

AT&T raises data plan prices - gs7
http://blogs.att.net/consumerblog/story/a7780235

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casca
The amusing part of this is that scaling data is really cheap. You just don't
do anything. It's not like voice where you need to allocate a certain amount
of throughput to have a conversation work - when any part of the network is
congested, packets get dropped and your email takes longer to load. This is
just a monopolist pushing up prices because they can.

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rkudeshi
I realize this was probably inevitable, but I'm really disappointed by this
move.

I applauded AT&T when they introduced the $15 data plan (for 200mb). The price
was low enough that it helped my family go from 1 data plan to 4 data plans
(out of 5 total lines).

In fact, that $15 plan has been one of the biggest reasons I've defended AT&T
recently. Verizon and Sprint start their data plans at $30 last I checked,
which quickly becomes prohibitively expensive for multiple lines on a family
plan.

It's especially damning for AT&T because they refuse to allow any smartphones
on their network without a data plan (even if you bring your own unsubsidized
unlocked smartphone).

I realize $20 instead of $15 isn't a huge difference but it all adds up.
Honestly, I was hoping they'd go in the opposite direction with a ~100mb plan
for $10. Now that would've been a game changer.

~~~
julesallen
I'm only < 24 hours into it but Ting.com beta program phone showed up today. I
get 500Mb per month for US$13 which is more than the ~250Mb I usually use.
I'll get a credit back on the next month's bill which is, well, how it should
be.

The bands are 100Mb = $3pm; 500Mb = $13; 1,000Mb = $24; 2,000Mb = $42; and
3,000Mb = $60.

I use zero voice minutes and zero text messages per month so my bill will be
$19 (data + $6 per 'line') plus the usual mandatory taxes. This will save me
about $60pm on my iPhone bill where I had no choice but to have voice.

They're a Sprint MVNO, there's no contract, and I have high hopes as the
customer service has been outstanding to date. The Web-based management GUI is
a bit spartan but that'll evolve over time I suppose. I only wish they were
GSM-based instead of CDMA.

