Two weeks ago, on June 2, AT&T announced it was discontinuing its unlimited data plans for mobile phone subscribers. The carrier’s new fee structure, which went into effect on June 7 – the same day that Apple unveiled its latest iPhone model – caps the use of e-mail, web browsing, social-network posting and streaming video under two pay plans.
Voice and texting, which fall under different plans, remain unaffected.
“(The) move (is) intended to curb heavy users of (AT&T’s) cellular network, (and it will) likely be adopted by other major mobile carriers,” wrote Nathan Olivarez-Giles of the Los Angeles Times (June 3).
Olivarez-Giles quoted Greg Miller, a telecom analyst with Collins Stewart, who said increased use of devices like the iPhone and iPad pushed AT&T to action. “You could see AT&T’s network brought to its knees in the future if they didn’t rein this in now,” Miller said.
Gizmodo.com blogger Matt Buchanan spoke for the millions of AT&T subscribers furious about the recent termination of their unlimited data plans (June 2): “Unlimited, all-you-can-eat wireless data was a beautiful thing for Apple devices on AT&T, delivering streams of Pandora, YouTube videos, a million tweets, and hundreds of web pages without worry. And now it’s dead.”
AT&T’s new fee structure, Buchanan writes, launched the era of pay-per-byte data. “We’ve known (it) was coming. We just hoped it would take a little longer.”
|
|
Price |
Data |
Price per MB |
|
Old Data Plan |
$30 |
Unlimited |
N/A |
|
Old Data Plan + Tethering |
$60 |
Unlimited Data, 5GB Tethering |
0.6¢ (per MB Tethering) |
|
New Data Plus |
$15 |
200MB |
7.5¢ |
|
New Data Pro |
$25 |
2GB |
1.25¢ |
|
New Data Pro + Tethering |
$45 |
2GB |
2.25¢ |
(Source: Gizmodo.com)
As you can see, in Buchanan’s table above (see costs per megabyte), subscribers are now paying more for less. “(This is in spite of) the fact AT&T is pitching the availability of lower-priced plans as a value move,” he adds.
You will also notice that AT&T charges an extra $20 for tethering (i.e. using your phone as a modem for your laptop) but you get no extra data after paying the surcharge – you’re stuck with 2GB. “It’s absurdity – especially if you consider the basic math,” Buchanan concludes.
Sascha Segan of PCMag.com called AT&T’s new data plans “the failure of mobile broadband” (June 3). He says that while most smartphone users don’t use all that much data – a 2GB plan is plenty for mobile web and e-mail use – it’s not nearly enough for next-generation uses, like watching TV on your iPad.
“The limits that AT&T are slapping down pretty much kill the idea of large-screen, streaming media,” he adds. “With the company’s 200MB plan, you could knock out your entire monthly allotment in an hour and a half, watching ABC.com on your laptop.”
Segan explains that these changes are not about smartphones, as much as they are about preventing subscribers from using wireless Internet as a replacement for their home broadband Internet connection. “Laptops, desktops and tablets use much more data than smartphones do. Bigger screens mean higher-resolution streaming video.”
The reality is, Segan continues, from a service-delivery standpoint, wireless carriers have to prevent the overuse of their networks. “But I also think it’s very suspicious that companies with major home-Internet subsidiaries are avoiding challenging the cable/DSL duopolies that keep Internet connections more expensive and slower in the U.S. than in other wealthy countries.
“The FCC needs to take a very close look at whether these huge telecom firms are restricting rather than advancing American’s Internet choices.”
Segan is not alone in this belief. “There’s an impending shortage of wireless spectrum, the lifeblood of the mobile market,” wrote CNET.com’s Marguerite Reardon wrote, back on May 25.
“FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has warned that if more wireless spectrum is not made available soon, the mobile industry will not have enough capacity to keep up with demand from customers, and growth will grind to a halt.”
- newsletter@iQmetrix.com
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