AT&T says it is "working on" shared data plans, no delivery date set

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
AT&T is still "working on" delivering a shared data plan that would allow users to pool minutes and data plans between their devices.



According to report by Engadget AT&T's chief executive Ralph de la Vega confirmed at the D9 conference that his company has shared data plan in the works but could not commit to a time frame of when such a plan would be available.



The company has no ballpark on pricing to announce yet either. AT&T has consistently remained behind Verizon Wireless and other carriers in offering options such as tethering and even MMS for Apple's iPhone, which until recently the carrier was the exclusive provider for in the US.



The Verizon iPhone initiated WiFi tethering first, pushing AT&T to follow suit later. Verizon recently announced intentions to push toward shared data plans, with its chief financial officer Fran Shammo saying at a Reuters Global Technology Summit conference last month:



"We had individual minutes for individual users. Then we eventually got to what we call family share where everyone in the family shares the same minutes. I think it's safe to assume that at some point you are going to have mega-plans (for data) and people are going to share that mega-plan based on the number of devices within their family. That's just a logical progression."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    Its about time...if/when this actually happens.....
  • Reply 2 of 28
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    Finally! If Sprint comes onboard with the new iP5, iP4s and better rates...I'll dump ATT in a heartbeat! I would not do the same with Verizon. Verizon is a toxic company, like Cox Cable!
  • Reply 3 of 28
    I wonder how they'd implement this... 10-50 gigs of shared usage? I wonder if it'll make data any cheaper for share plans. Although I like the unlimited data I have with Verizon now!
  • Reply 4 of 28
    tuckerjjtuckerjj Posts: 35member
    I've been sharing my data plan between phone and iPad since October last year with o2 in Germany
  • Reply 5 of 28
    jexusjexus Posts: 373member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Darkstar2007 View Post


    I wonder how they'd implement this... 10-50 gigs of shared usage?



    This is AT&T we're talking about....the company who complained that 1,882,000(AKA 2% of 94.1 mil subs at the time) was enough to bring their network down.



    They Cap at 2GB without a tethering plan for just a single person. I have serious doubts that they are just going to give you anywhere between 25X the amount between 2 people and 5X the amount with a line of 5.



    No offense, but I wouldn't trust them with anything that sounds good.
  • Reply 6 of 28
    bcahill009bcahill009 Posts: 163member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    AT&T is still "working on" delivering a shared data plan that would allow users to pool minutes and data plans between their devices.



    And by "working on" they mean figuring out a marketing play that sounds good, but in reality continues to rip us off. I mean seriously do you expect them to work on a plan that would have them lose revenue. Of course not, they are the biggest vendor, and about to become much bigger. they don't need to deal right now.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    filburtfilburt Posts: 398member
    My guess is $45/month, with hotspot and 4GB allowance (just like the current iPhone hotspot feature).
  • Reply 8 of 28
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    AT&T's new "Nationwide Plan" will pull all 100 million users in one plan so we all get equally screwed on usage¡
  • Reply 9 of 28
    Shared unlimited for $40 would be great.

    If you have to share 2GB, I call it lame.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    davesmalldavesmall Posts: 118member
    There is no way you're ever going to get a good deal from AT&T, Verizon, or Comcast.



    The first prerequisite for doing business with them is to have a big jar of Vaseline at the ready.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post




    No offense, but I wouldn't trust them with anything that sounds good.



    None taken! 50gb was going overboard. 10gb would probably be the max they allowed. I've never had AT&T, though I have friends who do and their service isn't good at all (in my area) Verizon has the best service around here, so that's who my carrier is. I've subscribed to them for 11 years now, and they've always been good to me. The only real complaint I feel like I'll have soon, is their choice to swap to tiered plans(Good thing im locked in for unlimited data with the iPhone 4 til 2013.) It's just them jumping on the more money for us, screw the customer train
  • Reply 12 of 28
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post


    This is AT&T we're talking about....the company who complained that 1,882,000(AKA 2% of 94.1 mil subs at the time) was enough to bring their network down.



    And what makes you think that it wasn't true?



    At the time, the overwhelming majority of people never accessed much data. I don't believe I ever launched an internet browser on any of my previous phones. When millions of iPhones were suddenly launched, the amount of data being transferred over the Internet skyrocketed.



    It really disgusts me how people think that their own inane opinions are somehow more valid than the clear, public statements of corporate executives - who could face jail time for lying over material matters.



    And before you launch into Enron and Madoff, those folks have been severely punished. The system isn't perfect, but it catches enough people that there's a major disincentive to lying - particularly when there's nothing to gain by lying as in the above example.
  • Reply 13 of 28
    dimwitdimwit Posts: 29member
    I have 2GB/month, my wife has "unlimited". Between the two of us, we might use 1.5 GB/month. If AT&T were to offer us the opportunity to "share" 3GB for say $35/month or 4GB for $45/month, I would have to think long and hard... Especially if I could share that with a 3G iPad.



    But, that's just me.

    Dim
  • Reply 14 of 28
    huffcwhuffcw Posts: 53member
    I am extremely happy with my $25 plan from Virgin Mobile that provides unlimited data/web/text plus 300 minutes of call time. I only wish Apple would offer a version of the iPhone on their pre-paid service.



    I am even able to do wi-fi tethering with my current phone, so I can connect my iPad through Virgin Mobile.



