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  1. #1
    SMS
    Guest
    As predicted, AT&T is ending the unlimited data plan for new iPhone
    customers.

    New customers can choose from $15/month (200MB) or Data Pro, a $25/month
    (2GB). Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    they upgrade to a new model.

    The iPad also loses the unlimited plan which is replaced with $25 for
    2GB/30 days.

    The iPhone will be able to tether if you pay and extra $20 per month.

    "http://blogs.computerworld.com/16236/wwdc_at_t_changes_iphone_deals_adds_tethering"



    See More: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tetheringfor $20 a month.




  2. #2
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tethering for $20 a month.

    SMS <[email protected]> wrote in news:4c069dd4$0$1654
    [email protected]:

    > Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    > they upgrade to a new model.
    >


    That should slow down the current customer churn to the Droids.....

    Once you lose your unlimited plan, of course, there's no turning back, so
    you'll crawl through beds of roaches and kiss ATT's ass to keep that
    unlimited plan from ever expiring.

    Not a bad marketing ploy. They've all pulled this **** before.


    --
    Creationism is to science what storks are to obstetrics.

    Larry




  3. #3
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 02/06/10 12:13 PM, Larry wrote:
    > SMS<[email protected]> wrote in news:4c069dd4$0$1654
    > [email protected]:
    >
    >> Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >> they upgrade to a new model.
    >>

    >
    > That should slow down the current customer churn to the Droids.....
    >
    > Once you lose your unlimited plan, of course, there's no turning back, so
    > you'll crawl through beds of roaches and kiss ATT's ass to keep that
    > unlimited plan from ever expiring.
    >
    > Not a bad marketing ploy. They've all pulled this **** before.


    It's very clever marketing by AT&T and it puts Verizon into a tough
    position. Grandfathering the unlimited plan essentially locks AT&T's
    current iPhone customers to the carrier for life.

    If Verizon doesn't offer unlimited data on their iPhone then the current
    AT&T iPhone customers that have been complaining about AT&T's quality of
    service probably won't want to switch to Verizon and lose their
    grandfathered plan. If Verizon does offer unlimited data on their
    iPhone, and the Verizon iPhone sells as well as predicted, then they
    could find themselves with the same quality of service issues that AT&T
    has been plagued with.

    The only way it hurts AT&T is in new iPhone sales to customers that now
    have no compelling reason to go with AT&T (assuming Verizon gets a
    version of the iPhone soon). Of course the other issue is that
    Android is selling extremely well and is available on all carriers. The
    user experience is not the same, the Android phones are much more
    capable in terms of hardware, software, and the OS but the UI is not as
    intuitive as the iPhone OS.



  4. #4
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 02/06/10 1:00 PM, [email protected] wrote:
    > On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:07:01 -0700, SMS<[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >> As predicted, AT&T is ending the unlimited data plan for new iPhone
    >> customers.
    >>
    >> New customers can choose from $15/month (200MB) or Data Pro, a $25/month
    >> (2GB). Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >> they upgrade to a new model.
    >>
    >> The iPad also loses the unlimited plan which is replaced with $25 for
    >> 2GB/30 days.
    >>
    >> The iPhone will be able to tether if you pay and extra $20 per month.
    >>
    >> "http://blogs.computerworld.com/16236/wwdc_at_t_changes_iphone_deals_adds_tethering"

    >
    > Here is another URL:
    > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/2...ch_gadg_tc2354


    If I were an iPad buyer that bought the 3G version of the iPad with the
    expectation of $30/month unlimited data then I'd be upset, but other
    than that the changes are not unreasonable. Without tethering, only a
    few data hogs were going beyong 2GB/month on the iPhone anyway.

    Now what would have been fairer is to only charge the $20 tethering fee
    for those with unlimited data, while those with metered data pay nothing
    or at least a lot less than $20.



  5. #5
    nospam
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tethering for $20 a month.

    In article <[email protected]>, SMS
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    > If I were an iPad buyer that bought the 3G version of the iPad with the
    > expectation of $30/month unlimited data then I'd be upset,


    ONE MONTH after the 3g ipad comes out, they eliminate the unlimited
    plan.

    why the **** did they even offer it at all?

    they didn't wake up one day in the middle of may and say 'gee we need
    to change it.' this had been in the works all along.

    they're scum.

    there's a verizon lte ipad rumour, that can't happen soon enough.



