Say Bye bye to unlimited 3G data plan on AT&T

[TraceyS/FL]

You can still grandfather your $30 unlimited data plan in case you guys didn't notice. This only affects new sign up people.

I can.... but like right now, i expired on Monday and have no need/way to renew before friday. I won't be able to do that after the 7th....

 

[Jkazmeyer]

The pricing seems pretty competitive.... It may make some of us rethink how we use our data stream... But I feel that unlimited plans encourage users to be wasteful with data... There is only so much cellular bandwidth to go around right now.... We all gotta share it.... For some of us there is no way around our data consumption.... & if you need to, there is always mywi... I personally will be using it to tether... AT&T is a little nuts charging $20 a month extra to tether without unlimited usage.... Allow me to tether unlimited & I'll gladly pay... Til then... It's a JB for me...

 

[HXGuy]

You can still grandfather your $30 unlimited data plan in case you guys didn't notice. This only affects new sign up people.

What about if you don't auto renew your Unlimited plan though?

Say you are on the $30 plan now, and cancel for 2 months, then want to jump back on? Will ATT know that you were one of the original buyers or will you only have the choice of the new plan?

 

[msduncan]

You can still grandfather your $30 unlimited data plan in case you guys didn't notice. This only affects new sign up people.

I keep seeing this over and over in the thread as if it is no big deal.

Here is the beef:

If you are current signed up for unlimited and are willing to let it autorenew every month for the life of your device, THEN you have nothing to worry about.

If you were doing month to month based on need and don't let it autorenew.... then you get booted from the grandfathered list and have to buy the new plan.

 

[jb1280]

This does bring ATT into line with most of the international carrier rates and the iPad. It is clearly a poor business decision concerning trust between customers and the carrier.

It reminds me of the March report when ATT's chief said that he expected the iPad to be mostly a wifi device, not 3G. Apparently there are more 3G iPads outa there.

The rate seems reasonable to me, but it would be nice if they offered a true unlimited for like $40 a month.

 

[ItsThatKush]

A lease is different. It is basically a rental. The car company is ensuring that you do not put excessive mileage on the car which will affect it's value at end of lease. If you do, you have to pay a surcharge that will cover their loss.

There are no such limitations if you buy it outright.

i know, i was just making a silly. your point actually is very strong, considering once you buy it-- you should be able to use as desired. not the case for the new upcoming plans. the more i think about it, i will just grandfather myself in for my iPad plan. eh $30/mo -- it's only money.

At least you knew that the day you took delivery.....

yes very true... that's why i bumped it to 12k for $10/mo lol.

 

[Deamos]

I am tempted to slam them with as much bandwidth as I can possibly use on my iPad in protest, regardless of if I was actively using it or not.

Screw ATT. They wanna make me have to maintain a "no contract" unlimited plan. Fine, but don't expect me to make it easy on them. This made me decide on getting a Nexus One on T-mobile instead of the new iPhone.

 

[HXGuy]

Saw this on another forum...

On a related note, we've been tipped that some folks' iPad orders from Apple have been pushed back to June 7 -- an interesting coincidence, considering that's when DataPlus and DataPro go live. If true, it's likely so that Apple can pre-install new orders with updated software for managing the new plans, but it's also a preemptive strike against a horde of people trying to grandfather into the $30 plan over the next few days.

So do you think that even if you are not on a auto renew for the $30 unlimited plan, somehow the software will let ATT know you are one of the old customers and you can still get the old plan?

I mean it would be total bait and switch if they told people one thing and changed it later.

 

[ob81]

The 3G ipad probably wouldn't have done as well if this plan to dramatically change the plans was known prior to launch.

I always thought that people were being ridiculous watching netflix movies on 3G though. Go home and watch a movie. I suspect that is part of the reason that they took unlimited out completely.

 

[christophermdia]

This really does kill the netflix and slingbox streaming. I have a cabin a couple hours from my home and we can't get internet there, although we have a strong cellular signal so I bought a mifi and am able to use my ipad (wifi version) and/or macbook effortlessly. Point being, I did stream the UFC fights this past weekend through slingbox and used 3gb worth of data just for the fight alone (I didn't even watch every fight). I would say streaming uses up roughly 1gb/hr. The idea of having netflix and slingbox on the road is great but not if you have to be constantly checking your data usage and then possibly stop a movie short if you are about to run out. I was considering getting the 3g ipad since I have wifi only and mostly for the reason of streaming only, now that thought needs to be reconsidered.

If they offered another tier above the 2gb, say 5gb or even 10gb then they could stop most all the abusers from the wifi hacks and possibly make a profit of it all.....

 

[Deeya]

This has nothing to do with limited data across their network, and everything to do with making more money off it.

People are still going to continue consuming the same amount of data, AT&T will finally be able to get more money for the same thing.

 

[topmounter]

The primary reason I bought the 3G version of the iPad was for the GPS...

That being said, this all saves me a fair amount of money since I can downgrade my iPhone data plan, cancel my iPad data plan and just use my work-supplied 3G dongle w/ a CradlePoint 3G wifi hotspot.

 

[aa521490]

After reading the numerous ATT voice/data plan changes, I went ahead and signed up for the $30 unlimited data for the 3g ipad. In doing so, I will cancel my iphone with ATT when my contract ends (Jul 2010), unlock the iphone for t-mobile and go pre-paid with them.

Take that ATT.

 

[aviddk]

+1
That's what I will do.....keep my grandfathered unlimited on iPad and downgrade my iPhone data plan...I am using the iPad primarily for data now anyway.

Instead of replacing my iPhone I will downgrade my plan and stick with unlimited 3G data on my iPad. Net decrease in my monthly bill, $15. Works for me and now I can justify ordering a new iPhone next week.

 

[Deamos]

Hmm, about 30 minutes in to streaming Netflix over 3G and what happens? AT&Ts 3G network chokes and doesn't let me do it anymore. Does AT&T expect me to pay more for this crap?

 

[Selenica]

So much money down the drain.. I'm happy with wi-fi thank you very much.

 

[ajohnson253]

The big winners here are those who are using miFi. You can keep your unlimited plan on your iPhone and use jb/miFi for your ipad 3g needs.

The iPhone unlimited package is only if you don't officially tether. If you offically tether you lose the unlimited plan.

Thanks, totally forgot about even jailbreaking this thing.

 

[jimboutilier]

I didn't say that - but their use is disproportionate to the point that AT&T now feels that they can offer 98% of their users a $5-$15 per month discount in exchange for pissing off (and hopefully getting rid of) 2% of their user base.

I'd have to see AT&T's calculations before I'd believe their "2%" claim. I'd have to guess that claim is based on "of all AT&T customers, only 2% use more than 2gb/month". Most of those customers don't have a data plan at all. Most of those don't have smart phones.

I expect if they made their calculations based on "of all smartphone users" or "all iPhone users" their calculation would be vastly different.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

You can still grandfather your $30 unlimited data plan in case you guys didn't notice. This only affects new sign up people.

Missing the point. You can keep the unlimited plan as long as you never drop it. Once you drop it its gone. That is effectively the same as having a contract and changes the entire 3G concept of only paying for data when you need it. Were ATT to require a contract from the start it would be far smarter to have bought a WiFi model and a Verizon or Sprint MiFi.

Bottom line is if ATT couldn't afford that concept they should not have offered it in the first place. That is the point. When Jobs announced the plans in Jan there was an implied promise that those would be the plans at least until the next model. ATT broke that promise. Maybe they are under no legal obligation, but its bad faith nonetheless, and will burn them in the end.

 

[ItsThatKush]

I'd have to see AT&T's calculations before I'd believe their "2%" claim. I'd have to guess that claim is based on "of all AT&T customers, only 2% use more than 2gb/month". Most of those customers don't have a data plan at all. Most of those don't have smart phones.

I expect if they made their calculations based on "of all smartphone users" or "all iPhone users" their calculation would be vastly different.

you hit the nail on the head. all those people at 0% (no smart phone or plan) are drastically reducing the average.

I want to see the % of iPhone users only!

 

[sracer]

When Jobs announced the plans in Jan there was an implied promise that those would be the plans at least until the next model.

What exactly did Jobs say that would lead a reasonable person to imply that the plan would be available until at least the next model?

 

[iPadztr]

Missing the point. You can keep the unlimited plan as long as you never drop it. Once you drop it its gone. That is effectively the same as having a contract and changes the entire 3G concept of only paying for data when you need it. Were ATT to require a contract from the start it would be far smarter to have bought a WiFi model and a Verizon or Sprint MiFi.

Bottom line is if ATT couldn't afford that concept they should not have offered it in the first place. That is the point. When Jobs announced the plans in Jan there was an implied promise that those would be the plans at least until the next model. ATT broke that promise. Maybe they are under no legal obligation, but its bad faith nonetheless, and will burn them in the end.

This ^ it's trade off if you have an iPhone with unlimited data plan like me right now. I'll keep my iPad 3G plan unlimited since this where heavy data used most occurs and reduce my iphone to 200mb/mo. Still $45/mo with unlimited data and limited data perse'.

 

[Ngoins]

What exactly did Jobs say that would lead a reasonable person to imply that the plan would be available until at least the next model?

3g a huge selling point on the Apple site...

In the United States, 3G service is available through a breakthrough deal with AT&T.

It doesn't say anything about how long this breakthrough deal would last let alone anything about a new model, but 35 days or so of availability is a little short don't you think?

 

[dojoman]

I keep seeing this over and over in the thread as if it is no big deal.

Here is the beef:

If you are current signed up for unlimited and are willing to let it autorenew every month for the life of your device, THEN you have nothing to worry about.

If you were doing month to month based on need and don't let it autorenew.... then you get booted from the grandfathered list and have to buy the new plan.

For iPad yeah it looks that way. I don't have 3G iPad so it means not much for me. It looks like this changes makes this thing with no commitment with iPad 3G data looks a lot less impressive.

 

[random person]

If you already have the 250 mg plan but with three weeks left in the month (that would be me) can you upgrade to the unlimited plan now before the thirty days are up? Or can you only upgrade when your month is up?