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AT&T Is the Latest Carrier To Offer Unlimited Data For All Its Customers (phonedog.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the battle-is-raging dept.

Earlier this week, Verizon announced it is bringing back unlimited data plans after years of selling capped data packages. Now, ATT will be doing the same. ATT will let any current or potential customer buy an unlimited data plan. Until now, only DirecTV customers were able to purchase unlimited data from the carrier. PhoneDog reports: ATT says that starting tomorrow, February 17, its Unlimited Plan will be available to all customers. The plan will include unlimited data, talk, and text, and customers with the plan will also be able to travel to Canada or Mexico and use their plan just as they would at home, with zero roaming charges. ATT's Unlimited Plan also includes Stream Saver, which will optimize video streams to 480p. However, Stream Saver can be disabled if you'd like. One feature that's missing from ATT's Unlimited Plan is mobile hotspot usage, which is notable because the unlimited plans from the other three major U.S. carriers do include some mobile hotspot. Finally, it's worth noting that after 22GB of usage, ATT Unlimited Plan customers may have their speeds slowed during times of network congestion. This policy is also in place at the other three major U.S. carriers, with Verizon's threshold being 22GB, Sprint's 23GB, and T-Mobile's 26GB. A single line on the ATT Unlimited Plan will cost $100 per month. Each additional line will cost $40, but ATT will offer the fourth line free, making the cost for a family of four $180 per month.

8 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Not good enough by omnichad · · Score: 4, Informative

    They're trying to get every customer on their largest package by playing with the price. I don't need unlimited data. Or 20GB of data. Or even 2GB. I get by on home wifi and 1GB or less away from home. My wife and I pay less than $50 for two phones on Ting.

    The whole 'fear of missing out' thing is working for them. I'm just happy to be connected - I don't need to be streaming audio or video over a congested cell tower.

    1. Re:Not good enough by Penguinisto · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ditto here. I actually use Net10 (which uses either AT&T or Verizon's towers/data/tech, depending on which phone you buy or bring)... $35/mo for unlimited talk/text, and 2GB data (then throttled after that, but with no further charges). So really, why the frig would I pay Verizon or AT&T $100/mo for something that I wouldn't use? In the 5 years I've been with Net10, I think I've gone over the 2GB cap once, a year ago (when I was farting around with rooting).

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    2. Re:Not good enough by omnichad · · Score: 2

      I'd maybe recommend Ting for that too. $6/mo. per line, plus whatever bucket size of minutes/texts you use that month. If you use minutes/texts like I do, but no data at all, that's about $26/mo. for two lines before taxes. With these (and even the major carriers now), you have to buy/bring your own phone.

      Before I went smartphone, I rarely used texting - 5-10 msgs per month. I probably did better on Net10. It was $30 every 2 months to top up and keep two flip phones going with 300 minutes per 2 months. Used VoIP a lot more for calling at home then.

  2. Compares to Old Unlimited Plan how? by pollarda · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have to wonder how this compares to the old unlimited data plan (which I'm still on).... seems they send me a nasty gram when I hit 16GB warning me that if I go above 22GB, I'll be throttled by their data preservation team. (I bet they're all named bubba too.). So it may be a bit of a better plan than the old one. Thoughts?

    1. Re:Compares to Old Unlimited Plan how? by rsmith-mac · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have to wonder how this compares to the old unlimited data plan (which I'm still on)

      It's exactly the same plan, with exactly the same limitations, at exactly the same price.

      Which wouldn't be so bad, except that everyone else is cheaper, and everyone else offers some amount of tethering. Which is damned useful to have in a pinch.

  3. Proof of Throttling? by mi · · Score: 2

    They do it on the iPhone on my account routinely, even though I'm not over my data limit.

    I'm curious, how you established that. What's the evidence, it is AT&T's throttling and not something else between you and the server(s) you are talking to?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  4. Re:Almost got it right... by buss_error · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They had the chance

    I am an ardent opponent of AT&T. My opinion for them could not, absolutely not, be any lower than it is. If I were elected King, the second thing I would do is to convict AT&T management from mid-level up of terminal idiocy, sentencing them to sweeping floors for the rest of their natural lives, since they have proven they are too stupid, greedy, and careless to be trusted to wash dirty dishes.

    My opinion of ComCast is even worse.

    --
    Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
  5. Re:Almost got it right... by rhazz · · Score: 2

    /me giggles

    I hate you.