at&t new iphone

AT&T has been known to have pricier voice and data plans than their competitors, other than Verizon. Yet with the new announcement of their next generation data plans on June 2nd, they've decided to introduce new tiered data plans for their users, and do away with their unlimited data plan for their new customers.

As you well may already know, the previous unlimited plan was $30/month. These new data plans include a "DataPlus" 200MB plan at $15 per month for light data users, which AT&T claims is "enough to send/receive 1,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 150 emails with attachments, plus view 400 Web pages, plus post 50 photos on social media sites, plus watch 20 minutes of streaming video," and a "DataPro" 2GB at $25 per month for heavier data users which is supposed to be able to "send/receive 10,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 1,500 emails with attachments, plus view 4,000 Web pages, plus post 500 photos to social media sites, plus watch 200 minutes of streaming video." Users who have the $25 plan also have the option to add tethering for an additional $20.

Should users exceed their 200MB on the $15 plan, they will be charged an addition $15 for an additional 200MB. If users exceed the 2GB on their $25 plan, they will be charged an additional $10 for an additional 1GB of usage.

So now that we have new data plans and their costs laid out, the question is: Are AT&T's new data plans really that bad for us?

My Take

First and foremost, keep in mind that current AT&T users may grandfather their AT&T plans into the new generation of data plans.

Next, consider this. Most users don't need unlimited data, and for those who do, AT&T is not for you. These new plans allow users to pay less than what they're currently paying, and closer to what they're actually using.

AT&T learned that "65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average," while "98 percent of its customers use less than 2 GB of data a month."

I for one, use between a range of 200-400MB a month. If I were to drop my current unlimited plan for the new DataPro plan(2GB/month), I would've saved $5/month, or $60/year for the last two years while the 65% of users who use less 200MB a month would've saved 50% of their current costs.

Also, keep in mind that WiFi may help, and that you don't necessarily need to use your 3G network for all data related tasks.

Does that sound bad to you? In fact, if I had the option between my current plan, and these new plans years ago, take a wild guess as to which I would've chosen.

Tethering

The new costs for tethering are bit hard to grasp for users who've always wanted it. The additional $20/month are a bit expensive, and capped at 2GB/month with no additional bandwidth for the user, I don't think it's worth it.

My Suggestion if You're Considering

So if you're thinking about going to AT&T for a new smartphone, and is concerned about their new data plans, here are my suggestions if you already have a smart phone:

1. Look at your current data usage.
2. Determine which kind of data user you are based on how much data you use.
3. If you're considering an iPhone, its been statistically proven that iPhone users use more data than other smart phones. So take this into consideration.
5. Decide what plans would work best for you.
6. Then ask yourself, should you now be concerned with using more data than the plan you have in mind?
7. Finally, make your decision

Lastly, keep in mind that AT&T has been struggling with the overloading of their wireless bandwidth due to their increased number of subscribers since the introduction of the iPhone. These new limits will hopefully help stabilize their networks and result in a win-win for both the business and the consumer. It's never wrong to have hope, is it?

If you have any further questions or concerns check out http://www.getyourgadgetsgoing.com to read more tech related articles.

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