AT&T shared data plans launch late August, start at $45 per smartphone - Page 3

i knew at&t was going to do this once verizon did it

going prepaid with my wife, even paying an ETF for my 4S. going to straight talk. $40 a month unlimited everything. already gave a heads up to my inlaws who are on the same plan that they are on their own starting in september.

my wife is keeping her iphone 4 for probably another year and i'll be keeping my 4s for 3 years as well.

the app store is like windows software, 2-3 years behind the hardware

i'm reading a lot about prepaid now and this is bad news for apple and samsung. its a bigger nut to spend $650 or more on a phone than the $199 minus the trade in of your old phone

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onhka 

Lot of dumb assumptions here.

 

Best check out AT&T's site, particularly the See FAQs about AT&T Mobile Share section.

Care to be a bit more helpful, and summarize what you learnt from visiting the site?

Believe it or not, is will actually make sense for us to finally switch off of our Unlimited plans on our iPhones.  But as someone stated, you need to have a lot of devices, which we do.  In our family, we have two iPads, three iPhone 4s' and a dumb phone for dad.  Here is the spreadsheet on how I calculated it out.  I checked our data usage and the 6GB or 10GB will work for the family, and all of currently use iTunes Match to stream too.

Bummer in cut off the bottom part....

Here...

Damn, still cut-off...

In short, current bill $284.97, with the 6GB plan $245, or the 10GB plan $260.  Plus the more devices the better the value gets.  At first glance the plan seemed ridiculous, but taking the time and really calculating it out, it makes sense, at least for us.

unless the ipads produce revenue i'm not paying data for them. i'm not that OCD and anti-social that i need to carry around a 3g ipad everywhere to kill time

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bandman999 

If the data is "shared", why does it matter how many devices use the data? Does it somehow cost AT&T more to serve 1GB of data to two devices instead of one?

Bingo!!!

What became of the "it's your data, use it how you want".

Put bluntly, these plans suck. I was expecting to be able to add an iPad that would be able to access "my data" on my existing plan. AT&T would have sold me an iPad that I won't be buying from them under these plans and I might even have upgraded my data plan. Now I am going to be on the lookout for someone else who offers not just what I want, but what, I think, we have a right to expect. Actually, the same could be said of the mobile hot spot bit as well. It is your bandwidth and it really is none of their business which devices you utilize it on.

There should be a call for regulatory action as it is apparent that this is a monopolistic practice, at least to me, in which AT&T is engaged.

If T-Mobile, Verizon or whomever does their plans right it will be a huge opportunity for them to acquire AT&T customers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerrySwitched26 

 

 

Data Hogs ruin it for the rest of us.  They slow down the network and use more than their fair share.

I can't believe that anyone is still believing the 'data hog' nonsense that AT&T pumps out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolipsismX 


I don't think 9GB is unfathomable. I've used as much as 100GB in a month back when I had Unlimited access. AT&T did drop me to a tiered plan after warning me not to tether. I tried to find ways around it but I can't fault them for find ways around my ways. After all I did agree to not tether to a PC when I signed up.
Even without tethering streaming video from Dropbox, Netflix or other places could give you 9GB. Imagine if this guy has a dull job, like a night door guard. There might not be WiFi available and being able to stream media for all those hours might be a way to pass the time.

So you violated the terms of your service agreement by tethering and then on top of that used 100GB of data per month. Thank you for ruining it for those of us who wish to use a reasonable amount of data per month. People like you are exactly why AT&T has to take extreme measures to prevent this much data use.

With AT&T offering higher data plans, I wonder if they will still throttle users who go over the 3GB of data on the grandfathered unlimited data plan? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freshmaker 

 

A cellphone also shouldn't cost $600 or more...

Your comment makes no sense either. Apple is in the game to make a profit, just as AT&T is. These are not non-profit corporations. It costs Apple billions of dollars in R&D to design the best selling smartphone in the world. There is a cost to that. I know iFixIt does a tear down and shows the cost of the parts is way less than $600, but that does not take into account the labor to assemble the phone, the cost of the infrastructure to run a just in time inventory system, the research and development that goes into the device, the support network to maintain the device once it is sold, etc...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger 

Mobile access to the internet should become a right and not a paid privilege. Sure, someone has to pay for it, but not at these fees!!

I get it. Someone has to pay for it just as long as it is not you, because you're special.

