AT&T Drops Unlimited Data Plans; Preps For iPhone Tethering
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AT&T (NYSE: T) is getting out of the unlimited data business for smartphones, pitching it as a way for most users to save money. They are replacing the old $30 monthly plan with unlimited usage with new plans that cost less—$15 for the DataPlus 200 MB a month, $25 for DataPro 2 GB—and include access to AT&T’s 20,000-plus WiFi hotspot network as encouragement to use WiFi for data. Current users can keep their unlimited plans when the changes take effect June 7.
Tethering to smartphones—including the iPhone when the new OS4 comes out this summer—requires a DataPro plan and an additional $20 a month. It’s not clear whether existing unlimited plan customers will be able to tether or if it will require stepping down to that plan.
SEE ALSO: Is The End Of All-You-Can Eat Data Plans Coming?
Each plan comes with automatic additions for overuse, a kind of data overdraft protection: DataPro plan subs get 1 GB at $10, DataPlus includes an automatic additional 200 MB for $15. AT&T says 65 percent of its smartphone data subs use less than 200 MB a month; 98 percent use less than 2 GB. AT&T has made it very easy to gauge data use with bar charts that show the last few months at a glance. I’ve averaged 1 GB the past couple of months but I don’t watch a lot of video on my iPhone. The other iPhone user in my house hasn’t been higher than 50 MBs in the past few months.
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