  6. #6
    Dennis Ferguson
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 2010-06-02, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    > On 02/06/10 12:13 PM, Larry wrote:
    >> SMS<[email protected]> wrote in news:4c069dd4$0$1654
    >> [email protected]:
    >>
    >>> Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >>> they upgrade to a new model.
    >>>

    >>
    >> That should slow down the current customer churn to the Droids.....
    >>
    >> Once you lose your unlimited plan, of course, there's no turning back, so
    >> you'll crawl through beds of roaches and kiss ATT's ass to keep that
    >> unlimited plan from ever expiring.
    >>
    >> Not a bad marketing ploy. They've all pulled this **** before.

    >
    > It's very clever marketing by AT&T and it puts Verizon into a tough
    > position. Grandfathering the unlimited plan essentially locks AT&T's
    > current iPhone customers to the carrier for life.


    I'm not sure about that. We've also got these (admittedly old and
    not very reliable) numbers which say the typical iPhone customer uses
    not much more than 400 MB per month, with other smart phones averaging
    maybe half that, and AT&T itself says that only 2% of its smartphone
    customers use more than 2 GB per month, which suggests that for most
    people what AT&T has offered is a $5 or $15 per month discount on their
    data plan in return for no change in their behaviour at all. And while
    I don't doubt that there are a lot of people who would like to continue
    to pay extra for an unlimited plan just for the pleasure of not having
    to know how much they are using, the people with the biggest incentive
    to keep the old plan are the 2% who actually use more than 2 GB, who are
    probably the very people AT&T would least like to keep as customers.
    Essentially the cost of stiffing the people who might want to join
    the 2% in future is offering the other 98% a significant discount,
    something which is probably going to cost them revenue in the near
    term. I assume they have data telling them that everyone's data
    usage is drifting up, so that fixed limit data plans will eventually
    make them richer in the long term (and it cleans up the pricing since
    now different phones won't pay different prices for the same data
    plan, and they won't need to enforce that), but for the moment I bet it
    costs them.

    I would be very surprised if Verizon didn't match this pricing since
    doing otherwise would allow AT&T to offer their best, least costly
    customers a discount which Verizon doesn't, while attracting AT&T's
    small number of worst customers to move Verizon should they find a
    phone over there they'd like to use. And, anyway, AT&T and Verizon
    are like the Bobbsey twins of pricing, they just copy each others'
    price lists and never, ever compete on price. There oughta be a
    law against that.

    Dennis Ferguson



  7. #7
    Dennis Ferguson
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 2010-06-02, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    > Now what would have been fairer is to only charge the $20 tethering fee
    > for those with unlimited data, while those with metered data pay nothing
    > or at least a lot less than $20.


    I don't get that. A 5 GB limit tethering plan has always cost $30
    per month more than a $30 unlimited smartphone data plan (for any
    capable phone except the iPhone), so adding $20 to a $25 plan is
    already a significant discount for the <2 GB per month tethering
    user, which I'll bet is most of them.

    Dennis Ferguson



  8. #8
    nospam
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tethering for $20 a month.

    In article <[email protected]>, SMS
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    > >> If I were an iPad buyer that bought the 3G version of the iPad with the
    > >> expectation of $30/month unlimited data then I'd be upset,

    > >
    > > ONE MONTH after the 3g ipad comes out, they eliminate the unlimited
    > > plan.

    >
    > I think they were terrified at the likelihood that someone will soon
    > figure out how to turn the iPad into a Wi-Fi hot spot (already possible
    > on a jail-broken iPhone). Unlimited 3G data on multiple machines for $30
    > a month would be too good to be true, and would make AT&T's current
    > network issues much worse.


    the number of people who do that is very small, and it's not like they
    didn't know it was going to happen, although, maybe they didn't expect
    the ipad to be jailbroken right away.

    > > why the **** did they even offer it at all?

    >
    > It sounded good.


    yes it did.

    > > there's a verizon lte ipad rumour, that can't happen soon enough.