    I have done side-by-side speed tests with Verizon and Virgin Mobile always seems to be on par. AT&T is almost always significantly faster in my area though.
  • Reply 15 of 28
    zoffdinozoffdino Posts: 192member
    Here in Canada, I have had shared data plan for almost 2 years, and before that, tethering was free. But all data share plans are stupid, $10 per month per device to use the same block of bandwidth? Data is data, I paid for it once, I can use it however I like. Rogers, for all its evilness, doesn't block me from doing so (yet). And I pay what I consider a fair price for data: $30 / 6GB.



    Not cheap, but fair.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    rbrrbr Posts: 631member
    When the first iPad was released, there was a report that, in Spain at least, some providers were simply giving the user a second SIM card and however they allocated their data allocation between devices was up to them. It is incredibly simple...and works as a gateway to offering larger data plans. Duh!
  • Reply 17 of 28
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    It's odd in a funny sort of way how so many people complain about the price of a product or service, but continue to pay for it just the same.
  • Reply 18 of 28
    jexusjexus Posts: 373member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    And what makes you think that it wasn't true?



    At the time, the overwhelming majority of people never accessed much data. I don't believe I ever launched an internet browser on any of my previous phones. When millions of iPhones were suddenly launched, the amount of data being transferred over the Internet skyrocketed.



    It really disgusts me how people think that their own inane opinions are somehow more valid than the clear, public statements of corporate executives - who could face jail time for lying over material matters.



    I am annoyed by people who don't look up facts, and inappropriately use the psychological term "insane", without looking up the diagnostic criteria.



    In november of 09 verizon released the DROID phone which managed to sell 1,500,000 units in 74 days.(comparison to the original iphone though.) In april they added the incredible to the lineup.



    http://cdn.artoftheiphone.com/wp-con...Nexus-One1.png



    This year and last year, Android, despite having lesser numbers have used more data....



    Quote:

    Even though fewer Verizon cell phone subscribers are using data services, individually, they are consuming roughly the same amount of data each month as the average AT&T customer. AT&T cell phone subscribers, on average, consume 149.6MB a month. The average Verizon cell phone subscriber consumes about 147.2MB of data per month.

    When it comes to smartphones, usage patterns between AT&T and Verizon customers are also similar. But Verizon appears to have more power-users that fall in the midrange of data consumption.

    According to data analyzed by Validas, about half of AT&T's iPhone customers use less than 200MB of data per month. And about 47 percent of their iPhone subscribers use between 200MB and 2GB of data with about 90 percent of those customers using less than 1GB of data per month. This means that about 2.5 percent of AT&T's users consume more than 2GB of data per month.



    Verizon Wireless smartphone subscribers have similar usage patterns to those on AT&T's network. But where they differ is in the number of subscribers that are using between 500MB to 1GB per month of data. Verizon has twice as many of those customers than AT&T has, Finegold said. More than 11 percent of Verizon Wireless smartphone users fall into this category, versus just 5.6 percent of iPhone users.





    Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20...#ixzz1OAzaQyYC



    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20067887-251.html

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38456202...-iphone-users/



    ATT put data caps in a month before that time: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=127525710



    I'm not justifying verizon's incoming caps, because they are simply playing follow the leader.



    But when more than 9 Million people are eating 500mb-1GB a month, and your network is strained by anywhere from 1,882,000 to 5,269,600 users are using AS much, then:



    1. You have lied about your network capability(see: "ATT admits it can't handle iphone", and ATT fails Alltel customers- http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/busi...cc4c03286.html )



    2. You have not invested enough into your network

    3. You are waiting for a cheap solution to come by(See AT&T T-mobile merger)



    So yes, ATT has no one to blame but itself for any issues that it may incur.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post


    I am annoyed by people who don't look up facts, and inappropriately use the psychological term "insane", without looking up the diagnostic criteria.



    1) Are people just suppose to lookup the "diagnostic criteria" of insanity each time before using it correctly in a sentence that doesn't involve a medical diagnostic or are can already know how it's defined before using it correctly in a sentence that doesn't involve a medical diagnostic? Either one is insane!



    2) Diagnostic criteria? Really?! You're on a tech forum and you've gone past simply knowing the various definitions of the word 'insane' but are wanting people to know all the diagnostic criteria? How many psychopathologists do you think are on this forum? Your request is insane!



    3) He wrote 'inane,' not 'insane.'
  • Reply 20 of 28
    jexusjexus Posts: 373member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    1) Are people just suppose to lookup the "diagnostic criteria" of insanity each time before using it correctly in a sentence that doesn't involve a medical diagnostic or are can already know how it's defined before using it correctly in a sentence that doesn't involve a medical diagnostic? Either one is insane!



    2) Diagnostic criteria? Really?! You're on a tech forum and you've gone past simply knowing the various definitions of the word 'insane' but are wanting people to know all the diagnostic criteria? How many psychopathologists do you think are on this forum? Your request is insane!



    3) He wrote 'inane,' not 'insane.'



    I had a freudian slip, I'm human.



    But yes lets devote 3 bullet points to one sentence of irrelevancy and completely ignore the other facts I stated because apparently my one sentence was that important.



    Even in failing to address the proper term "inane" I replied with one sentence alone addressing the statement I thought was present, not 3 entire points.
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