AT&T just dropped a bit of a bombshell, doing away with its “unlimited” data plans in favor some new tiered options. Before we go into details, note that current voice and data plans won’t change unless you want them to, and the new plans won’t be available until June 7. Now, for the meat:
- The DataPlus plan: You get 200 megabytes of data for $15 a month. If you go over that, you get another 200MB for another $15. AT&T says that 65 percent of its smartphone customers use less than 200MB a month. (Surely that’s nobody here.)
- The DataPro plan: You get 2 gigabytes of data for $25 a month. If you go over that, you get another 1GB for $10. AT&T says 98 percent of its customers use less than 2GB a data a month. (For what its worth, even I fall under that category.)
- Tethering: Finally — legitimate tethering on AT&T (for better or for worse, ’cause you’re gonna have to share this with iPhone and iPad users). Another $20 a month gets you access, and you’ll be pulling from the same 2GB pool as the DataPro plan. So if you start going over, you might not be saving all that much, if any.
For some of you, this could save a lot of money. Others will bemoan the loss of “unlimited” (we keep using that in quotes because it never was truly unlimited) data plans in favor of tiered pricing. If you need help figuring out what’s best for you, check out AT&T’s myWireless Android app, look at your bill, or consult a psychic. Either one should do. [AT&T]