Data Plan Required?

[Blaze9]

Hello,

I have had an iPhone for the past year. It's a iPhone 3G, 3.0 OS. It's also Jailbroken and unlocked. (Both are legal, as long as it's  "for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network." (DMCA). Currently I have T-Mobile, but I want to switch to AT&T. Will I be required to purchase a Dataplan? I can fully disable 3G and EDGE on the phone, as well as delete the APN settings, which in theory should completely stop my phone from sending DATA over the network. I can recieve text and calls however. 

Thanks.

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek · Accepted solution]

Yes you would be required to get a data plan.  If you use your iPhone on the ATT network, ATT can detect that its an iPhone off the IMEI and change your plan without having to ask you.

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms.jsp

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Data Plans: An eligible data plan is required for certain devices, including iPhones and other designated Smartphones and PDAs. Eligible data plans cover data usage in the U.S. and do not cover international data usage and charges. If it is determined that you are using an iPhone or other designated Smartphone or PDA without an eligible data plan, AT&T reserves the right to add an eligible data plan to your account and bill you the appropriate monthly fee.

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[Blaze9]

Wow. they're trying to get all the money they can off the phone..

Oh well.. Guess I'll need to find another service provider. I can not function without this phone..

[gwnorth]

Other then AT&T and T-Mobile, your choices for a GSM provider in the US is severely limited (to a few MVNO's and a few remaining small local service providers still in business).  And I'm curious, if you disable both 3G and EDGE on a jailbroken phone, how do you do anything?  You have to have at least one active to just make a phone call?

[Ridyn]

All that is required to make a phone call is GPRS. GRPS doesn't have data access, I should know..I used to live in the boonies.

[gwnorth]

I don't understand the point of what your saying.  In purely practical terms, if you disable EDGE and 3G on an iphone, you have just turned off all of it's cellular radio connectivity, including GPRS (unless there is some hack I don't know about). And GPRS is still quite capable of data connections.

Message Edited by gwnorth on 12-02-2009 09:35:34 AM

[satchev]

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Blaze9 wrote:

Wow. they're trying to get all the money they can off the phone..

Oh well.. Guess I'll need to find another service provider. I can not function without this phone..

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Maybe the best option for you is a basic cell phone and an iPod Touch.

And yes, you can function without the phone, humans have been doing that for thousands of years and I'm certain you survived for a few decades prior to the iPhone being released.  You simply choose to make it something that you do not want to function without.

[Blaze9]

You can shut off both EDGE and 3G ands still make calls. I just did that right now using T-Mobile..

Well, I compared prices with ATT and T-Mobile, TM's a bit cheaper, about  109.99 a month (Family plan, 1500 mins + family texting). I'm still not sure if I should stick with T-Mobile or switch to ATT.. 

[BrianfromNO]

That's incorrect.  GPRS is the older (slower) data service component of GSM.

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Ridyn wrote:
All that is required to make a phone call is GPRS. GRPS doesn't have data access, I should know..I used to live in the boonies.

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[reader0023]

Why may I ask would you not want the data plan to use the iphone?  Do you realize how much data the iPhone really uses? If you used the iPhone as it was intended without a data plan you would be looking at a bill in the thousands. Why do people want to use services and not pay for them, I don't get it.

You would have problems without the data, for example the voicemail works off of data.. so that would not work. What is the purpose of this phone without the data functions?

Message Edited by reader0023 on 12-18-2009 08:23:49 AM

[juicy907couture]

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reader0023 wrote:

Why may I ask would you not want the data plan to use the iphone?  Do you realize how much data the iPhone really uses? If you used the iPhone as it was intended without a data plan you would be looking at a bill in the thousands. Why do people want to use services and not pay for them, I don't get it.

You would have problems without the data, for example the voicemail works off of data.. so that would not work. What is the purpose of this phone without the data functions?

Message Edited by reader0023 on 12-18-2009 08:23:49 AM

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Not everyone can pay for the data. $30 a month is a lot of money to some people. Voicemail would still work without data, you just won't have the VISUAL voicemail.

[totalimmortal363]

Think of how much crap we all buy during a given month, I know I do. $30 really isnt a lot when you break down your spending and cut out the crap we buy that we really dont need.