    >
    > What makes you think Verizon will offer unlimited data? Actually the
    > more credible rumor is about the Google/Verizon tablet.


    it's not so much having unlimited, it's being repeatedly lied to.

    there needs to be alternative carriers. only with competition will at&t
    cut back on this crap.



  9. #9
    Robert A. Fink, M. D.
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tethering for $20 a month.

    On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:13:01 +0000, Larry <[email protected]> wrote:

    >> Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >> they upgrade to a new model.


    I currently have AT&T's "Laptop Connect" tethering service, which, for
    $60 per month, gives me unlimited data transfer. I am planning to
    trade in my old "non-smart" phone for (probably) the new iPhone very
    soon.

    Does anyone have any idea as to whether I will be able to keep the
    Laptop Connect plan and whether I am eligible for the iPhone plan just
    announced.

    What is the difference between the two? Both seem to use AT&T's 3G
    system.


    Best,

    Bob

    Robert A. Fink, M. D., FACS, P. C.
    Neurological Surgery
    2500 Milvia Street Suite 222
    Berkeley, CA 94704-2636 USA
    510-849-2555

    "Ex Tristitia Virtus"



  10. #10
    nospam
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tethering for $20 a month.

    In article <[email protected]>, Robert A.
    Fink, M. D. <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I currently have AT&T's "Laptop Connect" tethering service, which, for
    > $60 per month, gives me unlimited data transfer. I am planning to
    > trade in my old "non-smart" phone for (probably) the new iPhone very
    > soon.
    >
    > Does anyone have any idea as to whether I will be able to keep the
    > Laptop Connect plan and whether I am eligible for the iPhone plan just
    > announced.


    i'm pretty sure you will not be able to keep it.

    > What is the difference between the two? Both seem to use AT&T's 3G
    > system.


    there is no difference. it's all about greed.



  11. #11
    Dennis Ferguson
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 2010-06-02, nospam <[email protected]> wrote:
    > In article <[email protected]>, SMS
    ><[email protected]> wrote:
    >> > there's a verizon lte ipad rumour, that can't happen soon enough.

    >>
    >> What makes you think Verizon will offer unlimited data? Actually the
    >> more credible rumor is about the Google/Verizon tablet.

    >
    > it's not so much having unlimited, it's being repeatedly lied to.


    Geez, they've been telegraphing this change for half a year now, e.g.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/te.../10iphone.html

    It can't be a big surprise.

    The iPad didn't get iPad data pricing, it got smartphone data plan
    pricing, the same pricing that all smartphones were charged when
    it was introduced. Now they're changing smartphone data plan pricing.
    They introduce new smartphones every month, if the fact that they
    changed prices a month after they introduced your favorite device
    makes it a "lie" then I don't see how they could ever change anything
    without telling a "lie" to someone. Anyway, they've even (unusually)
    preannounced the price change, so you have until June 7 to get the current
    price if you like it.

    > there needs to be alternative carriers. only with competition will at&t
    > cut back on this crap.


    Umm, if you are expecting Verizon and AT&T to compete on price
    you are hoping for something which has never happened before. I
    would love it if Verizon at least tried a bit, by maybe selling
    300 MB for $15 and 3 GB for $25, but that would be so out of
    character than I wouldn't bet on it even in Verizon's current
    (and uncharacteristically) disadvantaged state.

    It might be more interesting if T-Mobile offered the devices,
    though that would have its own set of issues.

    Dennis Ferguson



  12. #12
    nospam
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhone tethering for $20 a month.

    In article <[email protected]>, Dennis
    Ferguson <[email protected]> wrote:

    > >> > there's a verizon lte ipad rumour, that can't happen soon enough.
    > >>
    > >> What makes you think Verizon will offer unlimited data? Actually the
    > >> more credible rumor is about the Google/Verizon tablet.

    > >
    > > it's not so much having unlimited, it's being repeatedly lied to.

    >
    > Geez, they've been telegraphing this change for half a year now, e.g.
    >
    > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/te.../10iphone.html
    >
    > It can't be a big surprise.


    six months ago, apple announced the ipad plan would be $30/unlimited,
    and since the end of april, they have been selling them with that
    option.

    slightly more than one month after they went on sale, the rules changed.

    do you think they came up with this plan last week? it had to have been
    in the planning stages for a long time.

