Data plans

[694door]

Why does AT&T charge $30.00 data plan for each phone. We were thinking of upgrading and getting three Iphones. That means my monthly bill would increase $90.00 every month. In my opinion, that is way out of line.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek · Accepted solution]

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694door wrote:
Why does AT&T charge $30.00 data plan for each phone. We were thinking of upgrading and getting three Iphones. That means my monthly bill would increase $90.00 every month. In my opinion, that is way out of line.

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same with all smartphones, they all have a single user data plan at around the same cost per phone on the contract. Do not think it is out of line

[694door]

Thanks, for your reply. I'm thinking we will keep our old phones for a while. I guess I'm sort of thinking that if we bought three phones, all on the same account, we would only need to have one data plan.

Message Edited by 694door on 02-07-2010 12:51:49 PM

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

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694door wrote:
I guess I'm sort of thinking that if we bought three phones, all on the same account, we would only need to have one data plan.

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Unfortunately it doesn't work that that.

You can share messaging between all line on the family plan using the Unlimited Messaging for Families plan.

But there are no shared data plans that share data between all the lines on the plan. Each line has to have its own.

[jpbkc]

They could do a family data plan like the family text plan.  They are just trying to make what they can on each phone.  And there is nothing wrong with that. At some point the market will change and they will offer a family data plan.  Until then many of us wait to add such phones.

[Sonic1519]

I agree with what you say. We just added a second iphone and knew data was extra.

For us the best way to go was the family plan 1400 min at 149.00.

which includes the data for both phones. if you count the a list with it's 10 numbers

then with rollover you don't feel so bad. we also have  at&t home service so anytime we

call another at&t land line it's a free call also.

[BrianfromNO]

Except incremental increases in text messaging don't cost AT&T as much as the explosion in bandwidth demand that's occurred in the last few years, primarily because of the iPhone.  I don't think AT&T will EVER offer an unlimited data plan that covers multiple phones.  I think a more likely scenario is that a family data plan would come with a hard cap for a monthly fee.

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jpbkc wrote:
They could do a family data plan like the family text plan.  They are just trying to make what they can on each phone.  And there is nothing wrong with that. At some point the market will change and they will offer a family data plan.  Until then many of us wait to add such phones.

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[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

The problem with pricing a Family Data Package would be what type of devices you you model the plan after?  Do you make it off the rates of regular phones with unlimited data or do you base the rates off of smartphones with unlimited data.  Since ATT would assume the worst they'd probably assume to make the plan to cover smartphones (so customers could choose and use any phone) so it would be higher.  You can have 5 smartphones on a data plan so without a discount that would have been $150 month.  I would assume they would charge $75+ month for a family plan of unlimited data or capped at 5GB like some of the plans for each phone.

[go8bud]

I do think it's way out of line if you get the bill I just got. I have had the same phone for more than a year now. My daughters Razr broke so her girlfriend gave her an old Samsung which the system "thinks" it's a smart phone now that they switched. Now if I were getting a new plan and new phones I would understand, but I have been with ATT many years, main reason I stayed was the roll-over and had minimal dropped calls. Can't say that anymore, get dropped calls where I never did before, no signal etc.. So if ATT decides they want to play that game then I'll just drop them, my company gets a much better deal through Sprint. I know it works in the same places as ATT use to and know where it doesn't work pretty similar to Verizon. My choice will be to go with Sprint, saving me about $100 a month compared to ATT and Verizon.

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

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go8bud wrote:
I do think it's way out of line if you get the bill I just got. I have had the same phone for more than a year now. My daughters Razr broke so her girlfriend gave her an old Samsung which the system "thinks" it's a smart phone now that they switched. Now if I were getting a new plan and new phones I would understand, but I have been with ATT many years, main reason I stayed was the roll-over and had minimal dropped calls. Can't say that anymore, get dropped calls where I never did before, no signal etc.. So if ATT decides they want to play that game then I'll just drop them, my company gets a much better deal through Sprint. I know it works in the same places as ATT use to and know where it doesn't work pretty similar to Verizon. My choice will be to go with Sprint, saving me about $100 a month compared to ATT and Verizon.

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Sounds like if you saving money and Sprint has the coverage and services you need then it sounds like they would be better in your situation and you should switch.

[TallGuy1970]

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694door wrote:
Thanks, for your reply. I'm thinking we will keep our old phones for a while. I guess I'm sort of thinking that if we bought three phones, all on the same account, we would only need to have one data plan.

Message Edited by 694door on 02-07-2010 12:51:49 PM

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I may get in trouble for this, but Sprint does had a family plan that shares voice, messaging, and data. It's significantly cheaper than AT&T, but Sprint's coverage can be sketchy. I was hoping AT&T might follow Sprint's move, but they haven't. 