AT&T is going to a new low in sneaky deceptive advertising to get people to switch to a plan that will give you less service and make you pay a lot more for it.

Bait and switch plan is what they should call this. False advertising at best. Don't fall for it, you're better off sticking with what you have because this bait and switch plan will not offer you anything except taking more money from your bank account. :-(

I'd like to see a class action lawsuit on the following:  I have paid for the bits in my monthly data charge.  Those bits are paid for, my property, and are not subject to AT&T telling me how each bit can be used -- and these bits do not expire (roll-over data bucket).

Quote:

Originally Posted by noexpectations 

At least AT&T is offering this plan as an option.....existing data plans remain.

 

Exactly- complaining because it's not better is dumb.  It'll be better for some, great.  Not for others- don't change.  Geez.

My wife and I are on our company, but this will help my dad and mom who just got iPhones:

$60 700 Minutes

$10 Additional Line

$15 200mb Data iPhone 1

$15 200mb Data iPhone 2

$30 Unlimited Texting

----------------------------------

$130

For for the same $130- it gets them 1gb instead of 600mb, Unlimited Talk instead of 700 minutes, and Tethering.

Yay for them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by b9bot 

AT&T is going to a new low in sneaky deceptive advertising to get people to switch to a plan that will give you less service and make you pay a lot more for it.

Bait and switch plan is what they should call this. False advertising at best. Don't fall for it, you're better off sticking with what you have because this bait and switch plan will not offer you anything except taking more money from your bank account. :-(

 

What is wrong with what I just wrote?

At least they are keeping the current plans in place for current and new customers - so everyone still has those options. This is just providing additional choices (although not great choices). Much smarter than Verizon forcing all new customers to go on a "Share Everything" plan with no option to choose from the old style plans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by b9bot 

AT&T is going to a new low in sneaky deceptive advertising to get people to switch to a plan that will give you less service and make you pay a lot more for it.

Bait and switch plan is what they should call this. False advertising at best. Don't fall for it, you're better off sticking with what you have because this bait and switch plan will not offer you anything except taking more money from your bank account. :-(

How is this "bait and switch"? AT&T would have to offer an enticing low cost plan that appeals to you and then when you sign up put you on a higher cost plan than what they advertised. They are clearly outlining the cost of the plan. There is no "deceptive advertising" going on here. 

My wife and I are on a FamilyTalk 700 plan with 2 iPhones (1 Unlimited and 1 2GB plan) and unlimited texting with unlimited M2M.  It costs us $175 / month after taxes and fees.  People value simplicity and are willing to pay a premium for it - all of these new plans that AT&T has introduced in the 5 years since the iPhone has been around have made the landscape amazingly complicated.  Here's my pipe dream:

ALL PLANS INCLUDE:

Unlimited voice

Unlimited text

Tethering

DUMBPHONES:

$15 / mo. / line

Data billed out by KB usage (something like $0.001 / KB, which works out to a little over $1 / MB)

SMARTPHONES:

$15 / mo. / line

Required data plan (Data shared among all devices)

$15 / GB for GB 1 - 9 (everyone must buy at least 1 GB)

$20 / GB for GB 10 - 15

$30 / GB for GB 16+

Everyone pays for what they use.  No overages and if you use a shit ton of data, then you'll pay a shit ton of money for it...

OTHER DEVICES USING CELLULAR NETWORK DATA (MiFi, Laptops, Tablets, etc...)

$15 / mo. / device

* Yes, yes ... I know that you're basically paying to use data you've already purchased, but I see this as mainly an overhead charge for the device being registered on and using the network...

In this dream, if I have 2 iPhones, an iPad, and want to share 5 GB, I'm going to pay $30 + $15*5 + $15 = $120 + Taxes / Fees

If I have 4 iPhones, 2 iPads, and a Dumbphone with 10 GB , I'm going to pay: $60 + ($15*9 + $20*1) + $30 + DP Data = $245 + DP Data + Taxes / Fees

If I have 1 iPhone, 1 iPad and use 40 GB, I'm going to pay $15 + ($15*9 + $20*6 + $30*25) + $15 = $1035 + Taxes / Fees

Look how simple that was AT&T! Imagine how happy you could make your customers if you only charged them for what they used!!! Prorating the GB would be nice, but let's not go too crazy here helping your customers. If you really want to cut down on people clogging the network, then bitch slap their wallets when they do that! The last example may have been extreme. I hardly use 40 GB a month on my cable internet, but it shows that people who use excessively should pay for it.  If you did this, you would freaking OWN the US cellular market.  Some people might end up paying more and being pissy, but if they want to use 40 GB in a month, let them bail and clog someone else's data lines...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DustinLH00 

 

How on earth do you feel that they should provide you with unlimited data, text, and talk for $50 per month? Are you out of your mind? 

