Plans of 10 GB and above will also include unlimited talk and text to Mexico and Canada with usage in Mexico with no roaming charges, AT&T said. Making all its plans unlimited is an extension of that, given that video is one of the biggest drains on data. Also, instead of charging customers $15 per gigabyte of data in overage fees, AT&T will simply slow customers’ connection speed to 128kbps once they exceed their monthly plan.
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AT&T is shaking up its wireless data plans, bumping usage allotments but raising prices on numerous company’s customers.
Customers no longer have to worry about being shocked by an unexpected bill hike and they still have the option to pay for more high-speed data, according to the Verge. There’s no date for when the older plans won’t be available – a new customer could still get them after September 6 – but the new unlimited plan will eventually be T-Mobile’s “main offer”, spokeswoman Bethany Frey said.
The Mobile Share Advantage still keeps the benefits of previous plans such as unlimited domestic talk and text, rollover data, sharable data, global perks and mobile hotspot capability. Each consumer phone that is not on an annual contract – i.e. devices on AT&T Next or another installment agreement – will be charged an access fee of $20 per month in addition to the data charges, the carrier said.
But there’s one case where customers get less. With four people getting six gigabytes each, the price could rise $40, to $160; five people getting 10 gigabytes each would pay $10 less at $180.
Regardless of the data level, Dallas-based AT&T Inc.is eliminating charges for exceeding monthly data caps, at least for those who do switch to the new rates. With those speeds, users can check email or do light browsing on the web, but video watching and other data hungry tasks will be painfully slow. The charge was typically $15 per gigabyte over. The slower speeds will be fine for email and basic status updates on Facebook, but photos will be hard and streaming video almost impossible. T-Mobile and Sprint don’t charge for protection from overages.
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It’s an approach that’s been taken previously by the likes of T-Mobile, and could help ease the anxiety many people feel about using too much data.
