AT&T, Verizon to bump monthly mobile data allotments in ongoing price battle
America's top two wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon on Friday announced value added changes to their respective mobile data plans, though Verizon is only offering extra data as a limited time promotion.
AT&T was first to announce data buffs for its Mobile Share Value plan portfolio, with the telecom offering 3GB of shared data for $40 per month and 6GB for $70 per month, up from a 2GB and 4GB, respectively.
As seen in the chart above, AT&T's updated plans only apply to the top-tier plans, leaving out customers paying $20 or $25 per month. The company notes smartphone access charges will remain stable at $25 per month, per line with the Next yearly hardware upgrade program or $40 per month with a two year contract.
In addition, AT&T is extending its Double the Data offer for customers choosing data allotments from 15GB to 50GB. Under the limited time promotion, which runs until Nov. 15, new and existing users can sign up for a 15GB plan and get 30GB of data.
More information is available through the AT&T website.
As for Verizon, the nation's largest carrier announced a limited time promotion for subscribers of its More Everything plan. Like AT&T, Verizon is offering more data to top-tier customers, giving 10GB of data for $80 per month and 15GB for $100 per month.
Verizon's promotion starts on Nov. 1, with no word on an ending date.
Additionally, the company is offering a $150 port-in credit for customers switching over the network. New subscribers must purchase a new 4G LTE smartphone with either a two year contract or Edge plan to be eligible for the promotion, which itself is available only for a limited time.
AT&T was first to announce data buffs for its Mobile Share Value plan portfolio, with the telecom offering 3GB of shared data for $40 per month and 6GB for $70 per month, up from a 2GB and 4GB, respectively.
As seen in the chart above, AT&T's updated plans only apply to the top-tier plans, leaving out customers paying $20 or $25 per month. The company notes smartphone access charges will remain stable at $25 per month, per line with the Next yearly hardware upgrade program or $40 per month with a two year contract.
In addition, AT&T is extending its Double the Data offer for customers choosing data allotments from 15GB to 50GB. Under the limited time promotion, which runs until Nov. 15, new and existing users can sign up for a 15GB plan and get 30GB of data.
More information is available through the AT&T website.
As for Verizon, the nation's largest carrier announced a limited time promotion for subscribers of its More Everything plan. Like AT&T, Verizon is offering more data to top-tier customers, giving 10GB of data for $80 per month and 15GB for $100 per month.
Verizon's promotion starts on Nov. 1, with no word on an ending date.
Additionally, the company is offering a $150 port-in credit for customers switching over the network. New subscribers must purchase a new 4G LTE smartphone with either a two year contract or Edge plan to be eligible for the promotion, which itself is available only for a limited time.
Comments
And so those of us who just one month and 11 days ago got plans on the old way... we can go eat paste, right?
You should be able to switch your plan.
No thanks. I'll keep my 6gb level.
They will do this until one day they remove all cheaper plans. They may give you a lot of data but you must start with a higher plan like $40/3GB. At the end of the day, they want to make sure that you won't pay below $100 for a family of 2: 2 phones = $40 voice + $40 data + $25 (for second phone) = $105. Yup!
Let me know if any of you get cheaper monthly cost on your phone service ever so far even with all perks and promotions thrown in by providers.
I don’t think it means that at all, but I'd call just to be certain instead of missing out a deal.
How much do you want to bet that doing so will change my ‘re-up’ date...
Now it's only 1GB for the same price. 2GB is $75 I believe.
I switched to AT&T's mobile share 10GB plan awhile ago and didn't have to pay extra for the new iPhone5s I had just purchased. The 5 iPhones on the plan never get anywhere near the 10GB but it cost less than the plan under it. We don't need 10GB but it's difficult to drop down in plan levels without paying extra somewhere along the line. I'd rather our overall cost go down than getting more data because extra data really doesn't cost any of these vendors anything. It's like charging for air. Now if we could just get Comcast to drop its internet charge, we'd be doing fine. All those limited time offers should go away and we should get to pay the lower rate all the time. I don't have a choice other than Comcast in my area.
