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AT&T Introducing Verizon-Style Shared Data Plans

Posted by Unknown on from the get-less-pay-more dept.

zacharye writes with news of some exciting rate changes for folks on ATTWS. From the article: "AT&T on Wednesday announced the upcoming availability of new shared data plans. Following Verizon's lead, AT&T's new plans will allow subscribers to share data between family members and also between devices. Dubbed 'AT&T Mobile Share' plans, the new offerings start at $40 per month plus $45 per device for unlimited voice minutes and messaging and 1GB of data, and top out at $200 plus $30 per device for unlimited voice and texts plus 200GB of data..." My favorite part is where you pay per-device and get nothing in return.

7 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Oy by Daddy-Oh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had high hopes that Verizon's shared data would be the right thing for my family plan. None of need 2GB of data a month - we could easily share that. But, the new plan actually costs significantly more.

    And, the unlimited voice has no value to me - we never reach our limit on the shared smallest family plan now.

    Angry (er).

    1. Re:Oy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      No... it must have been given to them by some evil invisible force that's out to get the little man.

      We call this force "inheritance". When Mitt Romney can casually suggest that you make yourself rich by starting a business by borrowing twenty grand from your parents, without even realizing that not everyone has that kind of credit limit at The Bank Of Mom And Dad, we've slipped. I was told that all men were created equal, that you shouldn't have more rights just because of who your parents were. I thought this place was founded on that idea. Then I realized we only got rid of the formal titles.

    2. Re:Oy by gothzilla · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Yes, these new plans will save me money. I have a family plan with three smart phones and one dumb phone. My bill will go down by $40 and I will gain tethering which I don't have now. If all you want to do with your phone is talk then stick with a prepaid dumb phone. These plans are for the majority of people who use text and data more than they talk.

    3. Re:Oy by PoolOfThought · · Score: 4, Interesting

      We call this force "inheritance"...

      Hate to burst your bubble here, but most millionaires today are self made, first generation. They worked hard to get where they are, many of them "laboring" and saving. According to Thomas J. Stanley's book, "The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy," only 20% of millionaires inherited their riches. The other 80% are what you'd call nouveau riche: first-generation millionaires who earned their cash on their own. Many millionaires simply worked, saved, and lived within their means to generate their wealth -- think accountants and managers: regular people going to work every day. Most millionaires didn't get their riches overnight when a rich relative died -- they worked for the money. Can you believe it? They didn't steal it and they didn't inherit it! Amazing

      When Mitt Romney can casually suggest that you make yourself rich by starting a business by borrowing twenty grand from your parents, without even realizing that not everyone has that kind of credit limit at The Bank Of Mom And Dad, we've slipped.

      What Romney said was an idea. Many people do have that option... even if not all do. And many of them have the option because mom and dad worked so that their kids might have that option. I think it was a stupid idea either way. Borrowing money is generally asking for trouble. The businesses I've been involved in (all small) have started with nothing but ideas, not cash. They've bootstrapped themselves up to a semblance of success, but by no means make their owners rich - yet. It just means using your time to make you richer as opposed to using it to make someone else richer (staring at the tube - often for a fee).

      I was told that all men were created equal, that you shouldn't have more rights just because of who your parents were. I thought this place was founded on that idea. Then I realized we only got rid of the formal titles.

      So the work you do to make better lives for your family should be reset to zero when you die? Please tell me you've got some way to make it so that when I eventually get rich by working my ass off I have some way to leave it to my kids (or whoever I choose to leave it to). I already teach my kids how to live within their means and use their resources wisely. I'd trust them with the money much more than I'd trust my great uncle sam or any of those who choose to depend on him for their well being.

      --
      My present is the activity I am currently engaged in with the purpose of turning the future into a better past.
  2. Sad, but we let them do this. by Tufriast · · Score: 4, Interesting

    AT&T was shitty before this point, but now they are no longer even TRYING to mask the fuckening. What's worse is that they have court backing. You can thank all of the "conservative" leaning judges who side with businesses from a legal angle that made this happen. I'd like to point out that left leaning judges are also a bad thing in the long haul. Hell, judges should lean neither way. In any event, a special thanks to the American people for getting us raped and smiling while doing it.

    --
    Help me, help you. - Jerry McGuire
  3. $15 a GB for going over?? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But when you have a phone on it's own it's only $10 a GB.

  4. Most likely going to save me money by Tauvix · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is most likely going to save me money. I can see where someone with only 3 phones on their account potentially wouldn't save any money with this, but I have 6 on mine. Because of existing AT&T rules, I can only have up to 5 phones per voice plan. So I currently end up with 2 voice plans.

    By the time I'm done, we have the following structure:
    $90/month plan w/ 1 additional $10/month phone (1400 minutes, and yes, the people on this plan regularly get close to that)
    $70/month plan w/ 1 additional $10/month phone (700 minutes)
    5 $30/month unlimited data plans (the average usage per month over the last year being about 1.2GB per month, per user)
    1 $25/month 3GB plan
    2 $30/month family unlimited texting/mobile-to-any-mobile plans.

    Before taxes and add-ons like phone insurance, and my company discount, I currently pay $415/month.

    By switching to the new structure it'd look like this (before taxes, add-ons, and discount):
    $120 10GB/month plan (including unlimited voice and texting)
    6 $30/month phone connection fee

    $300/month. I'm going to save $115/month by switching to these plans, and if 10GB/month isn't enough, I can upgrade to the 15GB/month plan for another $40, and STILL save a bunch.

    Is this a good deal for everyone? No. But in my situation, I believe it will be a good deal for my family (yes, everyone on my plan is related to me) of all adults, who are mostly around WiFi, half of whom are power users, and half of whom are normal users.

    Also, before anyone pops up with "You should go prepaid!" I looked into going prepaid. While certainly it would work for 1 or 2 of my family members, the coverage for Sprint (which Virgin rides on) is crap in my area, and some of my family regularly travels to Canada, which - the last time i checked - is problematic. Some of that may have changed (certainly not the Sprint coverage - people complain constantly in my office), I admit, but I appear to be one of the few people with AT&T who has never experienced a problem with customer service, coverage, or data speeds.