Edit: I guess I should read the whole thread before typing. This has been covered. Please disregard.

[BrianfromNO]

And the gimmick with Sprint is that the plan prices they list only include the first 2 lines.  Every line after that is an incremental add-on cost.  I'm not arguing that Sprint is cheaper than AT&T, but they don't have magic plans that nobody else has.  It's all marketing.

[Johnnyjks]

It is OUT OF LINE!!

I have an older Siemen SX66 that I purchased from AT & T years ago.  This phone doex everything the HTC & iPhones do however; I don't have to pay for a data plan.....since it's WIFI; I don't want to pay an extra $30.00 (that use to be $15.00) per month.

I've been an AT&T Customer for a long time (from the Orignal AT&T to Cingular, the back to AT & T Wireless....now; I'm having doubts.

Just today I was in the AT & T Store in Long Beach CA and was ready to purchase the HTC Tilt to replace my SX66 (SX66 is fine but slower - pre 1G & 2G).  However; all sales were stopped when the saleman told me I would have to purchase the Data Plan regardless for this phone.

Today AT&T may have lost a long-time customer and missed a $300.00 plus sale.  I don't care of all carriers are dong this.  I'm a pre 1999 customer and should be able to purchase only what I need!

[Lookee]

As someone previously reported, Sprint has an unlimited plan.  We were looking to finally upgrade to a couple of smartphones this March.  When looking online we found that we had to add the data plans @ 30.00 a piece and we wanted texting because we are tired of paying fees for everyone who sends to us and we thought we would do the unlimited family messaging plan.  So that's 90.00 extra a month.  I called AT&T to ask about the prices and was told this is the way it is.  I asked about an unlimited plan like Sprint and the rep told me I was wrong about Sprint, they don't do that.  I told him I had just seen the ad on TV and he said well then go ahead a change.   He was extremely rude on the phone. 

I have been with this company since I got my first cell phone way back, as it was first Cellular One, then Cingular, then AT&T.  They must be making the big money to not worry about one little family like us.   I called Sprint and when it all came out, we got 2 new hot smartphones (before AT&T was offering a single one besides Iphone) and with a company discount added in, the savings to us was amazing.  We were going to save over 120.00 a month compared to AT&T.  I spent 5 hours total on the phone w/3 different people @ Sprint trying to make sure everything was right.  Then when we got our phones, it showed up we were roaming here @ home.  After another hour on the phone, we discovered that there was no way around it.  We couldn't keep the Sprint because of the coverage issues.  In our rural area, AT&T has it all.  Luckily we hadn't cancelled our account as yet, we were due for new contracts anyway. 

 So, we are stuck.  I've never really been unhappy with AT&T until now, when I know that they are charging so much when other companies have much better rate offerings.   And as a side note, I can't even get AT&T to answer my questions about a discount w/my company, every time I do they want me to start a brand new account.  Anyone know anything about that?

[johninsj ACE - Wizard]

All the carriers are moving to more expensive bundle plans vs base plans + addons.

Sprint's move now is to add a $10 surcharge to any phone with "4g" capability - soon that will be all their phones - and to only offer a 1500 minute plan as their "base" shared plan.

True, you get unlimited messaging and data (on two lines) for the base price, but the base price + surcharge + third line charge for me put the price from Sprint to be nearly identical to the price from AT&T for three EVOs vs three iPhone4s.

the 2GB data plan (the largest you can get now) is $25. So for three iPhones you have a minimum of $105 added to whatever voice plan you get - a three line family voice plan for 550 minutes is the cheapest, at $80, for $185 total for three lines, or $62/mo each.

If you can find any corporate discount (many people are eligable) via your work or school that can shave 10-15% off that.

Sprint's plan for 3 EVOs (Everything data family 1500) would be $149.98 + $30 for the 4g surcharge, or $179.98 - you do get unlimited data vs 2GB data, and more minutes. You lose the sim. Depending on your calling pattern, the minutes may matter - we use a few hundred a month, so after three months of rolling over unused minutes we will have an impresive amount of minutes available

[johninsj ACE - Wizard]

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Lookee wrote: 

And as a side note, I can't even get AT&T to answer my questions about a discount w/my company, every time I do they want me to start a brand new account.  Anyone know anything about that?

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https://www.wireless.att.com/business/authenticate/

Adding the discount to an existing plan:

"

Any AT&T customer who adds the discount to an existing plan will be subject to a one-time $36 fee to accommodate the change in billing, and to grant access to the savings and other benefits of the discount plan. This fee will be automatically waived in the following circumstances:

• The account to which you add the discount was activated within the past 30 days.
• The account already has a discount plan from a previous university or employer.
• You are transitioning the account from a corporate-paid plan to individually-paid.
"

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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Johnnyjks wrote:

It is OUT OF LINE!!

