AT&T announces iPhone 3G plans, 8 a.m. launch time on July 11 - Page 3

If this is considered price gouging then it would be a class action as it affects a large number of people and easily exceeds $5M in damages. Furthermore, since this practice is common among almost all US carriers this could be considered an oligopoly, or cartel, action to illegally keep the prices inflated.

Note: I freely admit that I am aware of the actual charges of an SMS. While the data is considerably smaller than other services there may be patent fees associated with the tech that I am not aware of. Or some other such fees that make the 160 character maximum for an SMS so much more expensive than any other transference on a cell phone. Even Skype charges 11.2¢ for a single SMS.

I have ATT voice, but no data plan and it will be a while before I'm eligible for an equipment upgrade, so this seems like not that great a deal, unless they count adding data as a new plan, which is unclear.

For the old iPhone, I would have added $20/month in data and my contract term would revert to a full two years, plus paying for the phone.

To get the new iPhone, I still have to add a data plan and extend my contract and pay for the phone.

I'm not saying it's unfair, but it also doesn't make the new iPhone seem that tempting, either. It would seem like there would be some incentive for AT&T to get existing voice customers to add a data plan.

So, if you look at the family plan web site the new plane is $40/month or $10 more (+$5 for SMS) so it exactly parallels the non-family plan model - $10/month extra for 3G and $5/month for SMS. Very very consistent.

$90 for 900 minutes reminds me of the days back in the late 80s/mid90s when they advertised 10cents per min long distance.

Nothing new.

in regards to text messages, won't you be able to text through ichat...once someone develops an app for it? as most of you know, text messages can be sent through ichat currently

I am not sure if you can say that.

Everybody has this impression, but it seems that it is getting too expensive to service and maintain. Sure it was cheap at the beginning because it wasn't taking up much space as it wasn't being used much. That is until they began adding keyboards and people found it fun using the 'new' language.

Heck, I could never understand why my son would text message his buddy a couple of blocks away instead of just picking up the house phone. Then I learned the lingo and found out really what he was saying.

In any case, text messaging is not just an issue with ATT or other US or Canadian carriers. Every place around the world have seen costs increased up there with gold and oil futures.

Why? Perhaps, in part, the usage is so astronomical, e.g., over 7 billion/day*. Users aren't just sending one text message to one person at a time. Many are in the hundreds and even in the thousands. http://www.verisign.com/infrastructu...ge_042873.html

But more important, until the message is picked up, it has to be stored somewhere and that is the dilemma.

Why anybody would want to waste time and money sending and receiving text messages is beyond me, particularly if you really have to communicate with words, there are ways that don't cost a nickel more than you are paying now. http://www.tuaw.com/2007/07/05/6-thi...-dont-pub-yet/

*http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/20_year_factsheet.pdf

PS I know you like to look up statistics. Take a gander here and look at the growth rates in the past few quarters. http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/index.shtml

I must have misunderstood the first line of the following post:

My apologies.

Wait, hold on. He said he recently bought a new ATT phone, so he isn't eligible for a phone upgrade. AKA, he can't buy the phone for $199/$299. Did you read the article/his comment?

A few issues:

1. The pricing is high, and it frankly annoys the piss out of me. $70 for a basic plan? And you know it's not actually $70...it's $80 when you're done with taxes and fees. That's $20 more than I pay now with Verizon..and that's WITH unlimited VZW texting and 500 texts to other wireless carriers.

2. The fact that they claim "unlimited data" is included and then charge another $5 for texts is not right. That means I'm going to spend $85 a month when all fees and taxes are included. Wow. That's $1000 a year! It's $240 more/year than my VZW bill. Over two years that's a $480 difference. But wait...there's still more. I am leaving VZW a little early, so I may get nailed with a $175 early termination fee (which I'll fight). Then I get to buy a $300 iPhone too, with a $36 activation fee.

So let's look at the REAL cost:

$318 iPhone 16GB (with 6% PA sales tax)
$36 activation
$20 essential accessories (car charger, for example).
$175 early termination
$240 more per year service plan


Cost to person like me vs. current phone: $789.00

Wow. It won't stop me from buying one, but damn.

"Obviously"? Apple isn't providing the service here. Where do you get your wishful thinking?


The thing is, I've always understood that upgrading a phone at the best price usually requires having been with the carrier for two years. It's probably written in your contract, if not in the terms of the updated contract.



While Apple's marketing seems to be worse than average sometimes, you do need to pay attention whenever someone is trying to sell you something. If you did not know this before, use this as a learning experience. That said, I really don't think Apple is to blame on this part.


I think charging so much for SMS is unwarranted, but I don't think a class action suit would be viable, unless they revoked your SMS priviledges without changing the contract. Personally, I suggest going to email anyway. All I want is a way to block SMS.


The original is a perfectly fine unit. It's a little slower and doesn't have GPS, but as long as it works at a lower priced plan, it's fine to keep it, it's paid for too.