    > The iPad didn't get iPad data pricing, it got smartphone data plan
    > pricing, the same pricing that all smartphones were charged when
    > it was introduced. Now they're changing smartphone data plan pricing.
    > They introduce new smartphones every month, if the fact that they
    > changed prices a month after they introduced your favorite device
    > makes it a "lie" then I don't see how they could ever change anything
    > without telling a "lie" to someone. Anyway, they've even (unusually)
    > preannounced the price change, so you have until June 7 to get the current
    > price if you like it.


    if you can find one in stock, that is.

    how convenient it is to announce the pricing changes one week in
    advance, when the online availability of an ipad is 7-10 days.

    > > there needs to be alternative carriers. only with competition will at&t
    > > cut back on this crap.

    >
    > Umm, if you are expecting Verizon and AT&T to compete on price
    > you are hoping for something which has never happened before. I
    > would love it if Verizon at least tried a bit, by maybe selling
    > 300 MB for $15 and 3 GB for $25, but that would be so out of
    > character than I wouldn't bet on it even in Verizon's current
    > (and uncharacteristically) disadvantaged state.


    of course they compete on price, however, there is some collusion going
    on. my main issue is not so much the price, it's the fact they lie.

    > It might be more interesting if T-Mobile offered the devices,
    > though that would have its own set of issues.


    if apple is going to add a cdma/lte card to the ipad, they could add an
    aws card too. it's not a big deal. it would also be nice to have it on
    sprint 4g.



  13. #13
    Dennis Ferguson
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 2010-06-02, Robert A. Fink, M. D. <[email protected]> wrote:
    > On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:13:01 +0000, Larry <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >>> Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >>> they upgrade to a new model.

    >
    > I currently have AT&T's "Laptop Connect" tethering service, which, for
    > $60 per month, gives me unlimited data transfer. I am planning to
    > trade in my old "non-smart" phone for (probably) the new iPhone very
    > soon.
    >
    > Does anyone have any idea as to whether I will be able to keep the
    > Laptop Connect plan and whether I am eligible for the iPhone plan just
    > announced.


    The Laptop Connect plan isn't unlimited (unless you maybe got it more
    than four years ago), it has a 5 GB limit. I have a similar plan
    for using my phone as a modem, Dataconnect 5GB plus Voice, and it
    costs the same amount with the same limit though I also get to
    use data from the phone itself.

    I've been wondering what would happen to the 5 GB plans myself,
    since they haven't mentioned those anywhere I've seen so far. I
    assume you'll be able to keep anything you've got already if you
    want to, though (AT&T isn't as good about grandfathering as Verizon,
    I guess, but they both tend to do it since it avoids lawsuits and
    early contract terminations).

    > What is the difference between the two? Both seem to use AT&T's 3G
    > system.


    There should be no difference in the network. If you tether the
    laptop through the iPhone you'll pay $45 total for data for both the
    iPhone and the laptop but they'll be sharing only 2 GB. If you keep
    the laptop connect plan you'll pay a total of $85 for data ($60
    for laptop connect, $25 for the iPhone) but the laptop will keep
    its 5 GB limit separate from the iPhone's 2 GB. Which is better
    will depend on how much data you typically use from the laptop,
    which I'll bet you might not know if the plan is unlimited (or if
    you thought it was).

    Dennis Ferguson



  14. #14
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 02/06/10 3:00 PM, Robert A. Fink, M. D. wrote:
    > On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:13:01 +0000, Larry<[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >>> Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >>> they upgrade to a new model.

    >
    > I currently have AT&T's "Laptop Connect" tethering service, which, for
    > $60 per month, gives me unlimited data transfer. I am planning to
    > trade in my old "non-smart" phone for (probably) the new iPhone very
    > soon.
    >
    > Does anyone have any idea as to whether I will be able to keep the
    > Laptop Connect plan and whether I am eligible for the iPhone plan just
    > announced.
    >
    > What is the difference between the two? Both seem to use AT&T's 3G
    > system.


