AT&T prices iPhone 3G data plan at $30, nixes rev share deal

[AppleInsider]

AT&T confirmed in a press release Monday that it will remain the exclusive U.S. provider for Apple's new iPhone 3G, adding that unlimited data plans for the new touch-screen handset will fetch $30, an increase of $10 from the plan offered alongside the original iPhone.

The No. 1 US wireless carrier, which will begin selling the new iPhone alongside Apple in more than 2,200 company-owned retail stores and kiosks on July 11, added that unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month.

Data plans must be purchased in addition to standard calling plans, which will begin at $40 for both home and business users and include at least 450 minutes of calling time, 5,000 evening and weekend minutes, 200 SMS text messages, and Visual Voicemail.

AT&T also announced its has entered into a new agreement with Apple that eliminates the revenue-sharing model under which AT&T shared a portion of monthly service revenue with Apple.

"Under the revised agreement, which is consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements, there is no revenue sharing and both
iPhone 3G models will be offered at attractive prices to broaden the market potential and accelerate subscriber volumes," the company said.

"The phones will be offered with a two-year contract and attractive data plans that are similar to those offered for other smartphones and PDAs. AT&T anticipates that these offers will drive increased sales volumes and revenues among high-quality, data-centric customers."

In the near term, AT&T anticipates that the new agreement will likely result in some pressure on its margins and earnings, reflecting the costs of subsidized device pricing, which, in turn, is expected to drive increased subscriber volumes. However, it also anticipates that its attractive iPhone 3G pricing offers will drive increased sales volumes and revenues among high-quality, data-centric customers.



In addition, AT&T said it's working closely with Apple to roll out several new and innovative applications that take advantage of the iPhone's advanced capabilities. For example, it's currently finalizing YELLOWPAGES.COM mobile for the iPhone, a GPS-enabled application that combines local search with social networking capabilities, giving users the ability to search for information, share reviews and plan activities with friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Furthermore, the wireless carrier said it is working to certify many of its existing mobile applications for businesses, created in conjunction with third-party developers, for use on the iPhone.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Obi-Wan Kubrick]

I really wish the iPhone was on Verizon but I cant wait for that so I may switch to AT&T.

[4metta]

I'll be getting one and unlocking it for TMobile. Those plan rates are horrendous. At least the iPhone price dropped!

[Tantrum]

Originally Posted by 4metta

I'll be getting one and unlocking it for TMobile. Those plan rates are horrendous. At least the iPhone price dropped!

And you will use it on T-Mobile's 3G network I presume?

[studiomusic]

Originally Posted by 4metta

I'll be getting one and unlocking it for TMobile. Those plan rates are horrendous. At least the iPhone price dropped!

That price is the subsidized price.
But, yah... They don't pay Apple anymore, so they raise their rates??

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by Tantrum

And you will use it on T-Mobile's 3G network I presume?

LOL, good one...

good luck with 3G + iphone + tmobile USA...

tmobile germany is another thing... the iphone will perfectly work on all 3G networks in germany, 4 in total, or any other european country... tmobile germany will have stiff competition from grey importers and the iphone 3G....

but att will have it pretty easy fending off competition in the US, since they're the only 3G UMTS network on the frequencies the iphone supports...

[4metta]

Originally Posted by Tantrum

And you will use it on T-Mobile's 3G network I presume?

No I'll be using it to make unlimited WiFi calling on TMobile. Have it at work, home and campus.

Just how fast AT&T's 3G network will run on it remains to be seen.

[4metta]

FYI... it also runs longer on 2G. Check the battery life stats.

[Elixir]

i love how they say "attractive plans" those plans are garbage.

who pays for crap like this?

[bdenton42]

Originally Posted by 4metta

No I'll be using it to make unlimited WiFi calling on TMobile. Have it at work, home and campus.

Just how fast AT&T's 3G network will run on it remains to be seen.

So you'll be paying for 2 subscriptions then?

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by 4metta

FYI... it also runs longer on 2G. Check the battery life stats.

iphone 3G:
5h on 3G
10h on 2G

iphone 2G:
8h on 2G

i wonder if the settings on the iphone 3G allow to deselect 3G to take advantage of better 2G battery runtimes??? i would love that feature if i know i will need my iphone 1-2 days without being able to recharge....!!!

[SpamSandwich]

Now the only roadblock to widespread iPhone adoption is at&t.

Who cares about inside information about Apple product announcements... I want to know when Apple and at&t are going to part ways!

I wonder how the lawsuit against the phone companies is progressing (regarding unlocking phones)...

[skottichan]

Originally Posted by smokeonit

iphone 3G:
5h on 3G
10h on 2G

iphone 2G:
8h on 2G

i wonder if the settings on the iphone 3G allow to deselect 3G to take advantage of better 2G battery runtimes??? i would love that feature if i know i will need my iphone 1-2 days without being able to recharge....!!!

Yup, you'll be able to switch from 3G to EDGE in the Options menu.