Actually, $50/month would be a quite reasonable price. The carriers would still make piles of money, but the charges to consumers would be much less onerous. And they'd still have plenty of money to upgrade their networks, and ought to be mandated to do so if they want to keep their spectrum licenses. Instead, the carriers are allowed to follow a strategy where they build the minimal network they can get away with and control traffic on it by making it prohibitively costly to deploy new technologies. This doesn't serve the public interest. It inhibits innovation and progress. It prevents new services from even coming to market. The wireless carriers in this country have become the obstacle to progress, not the pathway to it as intended when they received their spectrum licenses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by b9bot 

AT&T is going to a new low in sneaky deceptive advertising to get people to switch to a plan that will give you less service and make you pay a lot more for it.

Bait and switch plan is what they should call this. False advertising at best. Don't fall for it, you're better off sticking with what you have because this bait and switch plan will not offer you anything except taking more money from your bank account. :-(

You don't understand what CHOICE is and what a BAIT-N-SWITCH tactic is.  If AT&T is offering a new option that benefits many of their customers (lower price, better features), how is this a bad thing?  You need to look at your individual situation and make that assessment.  For me, I have 4 iPones and 4 iPads.  This is a winner for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmgregory1 

 

None of us are currently looking for or needing an upgrade, so I hope they don't force discontinuation of the grandfathered unlimited data plan. 

it's a shit ton of a mess if they do it mid contract but don't be shocked if they, like Verizon has, stop the grandfathering if you go for a paid upgrade at any point in the future. Legally they can do that and they probably will. The only way you would be able to get around it is to pay full price cause that's not seen as renewing your contract just riding on the current one. 

I also suspect that all newly created family plans on ATT after this launch will be on these plans and in a year or two they will find a way to force older plans to convert if you want to have any smart phone on the plan subsidized. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by anonymouse 

 

Actually, $50/month would be a quite reasonable price. The carriers would still make piles of money, but the charges to consumers would be much less onerous. And they'd still have plenty of money to upgrade their networks, and ought to be mandated to do so if they want to keep their spectrum licenses. Instead, the carriers are allowed to follow a strategy where they build the minimal network they can get away with and control traffic on it by making it prohibitively costly to deploy new technologies. This doesn't serve the public interest. It inhibits innovation and progress. It prevents new services from even coming to market. The wireless carriers in this country have become the obstacle to progress, not the pathway to it as intended when they received their spectrum licenses.

How do you figure that $50/month is enough income for the carriers?

I am not privy to their costs of doing business, but I do not see how they could give you unlimited data, unlimited text, and unlimited voice for $50 a month and still make a profit, especially when they are subsidizing the cost of the phone on top of that. I could see a cheaper plan if you pay for your phone outright, but there is no way that this is reasonable for the carrier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger 

Imagine if Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook got together to build free WiFi networks across major cities around the world.  With Skype or some other VoIP service, we will no longer have to pay exorbitant fees to carriers for voice, text or anything else.  I know Google tried this before and gave up.  But the landscape is different now, as smartphones are true computers. 

 

Cities can share some of the annual network support costs.  All of these companies have something to gain by doing this.  In fact, I bet the ROI is well worth it.  For sure, the disruptive impact on the mobile industry would be permanent.

How could the ROI possibly be worthwhile for Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook since every other vendor like Samsung, HTC, RIM, Yahoo, Dell, HP, MySpace, LinkedIn etc. etc. etc. would reap the benefits as well, all without investing a dime.

My bad, I forgot your original premise. Someone has to pay for it which is ok, as long as it is not you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by commandercrash 

So let me see if I have this right.  It costs $30 a month now to get 3GB worth of data on one phone.  So if say my brother and I both have a plan, we spend $60 total for data.  Plus roughly $40 each for voice.  

 

Under this plan, I'm guessing we would still be spending roughly $40 a month for voice and then, to get the same amount of data we get now, it would cost us $160?  So that would be $100 premium to say that we share data? 