    Laptop Connect is unaffected. And BTW, it's _not_ unlimited, it's 5GB/month.

    Even if you get an iPhone prior to the end of the unlimited data plan
    option (June 7) you cannot pay $20 extra per month and have unlimited
    tethering to 3G via the iPhone. Tethering is ONLY available on the
    $25/2GB plan. At least that's what the early reports on the new plans
    have stated. So those who want tethering have to switch from unlimited
    to 2GB _and_ pay $20 a month extra.

    Today June 7
    --------- ----------------
    Cost $30 $15 $25
    Data Unlimited 200MB 2GB
    Tethering No No $20

    Unless you can live with 2GB of data between your phone and your laptop,
    per month, then tethering the laptop via the iPhone is not a viable
    plan, you'll need both plans.

    If you're looking to minimize expense, Fry's is reselling Verizon's
    version of Laptop Connect for $50/month, with a modem costing $50.
    That's only a $10 savings over AT&T, but the coverage is far better,
    especially in the Bay Area. There are other resellers I've seen that are
    doing the same thing with Verizon's data plan for laptops.
    "http://www.frys.com/isp/index.html".




  15. #15
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: AT&T ends Unlimited Data on iPhone and iPad, will allow iPhonetethering for $20 a month.

    On 02/06/10 2:13 PM, Dennis Ferguson wrote:
    > On 2010-06-02, SMS<[email protected]> wrote:
    >> On 02/06/10 12:13 PM, Larry wrote:
    >>> SMS<[email protected]> wrote in news:4c069dd4$0$1654
    >>> [email protected]:
    >>>
    >>>> Existing iPhone customers can keep their unlimited plans even if
    >>>> they upgrade to a new model.
    >>>>
    >>>
    >>> That should slow down the current customer churn to the Droids.....
    >>>
    >>> Once you lose your unlimited plan, of course, there's no turning back, so
    >>> you'll crawl through beds of roaches and kiss ATT's ass to keep that
    >>> unlimited plan from ever expiring.
    >>>
    >>> Not a bad marketing ploy. They've all pulled this **** before.

    >>
    >> It's very clever marketing by AT&T and it puts Verizon into a tough
    >> position. Grandfathering the unlimited plan essentially locks AT&T's
    >> current iPhone customers to the carrier for life.

    >
    > I'm not sure about that. We've also got these (admittedly old and
    > not very reliable) numbers which say the typical iPhone customer uses
    > not much more than 400 MB per month, with other smart phones averaging
    > maybe half that, and AT&T itself says that only 2% of its smartphone
    > customers use more than 2 GB per month, which suggests that for most
    > people what AT&T has offered is a $5 or $15 per month discount on their
    > data plan in return for no change in their behaviour at all. And while
    > I don't doubt that there are a lot of people who would like to continue
    > to pay extra for an unlimited plan just for the pleasure of not having
    > to know how much they are using, the people with the biggest incentive
    > to keep the old plan are the 2% who actually use more than 2 GB, who are
    > probably the very people AT&T would least like to keep as customers.
    > Essentially the cost of stiffing the people who might want to join
    > the 2% in future is offering the other 98% a significant discount,
    > something which is probably going to cost them revenue in the near
    > term.


    It will drive down the data ASP of the existing iPhone users that switch
    to a different plan, and the new iPhone users that would have been
    willing to pay the $30 for unlimited. But they believe that it will
    greatly increase the number of people that are willing to get data (and
    an iPhone) for the first time, that were price sensitive at a $30 adder,
    but that are not as sensitive to $15 or $25, so the probably believe it
    will drive up the overall data ASP.

    > I assume they have data telling them that everyone's data
    > usage is drifting up, so that fixed limit data plans will eventually
    > make them richer in the long term (and it cleans up the pricing since
    > now different phones won't pay different prices for the same data
    > plan, and they won't need to enforce that), but for the moment I bet it
    > costs them.


    I'm sure they've taken into account that the reason that data usage is
    drifting up is the same reason that people stuff themselves at an
    all-you-can-eat buffet. As long as it's unlimited, you don't think about
    how much you're using, and want to get your money's worth. Once data is
    limited, people will be more conservative.



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