[juicy907couture]

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totalimmortal363 wrote:
Think of how much crap we all buy during a given month, I know I do. $30 really isnt a lot when you break down your spending and cut out the crap we buy that we really dont need.

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Again I say, not everyone CAN pay for a data plan. There are individuals who may have recently lost their income. People that were able to afford the data plan when they signed their 2 year contract and then now they can't. Not everyone can go out an buy a new "dumbphone" to use on their line to be able to drop the iPhone & required data plan. (I'm in agreement with AT&T in that the data plan should be required, but only because my husband and I have backup dumbphones to be able to pop our SIMs in if we needed to drop the iPhones & data plans. If we didn't, I might not feel the same way.)

Given the choice between a data plan and food for their children, I'm hoping the choose the latter.

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

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juicy907couture wrote:

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totalimmortal363 wrote:
Think of how much crap we all buy during a given month, I know I do. $30 really isnt a lot when you break down your spending and cut out the crap we buy that we really dont need.

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Again I say, not everyone CAN pay for a data plan. There are individuals who may have recently lost their income. People that were able to afford the data plan when they signed their 2 year contract and then now they can't. Not everyone can go out an buy a new "dumbphone" to use on their line to be able to drop the iPhone & required data plan. (I'm in agreement with AT&T in that the data plan should be required, but only because my husband and I have backup dumbphones to be able to pop our SIMs in if we needed to drop the iPhones & data plans. If we didn't, I might not feel the same way.)

Given the choice between a data plan and food for their children, I'm hoping the choose the latter.

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I don't even see that as an issue.  If they cannot afford to pay the $30 month they can easily just sell the iPhone and purchase a regular phone or just flat out trade their iPhone for a regular phone.  Then they can cancel their data plan.  Yes they might be taking a loss on the device but as you said its a matter of whats more important to them and their finances.

So there are ways.  It's just a matter of priorities.

[robbeaudin]

How does this apply to someone who purchased a smartphone from ATT before this contract change came about?  I can tell you that this is a recent change in requirements because when my wife and I got blackberry curves about 18 mos ago we were told by the ATT store that we were required to get the data plan for them to sell us the phones but there was no requirement that we keep the data plan.  In fact ATT allowed us to cancel our data plans when we called them without a hassle.  Neither one of us have data plans on our blackberry's now and just recently found out that they were going to try to force us to now have data plans after we were told when we got the phones that we did not have to keep a data plan and they allowed us to cancel them over the phone.  All I can say is that if they add it to my bill they had better be able to produce a signed contract agreeing to those terms in court or they will be out of luck.  I just saw on my online account that there was a message relating to a data plan change so it looks like they are going to try to force the issue anyway. I can tell you that I will not pay the charges for a data plan that I will not use and I can't afford to keep right now.  I guess they'll be seeing me in court.

[sitnsidewayz]

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robbeaudin wrote:
How does this apply to someone who purchased a smartphone from ATT before this contract change came about?  I can tell you that this is a recent change in requirements because when my wife and I got blackberry curves about 18 mos ago we were told by the ATT store that we were required to get the data plan for them to sell us the phones but there was no requirement that we keep the data plan.  In fact ATT allowed us to cancel our data plans when we called them without a hassle.  Neither one of us have data plans on our blackberry's now and just recently found out that they were going to try to force us to now have data plans after we were told when we got the phones that we did not have to keep a data plan and they allowed us to cancel them over the phone.  All I can say is that if they add it to my bill they had better be able to produce a signed contract agreeing to those terms in court or they will be out of luck.  I just saw on my online account that there was a message relating to a data plan change so it looks like they are going to try to force the issue anyway. I can tell you that I will not pay the charges for a data plan that I will not use and I can't afford to keep right now.  I guess they'll be seeing me in court.

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If you are still using those same phones you bought 18 months ago, you are "grandfathered" and not required to have the data plans. If you upgrade those lines to new smartphones, you will be signing new agreements that are after the requirement, then you will be forced to get the data plans. If you ever switch your existing phones to other smartphones, you are required to have the data plans because you where not using these phones before the requirement. Once you lose your grandfathered status because of switching, you can not get it back. If you ever add the data plans, you will no longer be able to remove them.

