ATT changes tethering OK

[SpykeZ]

AT&T called the first shot, I don't have any information about this, but I can almost guarantee that VZW will follow suit on this one.

verizon can go right ahead, they take away the unlimited and make me pay more for this crap, They can have the huge bill and shove it up their butt cause I won't be paying for it and ill sell my droid. 30 a month is robbery as it is.

[BlueSami]

So apperantly i only use under a gig a month?? but i am always on pandora and always browsing the net. who knew??

[jroc]

Is their anyway or anywhere on the phone to check how much data you used?

So far I only know of the My Verizon app. I rarely use that tab in the Market, lol but I saw it the other day.

AT&T's new pricing/plan doesn't affect current customers with data plans, only new users after June 7th.

And...those existing users can change phones, renew their contracts, etc.. and still keep the $29.99 unlimited data plan.

Some of us talked about this earlier, and I just read a few hours ago somewhere that staying on the current unlimited plan only applies if using the current device. Renewing a contract and using the current device? No problem. If you try to upgrade phones, (I assume they mean thru upgrade promotions) the new plans kick in.

New AT&T data plans milk data gluttons, lower costs for most

From the article:

These pricing plans go into effect on June 7 for all new AT&T customers signing up for new contracts, and current users can switch to the new plans without a contract extension. Those that are currently on a two-year contract for a $30 per month unlimited data plan can continue to use it, and can even renew their contract and keep the same data plan as long as they continue to use the same device.

What's gonna be interesting is, like u said tcrews, 'change phones'. If AT&T folks have old smartphones, is that gonna make the new data plans kick in if they activate it on their current plan? Does buying a new/ different phone at retail make the new plans kick in? Then, it mentions the iPad, and dont mention current devices. iPads have their own data plans? What if a newer iPad comes out? Then what?

Verizon, I hope yall come up with a better plan than AT&T.....And AT&T might have to do some revising to their plans. I still have old phones I use in emergencies: lost or stolen phone.

[y0manda]

I hope at&t looses all their customers with their over priced bandwidth rates. You see AT&T thinks they can get away with this crap because they exclusively carry the iPhone.

As far as vzw they can't nor will they change their $30/month unlimited plan, 1, they don't carry and exclusive mobile platform, 2) 70% of vzw's droid customers had recently signed a 2 year contract within the last 7 months, vzw should know by now, but wont admit it.. it's not the service/coverage so much as it is the phones they offer. 3) With Virgin, boost and T-mobile all going to carry android devices with their cheap as hell unlimited talk, data, text for under 50/month vzw should be a bit concerned where their android customers will go after their contracts expire.

A few of my friends have boost with unlimited all across the board for under 50/month and even though they are not much of a techie they do get pretty good coverage. To be honest when my contract expires i'll be looking at the other 3 cheap cell providers to see what android device they have with their 50/month unlimited. I have two Droid lines, and two regular lines, my bill is just over $200/month. So those 50/mnth ea. is looking pretty good.

[jroc]

Unless the those 3 cheaper carriers offer high end Android phones.....that will be the deciding factor for most ppl. That was a main draw for AT&T: the actual phone. (iPhone) The iPhone already proved ppl will go to a specific carrier for just the phone.

But Verizon is in a good position; before, they offered the highest or one of the highest priced data plans. Now, they can undercut the others and offer better priced /packaged plans. Or dont change at all, and wait til LTE comes to change. Verizon will score major brownie points if they do that.

Btw, I'm going to see what T Mobile is offering right now.....lol, Sprint too. Just trying to be prepared....

[valhallla]

What's an extra 5 bucks gonna do me? Unlimited 29.99 or 2GB 24.99? It's simply as put, cap and tride. What about the future phones that are gonna be coming out needing data more then 2GB. The idea is to do away with desktop computers and allow everything a desktop can do right in your pocket. Example techtv has shown that phones will be having projectors that a user can put on a wall or screen. With bluetooth connect a keyboard and mouse. With hdmi outputs you can connect to your tv. Netflix is in the future for data streaming to our phones. I hear people telling me that soon as 4G phones start hitting the market they hear how fast it is and want to use it as there primary data source. - proud consumer of 29.99 unlimited data Verizon wireless.

[Vulcan1600]

Unless the those 3 cheaper carriers offer high end Android phones.....that will be the deciding factor for most ppl. That was a main draw for AT&T: the actual phone. (iPhone) The iPhone already proved ppl will go to a specific carrier for just the phone.

But Verizon is in a good position; before, they offered the highest or one of the highest priced data plans. Now, they can undercut the others and offer better priced /packaged plans. Or dont change at all, and wait til LTE comes to change. Verizon will score major brownie points if they do that.

Btw, I'm going to see what T Mobile is offering right now.....lol, Sprint too. Just trying to be prepared....

Don't think for one second Sprint won't introduce a tiering pricing for data also because they will follow suit.

[takeshi]

I know this is crazy but its getting late! What if the big V didn't follow, if they left things as is billions of iphone users would be heading to the Android based phones.

I doubt that will happen. The larger carriers rarely take such risks and play the follow-the-pack game all the time. It's more likely IMO that customers who will switch due this change with at&t will change to the next tier of carriers who probably won't adopt tiered data plans to attract new customers.

There's still likely to be a large number of dedicated iPhone users IMO.

I'd love to be wrong on this though and see at&t lose a large portion of customers due to their greed. We'll see...

[jsh1120]

Anyone who believes VZW is aching to accept data hog refugees from AT&T doesn't understand the concept of profit. Reminds me of an old I Love Lucy episode in which Lucy and Ethel open a dress shop and drop their prices below their cost and hope to make it up in volume.

Put simply, Verizon has no more incentive to provide unlimited data access at a flat rate than AT&T (or any other carrier.)

VZW will almost certainly follow suit now that AT&T has opened the door. And for those who believe they can count on being grandfathered on an unlimited data plan, that will hold only as long as they don't get new phones.

And once tiered pricing is in place, the whole issue of tethering will become at most a secondary consideration. Verizon, like AT&T, will try to get customers to pay for the privilege but if they don't it won't matter much; they'll still be paying for the data they use.

The important aspect of this shift isn't cell phones, at least not yet. Relatively few customers will stream Netflix movies to their phones. But iPad users (and users of the forthcoming Android tablets) will almost inevitably eat much more bandwidth.

In the long run, though, as users shift to VOIP, carriers can compensate for lost revenue from their voice plans by increased revenue from their 3G and 4G data networks.

[jroc]

Unless the those 3 cheaper carriers offer high end Android phones.....that will be the deciding factor for most ppl. That was a main draw for AT&T: the actual phone. (iPhone) The iPhone already proved ppl will go to a specific carrier for just the phone.

But Verizon is in a good position; before, they offered the highest or one of the highest priced data plans. Now, they can undercut the others and offer better priced /packaged plans. Or dont change at all, and wait til LTE comes to change. Verizon will score major brownie points if they do that.

Btw, I'm going to see what T Mobile is offering right now.....lol, Sprint too. Just trying to be prepared....

Don't think for one second Sprint won't introduce a tiering pricing for data also because they will follow suit.

I expect all the major carriers to follow suit, its just who will offer the best priced plans. I not planning on switching, I'm just talking trash....

I stayed with Verizon when other carriers had lower priced plans. Verizon has been real cool about me paying late, never cutting off service, keeping me as a customer by offering me upgrade deals, etc. I have heard stories about late bills and Sprint. My experience with Verizon CS is what keeps me with them.

But, there will be others that will go shopping for the best priced data plans.