If this true then I can do the following. Cancel my wife number since it is not on any contract and buy 2 iPhones (one as an upgrade and another one as new family plan line for $199). I guess it would work. However, I still don't see how it is not eligible since the Nokia was not subsidized when we bought it. I will have to call them and see.

Any ideas about the FAN discount? They canned it on the 1st Gen iPhone and wouldn't let me have it (only applied to non-Apple hardware). Also, the discounts only applied to the voice and not the date or text messaging so it only saved me about $10 a month (25% of my $40 voice plan). There's a number of back and forths on MR but nobody actually cites anything official from AT&T...

Yes. The point is that he hasn't paid AT&T for the cost of his new phone yet. So he expects AT&T to simply eat the cost of his old phone because he was too stupid to go on ebay to get a cheap unlocked phone for 2 months rather than hose up his chances of getting a subsidized iPhone.

He clearly was eligible since he got a new phone. Too bad he blew it on a cheapo phone.

I know VZW does this, as I used to block SMS with them. If you call ATT they'll probably be able to put on a block as well. Only issue with blocking is that the person sending doesn't get an immediate bounce, so they'll assume you got the SMS until 4 days later they get a bounce and realize that you weren't just being an a-hole.

If you bought it outright and didn't get tricked into jumping into a contract (which they will try) then you would be eligible. However, some special, low-rate plans require a contract which you verbally agree to over the phone. If that is the case then you would probably be ineligible.

I'd talk to an AT&T CSR to find out about the exact details of that "ineligible" tag you are seeing for your wife's phone.

I have a RAZR with T-Mobile for 30 bucks per month. It works great as a phone. For me to ditch this and get the iPhone, it would cost me another 40 bucks more. That's 40 bucks more so I can have data. It just isn't worth it. If I needed it for business, that would be different but I don't. I'll be sitting on my hands. Thanks but no thanks.

It wasn't publicly known that the iphone would be subsidized. And ATT at the time said that it would be possible to upgrade with no penalties (because they knew as much as we did about iphone subsidies: nothing). I don't think his buying a cheepo phone with ATT was a reflection of poor foresight, especially if he was planning (as I was) to add $20 or $30 to the plan to get unlimited data (in which case it was good planning/thinking at the time). And no, we didn't expect ATT to eat the cost, we expected ATT to not be subsidizing the phone. Now we're getting slapped an extra $100 for the subsidy (vs the price of 1st gen iphones with similar storage capacity). Not expecting ATT to eat it, just annoyed.

Another successful name thanks to http://iCantThinkOfBetterName.com

I was about to say the same thing.

Steve: Time to put those billions to good use. Buy out Sprint since they are in a weakened position, rebrand the service "Apple Mobile" and put a fire under the WiMax alliance!

Thanks. I'll look into that. In a later post I did note that my assessment is based solely on the data size and nothing else. I alluded to a possible fee for the patent holder of SMS as an example of where the additional fees may come from but didn't consider the storage of all these SMSes.

SMS is nice because, like an IM on your computer, it can be a quick and dirty discourse without having to stop doing other things. A phone call or proper letter takes away too much time and focus. Though not nearly as proficient as your son, I'm sure, I could type an SMS on a number-pad phone without even looking and while doing something else entirely. It has its benefits.

These insane prices are keeping me far, far away from both at&t and iPhone 3G. I guess I'll have to stick with my piece of junk Samsung on T-mo for another year or two. \

Yes, did you?
The issue is the iPhone is available for $199/$299 with a new 2 year plan (which Keda even quotes) but he is trying to apply that quoted $199/$299 to his current plan.

Users are more than welcome to get a new phone as many times as they like with any plan on any phone service.
However, it's gonna cost. Keda seems to think he should get a new phone for free/discount whenever he wants.

I specifically remember them saying that current *iPhone* subscribers could upgrade with no penalties other than a new 2yr contract, not just anyone with an ATT phone in the generic sense.

How much more is it to add unlimited 3G data to a VZW plan? That is pretty much a wash. The early termination fee is something you are choosing to do, you dont' have to jump to AT&T right away.

I hope you en't blaming AT&T and Apple for that. The additional charge for SMS is the only thing that seems really bad on AT&T's part. It makes that $10/month increase $15/month for those who want to maintain the same plan features.

This means that you should stick with messaging apps/services that run over your data plan and avoid using SMS completely (most mobile IM apps do that). I would expect that with the app store you will find plenty of those to choose from.

SMS is an old technology that will die as more and more phones include a data plan in them. Why pay more for something that you already have?

I agree with you, but that was keynote and after. That knowledge was not common 6 months ago...

Not sure if people have already posted.