[jmbreland001]

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reader0023 wrote:

Why may I ask would you not want the data plan to use the iphone?  Do you realize how much data the iPhone really uses? If you used the iPhone as it was intended without a data plan you would be looking at a bill in the thousands. Why do people want to use services and not pay for them, I don't get it.

You would have problems without the data, for example the voicemail works off of data.. so that would not work. What is the purpose of this phone without the data functions?

Message Edited by reader0023 on 12-18-2009 08:23:49 AM

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For those of us who use our phones solely for voice communications and for syncing our appointments, contacts, etc., with our computers, the extra data charge is useless.  I would prefer to have a phone with a QWERTY keyboard for PDA purposes, but I'm not going to pay an extra $30 a month for the privilege when I have no need or intention to transfer data over the wireless network.

Message Edited by jmbreland001 on 02-01-2010 01:29:30 PM

Message Edited by jmbreland001 on 02-01-2010 01:29:52 PM

[jmbreland001]

totalimmortal363 wrote:  Think of how much crap we all buy during a given month, I know I do. $30 really isnt a lot when you break down your spending and cut out the crap we buy that we really dont need.

Reply:  Sounds like sloppy budgeting to me!

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

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jmbreland001 wrote:

totalimmortal363 wrote:  Think of how much crap we all buy during a given month, I know I do. $30 really isnt a lot when you break down your spending and cut out the crap we buy that we really dont need.

Reply:  Sounds like sloppy budgeting to me!

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Message Edited by Planet-Ed on 2010-02-01 03:27:54 PM

[SLIKRICK]

For some, the $30 for this is part of "the crap..." "...we don't need." Everyone's needs/wants are subjective and/or specific to those persons in terms of levels of (un)importance.

[traci1002]

A friend gave me her old iphone recently and with my job I really do need to have access to the internet throughout the day.  The problem?  The $30 additional fee that I have to add which is why I haven't activated it yet.  If that plan included Text Messaging that would be fine but the fact that I still have to have a seperate plan for texting at, of course, an additional fee is what is really annoying.

No, not all people can afford that $30/month additional.... and it's not due to spending it on 'crap' it's due to spending it on health insurance (some of us have to pay it on our own, not have our company pay for it) and electric. 

Is there a reason why txt isn't included in the $30 plan needed for the iphone other than corporate greed?

[MyDogHasFleas]

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traci1002 wrote:

A friend gave me her old iphone recently and with my job I really do need to have access to the internet throughout the day.  The problem?  The $30 additional fee that I have to add which is why I haven't activated it yet.  If that plan included Text Messaging that would be fine but the fact that I still have to have a seperate plan for texting at, of course, an additional fee is what is really annoying.

No, not all people can afford that $30/month additional.... and it's not due to spending it on 'crap' it's due to spending it on health insurance (some of us have to pay it on our own, not have our company pay for it) and electric. 

Is there a reason why txt isn't included in the $30 plan needed for the iphone other than corporate greed?

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Text messaging and data have always been different features with different charges, on all phones.  

If you need Internet access, text messaging, and voice, you could get a little cheaper plan with a non-smartphone.  You'd only be able to do WAP browsing, not all the fancy stuff the iPhone can do.  

If you want to keep the iPhone and not sell it for something else, you will simply need to pay the $30/month data plan.  That is the way it is.  You also have to have a voice plan of some kind, and if you want to do text messages in any volume, you should also have a text plan, otherwise I think it's 10 cents/message in or out.  

[scottybm]

ATT are a bunch of thugs. They are forcing this crap on us no matter what you do.

I will NEVER buy another phone directly from ATT. I will start to purchase Nexus One's or other Phones
that AT&T can not control.

I purchased a 3gs from my brother who was no longer using it. And he paid the ETF Fee.  It worked fine for a month with no data plan. The data plan on my wife's phone was blocked from a previous LG Shine. Then we got the text that said they have added it. I called and they said that phone required the data plan. I asked them to explain what requirement was needed for this phone to work. It has been working fine with out this data plan for over a month. My wife is at home 95% of the time and just uses OUR WIFI.


BULL {word filter evasion} AT&T. You guys should be ashamed. I have an iphone that I am paying the data plan for. Why force my wife to have a data plan when it's not required for the phone to operate. It would not be so bad if they said hey you can use tethering for free.