I have an older Siemen SX66 that I purchased from AT & T years ago.  This phone doex everything the HTC & iPhones do however; I don't have to pay for a data plan.....since it's WIFI; I don't want to pay an extra $30.00 (that use to be $15.00) per month.

I've been an AT&T Customer for a long time (from the Orignal AT&T to Cingular, the back to AT & T Wireless....now; I'm having doubts.

Just today I was in the AT & T Store in Long Beach CA and was ready to purchase the HTC Tilt to replace my SX66 (SX66 is fine but slower - pre 1G & 2G).  However; all sales were stopped when the saleman told me I would have to purchase the Data Plan regardless for this phone.

Today AT&T may have lost a long-time customer and missed a $300.00 plus sale.  I don't care of all carriers are dong this.  I'm a pre 1999 customer and should be able to purchase only what I need!

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So what if you where a pre 1999 customer? Doesn;t mean a thing, have been a customer for att wireless since the first cell phone was installed in a car, was 5 watts and drew dial tone when you picked it up to make a call, if you count POTS ines have been a customer since 1956,  for my business account have been a wireless user for ATT since my company was formed in the 1980's era. Do not expect any white glove treatment at all, do not think their polices are unfair. If you do then go ahead and change providers - but remember ATT was the LAST of the Tier 1/2 providers to go to mandatory data plans on a smart phone, so no matter which tier 1/2 provider you go to you will be required to add a data plan to a smart phone.

[halk]

Lower your data plan to 200GB. Most people will never use that in a month becasue 99% of all data is used over wi-fi and that takes nothing from your data plan. You can blame Apple for this becasue a data plan is not required with many other phones.

[sandblaster]

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Lookee wrote:

As someone previously reported, Sprint has an unlimited plan.  We were looking to finally upgrade to a couple of smartphones this March.  When looking online we found that we had to add the data plans @ 30.00 a piece and we wanted texting because we are tired of paying fees for everyone who sends to us and we thought we would do the unlimited family messaging plan.  So that's 90.00 extra a month. 

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I hope you realize you are no longer "stuck" with a $30 data plan on each smartphone. You can now get a $15 plan (200mb/mo) or a $25 plan (2GB/mo) and in fact, for a new smartphone customer the $30 plan is no longer available.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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halk wrote:

Lower your data plan to 200GB. Most people will never use that in a month becasue 99% of all data is used over wi-fi and that takes nothing from your data plan. You can blame Apple for this becasue a data plan is not required with many other phones.

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there is no 200GB plan, it is 200MB or 2GB - huge difference there

[fcummins]

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wingrider01 wrote:

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halk wrote:

Lower your data plan to 200GB. Most people will never use that in a month becasue 99% of all data is used over wi-fi and that takes nothing from your data plan. You can blame Apple for this becasue a data plan is not required with many other phones.

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there is no 200GB plan, it is 200MB or 2GB - huge difference there

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Also, all Smartphones require a data plan, not just Apple's . . . 

[paradiseez]

at first I didn't see 3G dropped down to Edge much so I didn't think it was a problem. NOw it's ALWAYS EDGE WTHHHH

[juicy907couture]

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sandblaster wrote:

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Lookee wrote:

As someone previously reported, Sprint has an unlimited plan.  We were looking to finally upgrade to a couple of smartphones this March.  When looking online we found that we had to add the data plans @ 30.00 a piece and we wanted texting because we are tired of paying fees for everyone who sends to us and we thought we would do the unlimited family messaging plan.  So that's 90.00 extra a month. 

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I hope you realize you are no longer "stuck" with a $30 data plan on each smartphone. You can now get a $15 plan (200mb/mo) or a $25 plan (2GB/mo) and in fact, for a new smartphone customer the $30 plan is no longer available.

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I hope YOU realize that this thread was originally started in February, before the lower plans became available. It died and was then brought to back months later. The original poster hasn't been back since they started this thread.

[tinymite]

I agree this is robbery!!!  Other companies offer family data plans & we are a family of six & refuse to get data plans and considering switching companies!!!!  ATT is one of the largest companies & with now Verizon having the I-Phone or Blackberry or other Smart Phone too, it might be a good time to reward customers for staying.  At least for that price it should be unlimited so you don't have to worry about going over or an option of a lesser package with a cap or a FAMILY SHARE PLAN for DATA & TEXTING!!!!