[rbonner]

Very interesting, they are charging us $10 bucks more per month for the data and developing a yellow pages application so they can charge more for the advertising. This feels more and more like a traditional copper line phone company.

What would really be a good value is a family data plan so when we upgrade we can pass the iPhones down to the kids.

Does anyone know if my son buys a data plan on my old 2G phone, does the old data plan rates stick?

[mstone]

I wonder how the revenue sharing works out for Apple with people who upgrade from the original to the new 2 year contract.

[TBaggins]

Wow... we're going to be hearing nothing but complaints about the data plan price increase.

Hope it doesn't overshadow the new, improved hardware and the big iPhone price drop.



.

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Now the only [major] roadblock to widespread iPhone adoption is at&t.

Yup. But it's a big one.



.

[4metta]

Originally Posted by bdenton42

So you'll be paying for 2 subscriptions then?

I don't pay it now. Why would that change?

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by 4metta

Just how fast AT&T's 3G network will run on it remains to be seen.

i think i read that att said that upgraded umts/hsdpa cells will support 1.5Mbit down/600kbit upload... slightly faster than not upgraded cells.... those are real world figures...

here in germany real world 7Mbit are not uncommon... the cells that have the latest hsdpa tech installed run that fast... of course the pings are not as fast as DSL/cable since the radio uplink/downlink is not as fast as copper/fiber optics....

[bdenton42]

Originally Posted by 4metta

I don't pay it now. Why would that change?

Doesn't subsidized mean 2 year contract?

[4metta]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

Wow... we're going to be hearing nothing but complaints about the data plan price increase.

Hope it doesn't overshadow the new, improved hardware and the big iPhone price drop.



.

I was hoping Apple would open up the iPhone to more carriers this year. It may end up being a big mistake they didn't. Then again, we don't know the terms of the contract with AT&T. Maybe they just can't get out yet.

[ajhill]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

Wow... we're going to be hearing nothing but complaints about the data plan price increase.

Hope it doesn't overshadow the new, improved hardware and the big iPhone price drop.



.

What price drop. The iPhone 2.0 cost $200 less up front and you pay $10 extra a month, for 24 months, That's $240 more, NET NET the iPhone 2.0 will cost you $40 MORE than the 1.0, for the first 2 years and THEN $120 MORE per year after than.

Price drop? Did I miss something?

Al

[wolfneuralnet]

I presume you can no longer walk into an Apple Store and just buy them for this price without a contract...

I thought the only reason you could buy them at the Apple Store is that they aren't subsidized. If they are now subsidized, and you use them with someone else, how does ATT get their $$$ back?

I am confused by the new pricing structure, but maybe they decided it was worth taking the losses on the unlockers... Going to be a nice business on ebay I guess.

Figured they would get you on the data rates as soon as they announced the price for the phone. They have to make up the $120 somewhere...

As above - can I pass my 2G and my $20 data rate down to a family member? What a pain - maybe I will just sell it on ebay too...

Why no pre-orders?????

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by mstone

I wonder how the revenue sharing works out for Apple with people who upgrade from the original to the new 2 year contract.

my guess is att has to pay apple for the remainder... same applies to other providers that have the same agreement, like tmobile germany... at least people have a choice if they raise the monthly plans... grey imports are easy to get and with the new pricing in the US prices will drop extremely!!!

$199=€126, + US sales tax of course... but €150 for an 8GB 3G iphone doesn't sound bad @ all... and combine that with a €30($47) 3G/voice flatrate (incl. 100min talk time)... sounds good to me;-) prices are gernerallly higher in the EU, cost of living is much higher here... gas is more than triple, rent is more than double... only food is cheaper here...

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by smokeonit

i wonder if the settings on the iphone 3G allow to deselect 3G to take advantage of better 2G battery runtimes??? i would love that feature if i know i will need my iphone 1-2 days without being able to recharge....!!!

There was a story about that a few weeks ago.

I didn't see anything that said whether we can can still buy 2G plans.

[GQB]

So if I don't need or want 3G, I still will have to pop for the extra $10/mo ?
I assume rates aren't being bumped up for owners of the original iPhone.

[4metta]

Originally Posted by bdenton42

Doesn't subsidized mean 2 year contract?

There will be ways around that.

[Stuart Kirby]

http://www.o2.co.uk/iphone/paymonthly

Not a bad price list for the UK. Woohoo!

[walshbj]

I've been confused about the iPhone and data plans all along. I read on the Apple site the other day that all the plans had unlimited data. The only difference I saw was the number of voice minutes. But I'd heard people talk about adding the data. What's the story there?

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by 4metta

I was hoping Apple would open up the iPhone to more carriers this year. It may end up being a big mistake they didn't. Then again, we don't know the terms of the contract with AT&T. Maybe they just can't get out yet.

how can they open up if there's only one 3G carrier that uses internationally used 3G UMTS frequencies??? tmobile USA uses a frequency no one else uses in the world...!!! only 2G remains as an option to open up... for 2G there att, tmobile and parts of the US that have GSM overage by verizon, but that's a far cry from att's and tmobile USA's coverage...

or am i wrong thinking that verizon is still using tdma in most of the US??? only in parts of the east coast there's limited GSM coverage by verizon??? no???