The answer is obvious. MONEY. Just like them separating the text messages from the 30.00 a month data plan. When text messages ARE DATA.

2.5 BILLION SMS Text messages a day! Three times more than a year before. Average cost is .20 per message (that’s $1,497 a MB). What a rip off. That’s hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars a month that the cellphone companies are raking in. Congress is getting involved as Democrat Senator Herb Kohl is asking cellphone companies to justify doubling their text message fees and why these price hikes appeared across all cellphone carriers simultaneously.

[SLIKRICK]

Lol!!! Yep, just what we need. Government intervention. It has worked so well in so many other venues and contexts.

[BrianfromNO]

Was there a purpose in reviving a nearly two month old thread?  ALL the major carriers now require data plans with smartphones, with very few exceptions.

I'm not going to bother splitting technical hairs why voice, SMS, and data are all separate charges.  If you have a phone that was purchased and placed into service prior to the data plan requirement taking effect, you are grandfathered into not having to add the data plan.  Otherwise, you are out of luck.

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scottybm wrote:

ATT are a bunch of thugs. They are forcing this crap on us no matter what you do.

I will NEVER buy another phone directly from ATT. I will start to purchase Nexus One's or other Phones
that AT&T can not control.

I purchased a 3gs from my brother who was no longer using it. And he paid the ETF Fee.  It worked fine for a month with no data plan. The data plan on my wife's phone was blocked from a previous LG Shine. Then we got the text that said they have added it. I called and they said that phone required the data plan. I asked them to explain what requirement was needed for this phone to work. It has been working fine with out this data plan for over a month. My wife is at home 95% of the time and just uses OUR WIFI.


BULL {word filter evasion} AT&T. You guys should be ashamed. I have an iphone that I am paying the data plan for. Why force my wife to have a data plan when it's not required for the phone to operate. It would not be so bad if they said hey you can use tethering for free.

The answer is obvious. MONEY. Just like them separating the text messages from the 30.00 a month data plan. When text messages ARE DATA.

2.5 BILLION SMS Text messages a day! Three times more than a year before. Average cost is .20 per message (that’s $1,497 a MB). What a rip off. That’s hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars a month that the cellphone companies are raking in. Congress is getting involved as Democrat Senator Herb Kohl is asking cellphone companies to justify doubling their text message fees and why these price hikes appeared across all cellphone carriers simultaneously.

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[spicetrader]

I don't want to use the data plan services and I don't want to pay for them. I want a wireless phone that will play my mp3s into my standard 3.5mm earphones and provide a camera and usb connection to my computer so that the phone looks like a file system to my computer. WiFi would be nice, but it's unnecessary. I don't need a keyboard. I want basic text messaging capability.

[satchev]

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spicetrader wrote:

I don't want to use the data plan services and I don't want to pay for them. I want a wireless phone that will play my mp3s into my standard 3.5mm earphones and provide a camera and usb connection to my computer so that the phone looks like a file system to my computer. WiFi would be nice, but it's unnecessary. I don't need a keyboard. I want basic text messaging capability.

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Then the iPhone is not for you, as it does not meet all your requirements.  The iPhone has required a data plan since it was released.  It also does not support diskmode and as a result does not look like a filesystem to your computers.

Keep looking.

Just understand that AT&T and Verizon require data plans for smart phones on their networks.  Sprint and TMO may as well, but I don't use either carrier and cannot say definitively.

[chgilpin]

spicetrader,

Sounds like you might want to look at just a reqular phone + an ipod touch.  As stated, pretty much all smart phones from all carriers require dataplans now.  And really, if you are going to use these phone they way they were designed, a data plan is a must

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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spicetrader wrote:

I don't want to use the data plan services and I don't want to pay for them. I want a wireless phone that will play my mp3s into my standard 3.5mm earphones and provide a camera and usb connection to my computer so that the phone looks like a file system to my computer. WiFi would be nice, but it's unnecessary. I don't need a keyboard. I want basic text messaging capability.

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there are QMD devices that fit what you want, minus the wi-fi - as of right now only a smartphone has that enabled. Take a look at the Sharp FX, only thing it requires is a qualifying texting plan

[sksksk]

Sign this petition if you think att's policy of requiring data plans on unlocked phones is unfair:

[Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate].