. Nobody is insisting that there is a race problem in Japan or China requiring the problem to be solved by massive non-Chinese immigration into China and non-Japanese immigration into Japan. This occurs in White nations and ONLY White nations.
It IS geNOcide.