Could someone please tell me:
If you want service only from AT&T (no subsidised phones), how much would it cost for unlimited minutes and texts, and 2+ GB of data a month? And are the prices quoted in this article subject to any sales or other taxes and if so how much are said taxes?
As a Brit this all looks rather confusing and very expensive!
Could someone please tell me:
If you want service only from AT&T (no subsidised phones), how much would it cost for unlimited minutes and texts, and 2+ GB of data a month? And are the prices quoted in this article subject to any sales or other taxes and if so how much are said taxes?
No easy answer. Since you would own your phone, you don't have to pay the extra $25/mo. From the chart above, the cost would be $40 for 3GB data, unlimited minutes and texts. Taxes, a bunch of them, are added on top. I didn't check my bill but I'd put the taxes and other extras they get to charge at around 10-15%. If you sign up for the Mobile Share plan, the cost is a bit different.
Unlimited mins and texts and 2 GB data on a 4G network in the UK (EE) costs the equivalent of $25.60 a month, including all sales taxes (http://shop.ee.co.uk/mobile-tariffs/sim-only-plans). One of the few things that’s cheaper over here. The benefits of being a small island I guess.
As a Brit this all looks rather confusing and very expensive!
Could someone please tell me:
If you want service only from AT&T (no subsidised phones), how much would it cost for unlimited minutes and texts, and 2+ GB of data a month? And are the prices quoted in this article subject to any sales or other taxes and if so how much are said taxes?
An individual "Bring Your Own Smartphone" plan at AT&T for the aforementioned service level (unlimited/unlimited/2GB) is $65/month. The taxes & fees vary by state, my guess is that they would be around $4-5/month in California, but I cannot speak from current/actual experience for this carrier and this plan.
There's an AT&T MVNO called Straight Talk that charges $45 + taxes/month for the same service level as the AT&T plan. Even though your handset is connecting to the same cellular towers, sometimes the connection is poor because AT&T prioritizes its own high-value postpaid subscribers over their own prepaid users or MVNOs. Straight Talk's customer service is pretty weak and they did not offer Visual Voicemail when I used them a couple of years ago. If I recall correctly, Straight Talk tacked on about a dollar of regulatory fees, so it was around $46/month.
I am currently using a rather obscure Monthly4G prepaid plan from T-Mobile USA that costs $30/mo. for 100 minutes voice, unlimited texts and 5GB of cellular data at 4G speeds (including LTE). While I have never gone over my voice quota, additional talk time would be billed at $0.10/minute. This particular plan (in my state of California) does not incur any additional charges (the taxes and regulatory fees are included in the price).
The AT&T plans become more attractive for larger households since there's one pool of shared data, rather than paying for individual plans.
That said, cellular service is atrociously expensive here in the USA. I visited Austria early this year and got a prepaid SIM card: 10 Euros covered 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, and 1GB of data.
Or I pay the equivalent of $24 pm with 3 for 200 mins (with 2000 3 to 3 mins), unlimited texts & data (& 4GB tethering). You guys (n gals) in the US do seem to really get ripped off for your mobile tariffs. A downside of many of you paying for your phone in the contract rather than paying separately?
Edit - 4G network too
Population density more so than just being smaller area. UK has 7x more people per km^2 than the U.S. does per mile^2.
As a Brit this all looks rather confusing and very expensive!
We can call and travel 3,000 miles using our base plan. You guys go 20 miles across the Channel and get hit with 200 Euro per gigabyte roaming fees. Our long distance is free and included, and in recent plans, SMS and cell minutes are unlimited. You guys have to deal with confusing and overpriced non-geographic numbers and calling-party-pays business. For crying out loud, you guys have to call what we call a 900 number to call government agencies and "free" doctors.
I called Verizon and made the update from 10 gig to 15 gig very easy don't even need to talk to a person can do it all with the computer. Very happy.