Should buy a shared plan based on the data you both use.  Not buying 3GB plans because you both use more than 250MB. It is doubtful you really need a 6GB plan.. For the 4GB shared plan, 2 iPhones would cost you $150. For the 6GB plan it would be $160.  By your numbers you spend $140 today for 6GB of data nut you do not have unlimited voice or unlimited texts (on AT&T anyway).

Not sure where you got the $100 premium from.  I think you got lost in the numbers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DustinLH00 

 

Your comment makes no sense either. Apple is in the game to make a profit, just as AT&T is. These are not non-profit corporations. It costs Apple billions of dollars in R&D to design the best selling smartphone in the world. There is a cost to that. I know iFixIt does a tear down and shows the cost of the parts is way less than $600, but that does not take into account the labor to assemble the phone, the cost of the infrastructure to run a just in time inventory system, the research and development that goes into the device, the support network to maintain the device once it is sold, etc...

Oh I totally agree.  I meant that tongue-in-cheek.  :)

I just find it amusing that some people who buy the most expensive phone/tablet/notebook out there turn around and complain about other companies making money as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgNuke1707 

My wife and I are on a FamilyTalk 700 plan with 2 iPhones (1 Unlimited and 1 2GB plan) and unlimited texting with unlimited M2M.  It costs us $175 / month after taxes and fees.  People value simplicity and are willing to pay a premium for it - all of these new plans that AT&T has introduced in the 5 years since the iPhone has been around have made the landscape amazingly complicated.  Here's my pipe dream:

 

ALL PLANS INCLUDE:

Unlimited voice

Unlimited text

Tethering

 

DUMBPHONES:

$15 / mo. / line

Data billed out by KB usage (something like $0.001 / KB, which works out to a little over $1 / MB)

 

SMARTPHONES:

$15 / mo. / line

Required data plan (Data shared among all devices)

$15 / GB for GB 1 - 9 (everyone must buy at least 1 GB)

$20 / GB for GB 10 - 15

$30 / GB for GB 16+

Everyone pays for what they use.  No overages and if you use a shit ton of data, then you'll pay a shit ton of money for it...

 

OTHER DEVICES USING CELLULAR NETWORK DATA (MiFi, Laptops, Tablets, etc...)

$15 / mo. / device

* Yes, yes ... I know that you're basically paying to use data you've already purchased, but I see this as mainly an overhead charge for the device being registered on and using the network...

 

In this dream, if I have 2 iPhones, an iPad, and want to share 5 GB, I'm going to pay $30 + $15*5 + $15 = $120 + Taxes / Fees

If I have 4 iPhones, 2 iPads, and a Dumbphone with 10 GB , I'm going to pay: $60 + ($15*9 + $20*1) + $30 + DP Data = $245 + DP Data + Taxes / Fees

If I have 1 iPhone, 1 iPad and use 40 GB, I'm going to pay $15 + ($15*9 + $20*6 + $30*25) + $15 = $1035 + Taxes / Fees

 

Look how simple that was AT&T! Imagine how happy you could make your customers if you only charged them for what they used!!! Prorating the GB would be nice, but let's not go too crazy here helping your customers. If you really want to cut down on people clogging the network, then bitch slap their wallets when they do that! The last example may have been extreme. I hardly use 40 GB a month on my cable internet, but it shows that people who use excessively should pay for it.  If you did this, you would freaking OWN the US cellular market.  Some people might end up paying more and being pissy, but if they want to use 40 GB in a month, let them bail and clog someone else's data lines...

You arbitrarily lowered AT&Ts prices and came up with a strictly per GB plan.  I like the per GB idea but your structure where each GB costs more than the one before it is silly.  You have the model upside-down.  Otherwise your plan is what they offered today.  It is infinitely simpler than any previous plans they had.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBR 

I can't believe that anyone is still believing the 'data hog' nonsense that AT&T pumps out.

What basis do you have to dispute it?  I owned a regional ISP for 5 years and have consulted for UUNet (later MWAN), US West (Quest), SBC, AT&T, and a whole list of regional ISPs.  Data hogs are very real and very difficult to manage.  What would you call it when less than 1% of your customers are using more than 50% of your resources (for many carriers the gap is actually a lot bigger than that).

Anyone who has managed a network with a reasonable number of users (lets say 2000+) can confirm the same situation.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andysol 

 

Exactly- complaining because it's not better is dumb.  It'll be better for some, great.  Not for others- don't change.  Geez.

 

 

 

My wife and I are on our company, but this will help my dad and mom who just got iPhones:

$60 700 Minutes

$10 Additional Line

$15 200mb Data iPhone 1

$15 200mb Data iPhone 2

$30 Unlimited Texting

----------------------------------

$130

 

For for the same $130- it gets them 1gb instead of 600mb, Unlimited Talk instead of 700 minutes, and Tethering.

 

Yay for them.

 

 

 

 

What is wrong with what I just wrote?

It is actually better than that for people who use just a little more data and take the time to review their usage history and figure out what they need.  Better still for iPad users. I am not normally an AT&T fan, but this is a nice change.

well not sure how old your son is (maybe he's watching porn?? jjk-- lol - but if he is in fact watching ANY movies or youtube videos online or has anything like a online game then just switches to say a call or texting the VIDEO/MEDIA app is still running in the background I know this because i got my mom an iphone for her birthday last year and she's sharing her plan with me on a family plan and I couldn't figure out what a 70 year old could be doing using all that data per month and when i checked her phone she was logged into to youtube and telenovela websites and watching videos but not quitting the apps .. you need to show your son how to force quit the apps i.e.; just double click/tap the home button and when you see the bottom dock of apps appear just press and hold each one until it wiggles to "Force Quit" them- this is not the same as removing them from the home screen it is only quitting the app from it staying open so you can safely press the 'x' in the upper corner of each app on the dock at the bottom of the iphone same thing goes for iPads.. i hope this helps you out some,,, good luck man.

BITZANDBITEZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freshmaker 

Oh I totally agree.  I meant that tongue-in-cheek.  :)

 

I just find it amusing that some people who buy the most expensive phone/tablet/notebook out there turn around and complain about other companies making money as well.

Oh, thank goodness! Lol.

I agree. Plus you are asking AT&T to pay the other $400 for the phone. People on here are wanting to pay $50/month for unlimited text/data/voice and get the phone subsidized. AT&T would have to take your first 8 months of service and put that toward the phone cost and then try to make a profit from you with the remaining 12 months of service (or $600) at that price. Give me a break. Plus these same people want them to add more 4G coverage and add more towers and increase bandwith. With what money????

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wovel 

What basis do you have to dispute it?  I owned a regional ISP for 5 years and have consulted for UUNet (later MWAN), US West (Quest), SBC, AT&T, and a whole list of regional ISPs.  Data hogs are very real and very difficult to manage.  What would you call it when less than 1% of your customers are using more than 50% of your resources (for many carriers the gap is actually a lot bigger than that).

 

Anyone who has managed a network with a reasonable number of users (lets say 2000+) can confirm the same situation.  

Anyone that has had cable internet service in a neighborhood with a handful of data hogs knows what you are talking about. I could never get advertised speeds because of heavy traffic, especially on the weekends and holidays.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SailorPaul 

I'd like to see a class action lawsuit on the following:  I have paid for the bits in my monthly data charge.  Those bits are paid for, my property, and are not subject to AT&T telling me how each bit can be used -- and these bits do not expire (roll-over data bucket).

Good luck with finding a law firm to take on that class action lawsuit.

Read AT&T's terms and conditions they can and do tell you what you can and cannot do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DustinLH00 

 

Oh, thank goodness! Lol.

 

I agree. Plus you are asking AT&T to pay the other $400 for the phone. People on here are wanting to pay $50/month for unlimited text/data/voice and get the phone subsidized. AT&T would have to take your first 8 months of service and put that toward the phone cost and then try to make a profit from you with the remaining 12 months of service (or $600) at that price. Give me a break. Plus these same people want them to add more 4G coverage and add more towers and increase bandwith. With what money????

please, at&t is big enough to demand a discount from apple

like any mature business expect a large chunk of your bill to go to advertising, especially on TV and new customers which are the penny for a nice android phone deals on amazon. 5 years ago existing customers would get the nice retention discounts, now its new customers. its almost like cereal, do you really think it costs anywhere close to $5 to make that 1 pound box of fried corn and fake sugar?. its pennies. i even noticed that the organic cereal at whole foods is about the same price as the crappy sugar artificial crap everywhere else. Why? because Natures path rarely advertises unlike the others who spend money for TV ads to convince you to buy their fried cheap grain with HFCS

Quote:

Originally Posted by DustinLH00 

 

How do you figure that $50/month is enough income for the carriers?