But I have already called At&t, and I am not eligible
BUT
I asked him if former At&t Iphone owners will get the lower price, he said yes.
Here is my thinking.
My buddy was going to give his Iphone 1.0 to his wife.. BUT
what if he gives it to me first?
I will get his Iphone after he gets his new one, and then transfer it to me
then after I buy one, (because technically I am an Iphone owner)
I'll hand over the Iphone to his wife after I buy mine for the lower price?

what you think?

Granted. While the keynote might have been misleading (through omitted info, not disinformation) which might have caused Keda's dismay, I'm not contesting anything you said right there. I was contesting the tone and plain argumentativeness of your comment (i.e. "You were forced to buy a new phone??" or something to that regard, etc). I think it was evident from his post that he wished to have a new phone but keep his current line (aka, buy a new phone, move the contract to the new phone, not have two contracts). You saying he can have two contracts and in effect implying that he wasn't smart enough to realize and pursue that end is counter-productive and purely argumentative.

If he gives it to you have to switch your current ineligible plan to the EDGE iPhone. That will cost an activation fee and whatever cancelation fee is required. Unlocking and moving the SIM won't make it eligible as the contract will still be under the old handset.

Story:

AT&T to Offer iPhone Without Contract
Robert Holmes
07/01/08 - 01:11 PM EDT
Updated from 10:20 a.m. EDT
AT&T T announced additional pricing details for Apple's AAPL next-generation iPhone, which the company will begin selling next week, including the disclosure that buyers will have an option to purchase the device without a contract.

AT&T reaffirmed that it will offer the 3G iPhone at a subsidized price to subscribers who are activating a new line with the wireless provider or to current customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount. Those subscribers can buy the iPhone 3G for $199 for the 8-gigabyte model or $299 for the 16-gigabyte version. Those prices require two-year contracts, AT&T said.

Existing AT&T subscribers who don't qualify for an upgrade discount can purchase the iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8-gigabyte model or $499 for the 16-gigabyte device. Both options will require a new two-year service agreement. Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee, the company said.

AT&T also divulged the unsubsidized cost of the iPhone 3G, saying it will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 for the 8-gigabyte iPhone or $699 for the 16-gigabyte "in the future." Previously, both Apple and AT&T had not announced plans to sell the iPhone 3G without a service contract.

Shares of AT&T were lately down 1.8% to $33.09. Rival Verizon VZ was losing 0.2% to $35.34. Sprint Nextel S slumped 9.3% to $8.62.

iPhone maker Apple AAPL saw its shares gain 1.9% to $170.68. BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion RIMM was adding 1.5% to $118.73, and Palm PALM gave back 4.1% to $5.17.

I too, was considering the family plan for the 3G iPhone-I'm glad that the pricing was finally released. I agree with your post-I was initially thinking of getting the plan but it does not make financial sense. I might just hold off on getting a iPhone (s)-not too keen on their pricing plans (and I am a current Cingular/AT&T customer).

If you look at AT&T page, they have the same thing for the pay-per-use of text messages. .20c

Now if this slides into the contract as well...

Just called AT&T:

I have a family plan contract:
2100 minutes for $100.00/mo. + $9.99 each additional line

All phones on plan have expired.

I can get the iPhone 3G 16GB and will only have to pay $30 extra/month for the data plan.

According to the phone rep., you're just re-committing 2 years to AT&T, but your voice plan does NOT change.

very relieved.....

Wow. nice info. you would think it'd be part of the press release! but no, PR people are apparently dumb...

I am really disappointed with this announcement. Such plan is going to force people to buy those unlocked iPhone. It is too bad that Apple is sticking with AT&T. The new rate increase that was announced when 3G iPhone was announced, was already making rethinking the $199 price and now with this additional bump is making me start looking at Sprint with their Samsung Instinct offering. I was all pumped up to get the new 3G iPhone, but the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is now much higher.

I do have one question - If I just bought an AT&T regular cellphone and signed for 2 year contract last month, can I still be eligible for iPhone at $199 ?

That is the exact word that Keda used. (which is why I included his quoted text in my original response).


I agree that is what he wants.
However, he was trying to use the info he quoted ($199 with a new plan) to support that.
If he had posted something that said he could get a new phone for $199 on his current contract, then I probably wouldn't have commented.

sdfgdfgh

If it will make you feel any better, you would also be helping
to fund MY vacation.

JUST got off the phone with AT&T
and ...

YES: ALL MUST BE STANDING IN LINE to purchase for the FAMILY PLAN. Strict 1-per-person-in-line.

But, she said you could purchase one each at multiple AT&T or Apple stores and 'easily' combine then into one Family Plan without penalties. (but not without hassle!).

Just to be clear, the $599 and $699 price for the un-subsidized, contract-free iPhone is still locked to AT&T.


You'll have to contact AT&T to be certain, but if you bought a phone before your eligible date has come you can't buy the iPhone at the $199/$299 price.

If it has been within 30 days, it may benefit you to return your current phone and wait the 10 days for the iPhone.