AT&T Drops Unlimited Smarphone Data plans, but new pricing could save you some money.
AT&T announced today that it would be moving from its current unlimited smartphone data plan offering to one that is more of a tiered structure. This move by AT&T could actually bring some welcome relief to many BlackBerry users who feel they are paying way too much. Starting on June 7, new smartphone users will be required to choose one of the following new data plans:
- DataPlus: Provides 200 MB of data for $15 per month. That’s enough to send/receive 1,000 emails (no attachments), send/receive 150 emails with attachments, view 400 Web pages, post 50 photos on social media sites and 20 minutes of streaming video If customers exceed 200 MB, they can purchase an additional 200 MB for $15. AT&T said 65 percent of its smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average.
- DataPro: Provides 2 GB of data for $25 per month. That’s enough to send/receive 10,000 emails (no attachments), send/receive 1,500 emails with attachments, view 4,000 Web pages, post 500 photos to social media sites and watch 200 minutes of streaming video If customers exceed 2 GB, they can purchase an additional 1 GB of data for $10. AT&T said 98 percent of its smartphone customers use less than 2 GB of data a month on average.
- Tethering: Smartphone customers—BlackBerry, IPhone, and other smartphone device users will be able to tether with the DataPro plan for an additional $20 per month. So your cost per month to use your BlackBerry as a modem will be $45.00.Â
BlackBerry users will fair a bit better than their iPhone counterparts with the launch of AT&T’s new tethering offer. BlackBerry not only have bigger and longer lasting batteries. You can also easily pickup an extended battery like the Seidio Innocell 2700mAh Extended Battery for 9700 (Bold) pictured to the right, for only $67.95 in our Only BlackBerry Superstore.
If you are an existing AT&T customer, AT&T spokesperson Seth Bloom offers this statement:
Existing customers are not required to switch to the new plans, but can choose to do so without a contract extension. They are also not required to switch to the new plans if they renew their contract or switch to another smartphone. However, if they switch to one of the new plans, they will not be able to go back to their old unlimited plan.”
To help you decide if the new plans are for you. Give AT&T’s customer service dept call to do a usage review, or find your last three AT&T cell phone bills and look for Wireless Data usage. Your BlackBerry data usage should be broken down by MB(Megabytes) or KB (Kilobytes). If you are using less than 200MB or less than 204,800KB then the DataPlus plan is for you. This could save you a whopping $180 a year off your AT&T wireless bill. AT&T is also looking to introduce some new usage monitoring and management functions for subscribers to track of their data usage. What’s really great about this new feature is that as customers begin to approach their monthly data usage limit, it will send three text notifications. The first after they reach 65 percent. The second after they 90 percent, and the final one when a plan limit is hit.
I do believe the new plan does seem to benefit BlackBerry users more than IPhone users. The average BlackBerry user who does Facebook, Twitter, emails, and BBM use less than 200 MB per month. Power user who stream music and other data heavy apps will still be well below the 2GB option. No word as of yet for enterprise customers paying the $44.99 for BlackBerry enterprises services. Hopefully some relief will be in the works for those users soon.
Source: AT&T