[4metta]

Originally Posted by wolfneuralnet

I presume you can no longer walk into an Apple Store and just buy them for this price without a contract...

I thought the only reason you could buy them at the Apple Store is that they aren't subsidized. If they are now subsidized, and you use them with someone else, how does ATT get their $$$ back?

I am confused by the new pricing structure, but maybe they decided it was worth taking the losses on the unlockers... Going to be a nice business on ebay I guess.

Figured they would get you on the data rates as soon as they announced the price for the phone. They have to make up the $120 somewhere...

As above - can I pass my 2G and my $20 data rate down to a family member? What a pain - maybe I will just sell it on ebay too...

Why no pre-orders?????

So far the Apple store says you can buy it there.

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by walshbj

I've been confused about the iPhone and data plans all along. I read on the Apple site the other day that all the plans had unlimited data. The only difference I saw was the number of voice minutes. But I'd heard people talk about adding the data. What's the story there?

looks liek att is changing their plans... the "old" plans for the iphone have the data flat included...

[4metta]

Originally Posted by smokeonit

how can they open up if there's only one 3G carrier that uses internationally used 3G UMTS frequencies??? tmobile USA uses a frequency no one else uses in the world...!!! only 2G remains as an option to open up... for 2G there att, tmobile and parts of the US that have GSM overage by verizon, but that's a far cry from att's and tmobile USA's coverage...

or am i wrong thinking that verizon is still using tdma in most of the US??? only in parts of the east coast there's limited GSM coverage by verizon??? no???

The new iPhone will also run on 2G.

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by wolfneuralnet

I presume you can no longer walk into an Apple Store and just buy them for this price without a contract...

I thought the only reason you could buy them at the Apple Store is that they aren't subsidized. If they are now subsidized, and you use them with someone else, how does ATT get their $$$ back?

I am confused by the new pricing structure, but maybe they decided it was worth taking the losses on the unlockers... Going to be a nice business on ebay I guess.

Figured they would get you on the data rates as soon as they announced the price for the phone. They have to make up the $120 somewhere...

As above - can I pass my 2G and my $20 data rate down to a family member? What a pain - maybe I will just sell it on ebay too...

Why no pre-orders?????

since apple thinks it can improve on security, thus making it much more difficult to unlock/jailbreak the iphone, old and new...

but from what i read, especially @ zibris blog, ziphone.org, the new iphone osX 2.0 is already hacked and he's just waiting for itunes 7.7 and the final version of the iphone osX 2.0 in order to finalize his unlock software...

i think apple will continue to sell openly in their stores and do the authorizing via itunes... it serves their purpose to leave he loophole open for the time being... the more people get the iphone into their hands, unlocked or not, the more will buy apps and use osX and might switch over from their windows machines...

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by bdenton42

Doesn't subsidized mean 2 year contract?

Nixed my earlier comment. AI just put up a new article saying in home installation a thing of the past. iPhones bought from at&t or a physical Apple store, must be activated while in the store. Didn't read how they would handle online purchases unless Apple no longer will sell online?

But looks like 4metta will be paying for att&t on top of t-mobile rate plans. Unless somebody figures a way out of that one!

[4metta]

Originally Posted by Rot'nApple

Nixed my earlier comment. AI just put up a new article saying in home installation a thing of the past. iPhones bought from at&t or a physical Apple store, must be activated while in the store. Didn't read how they would handle online purchases unless Apple no longer will sell online?

But looks like 4metta will be paying for att&t on top of t-mobile rate plans. Unless somebody figures a way out of that one!

Where there's a will....

But I won't be going to AT&T no matter what. If that would end up being the only option I simply won't get the iPhone. And many others won't either.

[Macd-to-death]

The previous data plan provided 200 SMS messages with the $20 version, and 1500 SMS messages with the $30 version. If the current $30 plan includes at least 1500 SMS messages, we will not be getting less for more money, though customers who wanted less will be screwed. Have there been any notices about the # of text messages included with the data plan?

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by 4metta

Where there's a will....

But I won't be going to AT&T no matter what. If that would end up being the only option I simply won't get the iPhone. And many others won't either.

if you hate att so much, get the iphone @ an apple store, unlock it, and use it with tmboile without being able to use the 3G features... not the end of the world... as long as tmobile USA has EDGE...

[quinney]

If there is no more revenue sharing, Apple might switch their accounting method
for iPhone sales to be like that of iPod Touch sales. In other words, future updates
to the 3G iPhone OS may NOT be free.

[smokeonit]

Originally Posted by quinney

If there is no more revenue sharing, Apple might switch their accounting method
for iPhone sales to be like that of iPod Touch sales. In other words, future updates
to the 3G iPhone OS may NOT be free.

i doubt that very much...

i think apple gladly boxed that model for the iphone apps store... they will make much more $$$ that way... apple will get 30% of any s/w sale via the store....