AT&T has announced today that their one-option unlimited iPhone and iPad data plans are to be abolished on June 7 - just in time for the highly anticipated iPhone 4.
What we have in its place are two new iPhone data plans, and two iPad equivalents. The iPhone data plans have been christened DataPlus, and DataPro. Neither offer unlimited downloads, but then again, neither are $29.99/month. Check out the information below and see what you think.
DataPlus
Price: $15/month
Allowance: 200MB
AT&T stated in their
press release that 65% of their customers use under 200MB per month, which highlights this data plan as appealing to the masses. However, if you do cross the 200MB line on this plan, AT&T will serve you with a $15 fine per 200MB overages - which could get super costly if you go on a data-downloading-spree.
DataPro
Price: $25/month
Allowance: 2GB
According to AT&T, only 2% of their customers go through 2GB of data each month, so this plan seems to offer a pretty decent safety net if you’re uncertain about the DataPlus allowance. Additionally, if you do find yourself in that 2%, crossing the line nowhere near as costly as it is for DataPlus customers. AT&T will charge DataPro subscribers $10 per extra 1GB of data downloaded, which is much more reasonable.
Tethering
iPhone users that want tethering have to have a DataPro plan, and can add the feature for a further $20/month, making their total monthly bill $45/month. It also means that you’ll be sharing those 2GB between your phone and laptop, making the 2GB boundary much easier to cross. So beware.
iPad
Much like the $29.99/month unlimited iPhone data plan, the $29.99 unlimited iPad data plan has also been sent to the gallows. Starting from June 7th, iPad customers will have two options to choose from: $15 for 250MB or $25 for 2GB of data. Any existing iPad customers who wish to stick to the current unlimited plan are free to do so, but AT&T seem to be hoping that most would rather save the $5 and apply a limit to their data downloads.
All data plans also come with unlimited access to any of the company’s 40,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, so a cellular data network is not always going to be necessary.
How do you feel about these? Hating AT&T much? Tell us about it!