 

I am not privy to their costs of doing business, but I do not see how they could give you unlimited data, unlimited text, and unlimited voice for $50 a month and still make a profit, especially when they are subsidizing the cost of the phone on top of that. I could see a cheaper plan if you pay for your phone outright, but there is no way that this is reasonable for the carrier.

If you aren't privy to their costs, how do you figure it isn't enough?

AT&T's Q1 2012 profits were ~$3.6 billion. Verizon's Q1 2012 profits were ~$3.9 billion. They are operating on publicly owned radio spectrum, given to them to use for the public good. I think they could charge $50/month and continue to operate at a healthy profit, even while building out the networks to support consumer demand.

The only reason they are charging the rates they do is because there is no real competition in wireless in this country, and the FCC, FTC and DoJ turn a blind eye.

Hmm.. There's no real reason to switch to this. For me

current plan: 

5GB plan with tethering 50$

450 minutes with unlimited mobile-mobile, 5K nights weekends - $39.99

Unlimited Texting - 20$

total 109.99

Shared data plans - 4GB - $70

40$ smartphone fee 

total 110

It doesn't make sense to switch when you get less data, and don't use unlimited minutes. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by al_bundy 

please, at&t is big enough to demand a discount from apple

 

like any mature business expect a large chunk of your bill to go to advertising, especially on TV and new customers which are the penny for a nice android phone deals on amazon. 5 years ago existing customers would get the nice retention discounts, now its new customers. its almost like cereal, do you really think it costs anywhere close to $5 to make that 1 pound box of fried corn and fake sugar?. its pennies. i even noticed that the organic cereal at whole foods is about the same price as the crappy sugar artificial crap everywhere else. Why? because Natures path rarely advertises unlike the others who spend money for TV ads to convince you to buy their fried cheap grain with HFCS

Nobody gets a discount from Apple, why do you think AT&T could?

Quote:

Originally Posted by anonymouse 

 

If you aren't privy to their costs, how do you figure it isn't enough?

 

AT&T's Q1 2012 profits were ~$3.6 billion. Verizon's Q1 2012 profits were ~$3.9 billion. They are operating on publicly owned radio spectrum, given to them to use for the public good. I think they could charge $50/month and continue to operate at a healthy profit, even while building out the networks to support consumer demand.

 

The only reason they are charging the rates they do is because there is no real competition in wireless in this country, and the FCC, FTC and DoJ turn a blind eye.

You are asking them to cut the rate that they charge in half (at least). Why should they have to go from $3.6 billion to $1.8 billion? On another post I explained the subsidization as well. At $50 a month, the first 8 months of your service would go directly to Apple (or other phone manufacturer). Then they only have 12 months to get money from you ($600) to apply toward the cost of providing you service, retail overhead, customer service, expanding their network, etc...before you upgrade your phone and they lose another 8 months of income.

Apple made $11.62 billion last quarter, over 3 times more than AT&T. I don't see you jumping on them for greed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boojoo007 

I am assuming if I have an iPad Wifi, I could use this plan using the HOTSPOT plan, 

however if i have an iPAD 3G, then Id need the tablet plan. Correct?

 

anyone?

All iPads have Wi-Fi.

AT&T and Verizon realize that days of milking money out of voice and messaging plans are coming to an end. So mandating unlimited voice and messaging is in their (and shareholders') interests.

In retrospect, we have been paying much higher fee for voice and messaging than data. Voice calls over 3G consumes less than 40MB per hour ($39.99 450-minute = 300 MB) and text message consumes next to nothing. So one may argue $40 for 1 GB is actually reasonable in comparison. In time, I wouldn't be surprised if voice and messaging are rolled into data consumption altogether. $30-45 per iPhone, on the other hand, is a major rip off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram 

Care to be a bit more helpful, and summarize what you learnt from visiting the site?

Actually I learnt nothing. It just confirmed what I already knew and surmised from the AI abridged version.

I do believe however, that the for many here, reading the FAQs and the comparison charts could have helped clarify some of the confusion, but unfortunately not everyone.

P.S. I forgot the link to the AT&T Data Calculator. Base of the estimates for our family and comparing them with our last 6 month invoices, it looks like I will be able to move down a notch.