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AT&T Undercuts Verizon, T-Mobile With New Unlimited Plan (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the price-war dept.

Roger Cheng, writing for CNET: AT&T just fired the latest salvo in the unlimited data wars. The Dallas telecommunications giant unveiled two new unlimited data plans. The first is Unlimited Choice, a stripped-down plan that comes with unlimited data at a maximum speed of 3 megabits per second, standard definition, and no mobile hotspot. At $60, it's lower than T-Mobile's $70 plan and Verizon's $80 option. Both plans, however, offer you full high-definition video and 10 gigabytes of mobile hotspot access. Sprint still offers the cheapest option at $50 a month, although prices rise by $10 after a year. AT&T continues to push its video aspirations with higher end option called Unlimited Plus that includes HD video and 10GB of mobile hotspot access. The plan costs $90 a month, but gives you the option to add DirecTV Now streaming video service for $10 and DirecTV home satellite TV service for $25 a month.

12 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Taxes and Fees by Kagato · · Score: 2

    After taxes and fees is it actually cheaper?

  2. See, the free market works... by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just takes a little time when there are only 4 competitors.

    1. Re:See, the free market works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The fact that a mobile hotspot is a separate cost is absurd.

      You should be paying for just the SIM card with the data plan. If I choose to put that SIM Card in a wireless router or in a cell phone should be entirely up to me.

    2. Re:See, the free market works... by EndlessNameless · · Score: 2

      for less cost of the regular landline cable?

      Since they don't have to run expensive last-mile wiring through the streets to every individual residence, their costs should be significantly lower. In a competitive market, this translates to lower prices.

      Given the practical/technical limitations, would I expect gigabit speeds with no contention from my neighbors? Of course not.

      But the idea that cellular bandwidth is particularly scarce is no longer true. In most areas, an unlimited home subscription should be viable.

      Hell, even the old-school ISPs were looking into using wireless for the last mile as a cost-saving measure. I don't know if they ever got the spectrum to try it, but wires are increasingly unnecessary for typical home/entertainment uses.

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  3. Re:T-MOBILE ROCKS!!! by Kagato · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The fact that TMO is owned by the germans it's not as alien for them to offer a tax/fee included rate.

  4. No discounts by sremick · · Score: 3, Informative

    Looks like FAN company/corporate discounts will no longer be applied to these new plans. This was the only thing keeping them competitive w/ T-Mobile pricing.

  5. T-Mobile just responded by ZZ-Type · · Score: 2

    T-Mobile just responded. Three lines unlimited data, $100, taxes included. https://www.macrumors.com/2017...

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    1. Re:T-Mobile just responded by supremebob · · Score: 2

      You gotta root for Sprint and T-Mobile. Their networks still kind of suck in rural areas, but at least the competitive pricing of their plans are helping to stop the $10 per GB "data raping" of at&t and Verizon customers.

  6. Re:How to they block hotspot? by Ingenium13 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Android and iOS have a tethering API. There is a separate APN entry for DUN (tethering). On Android at least, there are hacks with root that you can do to force the phone to not report this as tethering usage to the carrier, but ultimately if they wanted to they could figure it out.

  7. Re:How to they block hotspot? by cdrudge · · Score: 2

    Multiple different detection methods:
    -Your phone queries the network to see if tethering is permitted, or it explicitly tells the network it's tethering.
    -TTL value on packets are an unexpected value. If many of your packets have a TTL of say 30, but they suddenly see an influx of packets with a TTL of 29, that's a sign
    -Examining MAC addresses. Similar to above, if they normally get packets with a MAC of XYZ but then get a bunch of ABC, sign of tethering.
    -Fingerprinting of the network stack. By examining characteristics of network settings they can guess what OS is being ran
    -Examining data and URLs. Was a desktop webpage requested? Did the user agent match to a desktop OS? etc.

    Not everything is foolproof and guaranteed-false positives would be easy to happen. But it's not very hard to detect if the person is lazy. End to end encryption and running everything through a VPN tunnel can help mask many of the detection methods.

  8. "Undercut?" You keep using that word... by wickerprints · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...I do not think it means what you think it means.

    To undercut in price generally means to offer goods or services of comparable quality at a lower price. AT&T's offering remains inferior to its competitors; therefore, it cannot be regarded as "undercutting."

    If someone is selling upscale donuts at $5 a piece, am I "undercutting" them if I decide to sell cardboard "donuts" at 10 cents each?

  9. No, they didn't by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Unless it's a permanent pricing option, they didn't undercut anyone, they are tricking short-sighted fools into paying them more.

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