Also, all smart phones should have the same good deal on data plans & discounts & NOT be excluded from Data Plans that cost less if you don't have an I-Phone or Blackberry.  Also, I think they are also excluded from discounts if you have a company affiliation discount & you have an I-phone then NO DISCOUNT!!!!  : (

FAMILY DATA PLAN would be awesome & so would unlimited DATA but I have never had a data plan & think I would worry about kids or parents going over, & overage fees to kill our family might kill a family's cost of living budget!

What do other ATT customers think about these ideas???

Which would fit your family best....just curious.  Thanks!

[dwill05]

I'm sure people would love a family data plan for iPhones, just like they would love unlimited data, and tethering with no extra charge.  But what people would like for themselves isn't what AT&T is offering.  The reality is AT&T is a business, it makes more money by charging each person with an iPhone for a data plan, and there is no reason for them to change because the other reality is that peope aren't dumping them in large droves to go to Verizon or elsewhere.

[satchev]

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tinymite wrote:

I agree this is robbery!!! 

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So you felt it was necessary to dig up an 8 month old thread to add your thoughts?

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tinymite wrote:

Other companies offer family data plans & we are a family of six & refuse to get data plans and considering switching companies!!!! 

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Then leave, no one is stopping you.  Also, no one is forcing every member of your family to have data plans unless they all have smartphones.

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tinymite wrote:

ATT is one of the largest companies & with now Verizon having the I-Phone or Blackberry or other Smart Phone too, it might be a good time to reward customers for staying. 

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I didn't realize that VZW had just gotten iPhones, Blackberryies, and other smartphones.  I am fairly certainly that VZW, Sprint and TMO have had smart phones just as long as AT&T.  VZW certainly doesn't offer family data plans for their smart phones. 

From what I can tell on Sprint's website, there is nothing special about their family data plans, it's just two data plans combined and callled a "family" plan for 1-2 lines.  There's an additional fee for additional lines.  Of course, Sprint isn't exactly a top tier player here so they don't really compare to AT&T or VZW.

Why should AT&T provide "rewards" to customers for staying?  What is so special about you staying or leaving?  With over 90 million customers, they certainly must be doing something correct.  If they were not running the business correctly and were not offering services that people found valuable, they certainly wouldn't have over 90 million customers and it's highly unlikely they'd be battling for #1 with VZW.  You either find value in their service and offerings or you look for another carrier, this isn't difficult.

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tinymite wrote:

Also, all smart phones should have the same good deal on data plans & discounts & NOT be excluded from Data Plans that cost less if you don't have an I-Phone or Blackberry.  Also, I think they are also excluded from discounts if you have a company affiliation discount & you have an I-phone then NO DISCOUNT!!!!  : (

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All smartphone data plans are the same price, so what's your point here?  Whether a plan is excluded from your company discount or not is dependent on the deal your company was able to strike with AT&T for service discounts.  I get a discount on my service with an iPhone, so does this mean I work for a better company than you do, or did my employer simply negotiate a better deal?

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tinymite wrote:

FAMILY DATA PLAN would be awesome & so would unlimited DATA but I have never had a data plan & think I would worry about kids or parents going over, & overage fees to kill our family might kill a family's cost of living budget!

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Unlimited data is highly unlikely to come back, it's been gone for over 6 months, maybe longer.

Frankly, if someone is unable to manage their data usage, they don't need a smart phone.  All it takes is a little common sense and attention to ensure that you stay under the data usage limits.  If you are that concerned about your kids going over the limits, then maybe they are not mature enough to have a smart phone.  Do they really need a smartphone? 

[majukim]

I agree, I was just upgrading my account and found in order to get a ANtix phone is was going to cost me 25.00 a month more pluss the rest of family 75.00, so family of 4 that 100.00 more a month. My last bill was 151.00 now it will be 251.00 pluss tax? I Don't Think So!!!

[majukim]

You right they sould Im finding out right now a family of 4 is going to cost me a extra 100.00 a month pluss tax thats well over 250.00 a month. no way. Somebody is making a lot of money here.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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majukim wrote:
I agree, I was just upgrading my account and found in order to get a ANtix phone is was going to cost me 25.00 a month more pluss the rest of family 75.00, so family of 4 that 100.00 more a month. My last bill was 151.00 now it will be 251.00 pluss tax? I Don't Think So!!!

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The rest of you familiy is getting a "ANtx"? If not then the cost will only be for the data plan for the smartphone that you are upgrading to. Not sure why you thing that your entire family has to get the same plan - that would ojnly be true if you upgraded every phone on your plan to a smart phone

[jginfx]

there is a new device coming soon its a case for your phone that will give you free data through companies like clear wire. I will not stay with AT&T becouse of this same reason.  check it out [3rd party link removed per Guidelines]