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Wireless Networking

Loophole Means Unlimited Data For AT&T iPhone 121

Posted by samzenpus from the unlimited-fine-print dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to a story at NPR: 'Verizon Wireless will start offering the iPhone on Feb. 10 with a draw that AT&T Inc. no longer offers to new subscribers: a plan with unlimited data usage. But The Associated Press has learned that some AT&T iPhone users on limited plans won't need to move to Verizon for all-you-can-eat data. In an unadvertised loophole, AT&T has allowed subscribers who have had an unlimited data plan in the past to switch back. That includes anyone who had an iPhone before June, when the limited plans took effect.'"
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Loophole Means Unlimited Data For AT&T iPhone More

Loophole Means Unlimited Data For AT&T iPhone

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  • Horses are gone. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 0100010001010011 ( 652467 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @06:33PM (#35014414)

    Sorry AT&T, people have been fed up with slow internet. Everyone that has wanted an iPhone but waited is going to jump on this.
    Everyone with an expiring AT&T contract that was fed-up with AT&T service is going to jump. People have already made up their minds, this little 'incentive' isn't going to help.

    Fastest 3G network just like USB2 is faster than Firewire. When it really counts, it isn't.

    I can't see how Verizon handles the load.

    • Re:Horses are gone. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by metalmaster ( 1005171 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @06:40PM (#35014470)
      Can you really be sure that VZW wont get crushed when hordes of iphone users switch?

      • Re:Horses are gone. (Score:5, Informative)

        by Cornelius the Great ( 555189 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @06:58PM (#35014636)
        Considering that Android users use more data [reuters.com], it's a safe bet that Verizon's network can handle the load.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by node 3 ( 115640 )

          How does that follow? Are you saying that Verizon is going to sell iPhones primarily to their existing Android customers?

          The iPhone is going to add significantly to Verizon's user base. Even if Android consumes more data in aggregate than iPhone [*], and Verizon can handle that just fine, that doesn't mean that they can handle that plus another significant bandwidth consuming platform.

          [*] That article was extremely sparse on any actual data, so there's no way to know exactly what they mean. WiFi tethering,

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mjwx ( 966435 )

            How does that follow? Are you saying that Verizon is going to sell iPhones primarily to their existing Android customers?

            Given that 77% of Iphone 4's were sold to owners of previous Iphone models I'd say no.

            More like existing Iphone owners _may_ switch. Then again maybe not. Perhaps the Iphone has reached maximum saturation.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by node 3 ( 115640 )

              You're delusional if you think the iPhone market is saturated. How did they manage to sell over 16 million iPhones last quarter? Or maybe they are *now* just becoming saturated?

              No, the iPhone will sell millions next quarter on Verizon alone, and they most certainly will add significant additional load to their network.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Ihmhi ( 1206036 )

          I'm rarely one to say good things about a big, multi-billion dollar corporation, but I really do think that Verizon has good service.

          Before I go further, let me preface everything that follows with this disclaimer: the quality of a phone company's network depends on your area. I've been in places other than home where previous networks I was one worked amazingly, and there are places I go to where Verizon works poorly.

          I live in Newark, NJ. Originally my family had one cell phone with Sprint. Sprint's servic

        • Considering that Android users use more data [reuters.com], it's a safe bet that Verizon's network can handle the load.

          Really? A safe bet? Considering that iPhones have outpaced all Verizon smartphones combined [asymco.com] in sales, I'm not going to hold my breath.

          My guess is that Android power users bring up the average for Android because there are "basic" users on Android. In my experience, I know a lot of iPhone users that hardly use data because they use their iPhone mostly for phone calls and email. I imagine the equivalent of those people on Verizon are mostly using Blackberry's.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Considering that Android users use more data, it's a safe bet that Verizon's network can handle the load.

          Actually, AT&T's network isn't suffering from bandwidth issues on the data channels. It's the control channel where they're having a bandwidth crunch! (That's how come AT&T can actually have the fastest network when tested).

          The iPhone (all of them) have extremely aggressive power management, and they're well known to tear down the data connection the moment the last byte flows through it, then re

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lwsimon ( 724555 )

      I'm actually satisfied with AT&T's 3G. I have a grandfathered iPhone plan, and I intend to stay with them. My phone is jailbroken, and I tether to it pretty much daily.

      It should be noted, though, that I live in rural Arkansas, and the few times I've taken my phone to a metropolitan area, I noticed a significant decrease is speed.

      • I paid big $$ for a corporate account, just so that I could have my tethering, unlimited data and be able to use it to upload live MP3 audio streams for my business. (Internet radio station focused on live, local artists at their events with original content. Shameless plug: gnarfel.com radio [although we're not broadcasting right now.])
        • Of course you could have done this for a lot cheaper buying an old WinMo 6.x phone with the old unlimited plan. Supports tethering out of the box at no extra charge

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by node 3 ( 115640 )

            Of course you could have done this for a lot cheaper buying an old WinMo 6.x phone with the old unlimited plan. Supports tethering out of the box at no extra charge

            So does iOS. It's up to the carrier to decide how they charge to use the features on their network.

            Besides, cheaper != better. If he did that, he'd be stuck with a WinMo 6.5 phone. *Maybe* he wouldn't mind that, but somehow I doubt it. I can't imagine any statistically significant number of iOS or Android users who would enjoy downgrading that significantly.

            • Well, WinMo 6.5 usually still has the executable, just not on the programs menu. iPhones, on the other hand, have no way to tether when not jailbroken unless ATT says its OK.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by node 3 ( 115640 )

                Well, WinMo 6.5 usually still has the executable, just not on the programs menu. iPhones, on the other hand, have no way to tether when not jailbroken unless ATT says its OK.

                And AT&T (and Verizon) both say it's OK. You just have to pay for it (like you do with any other phone). And as you've stated, both Windows Mobile and iOS have mechanisms by which users can work around the limitation and violate their contract, if they so wish.

            • Out of the box, meaning it's not a feature taken away by any of the carriers in the US, and even if they did, regedit is a lot easier than jailbreak, and a lot less warranty violating(which can be a big issue for corporate users)

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by node 3 ( 115640 )

                Out of the box, meaning it's not a feature taken away by any of the carriers in the US

                That's not what "out of the box" means. And both US carriers allow tethering on the iPhone.

                and even if they did, regedit is a lot easier than jailbreak, and a lot less warranty violating(which can be a big issue for corporate users)

                They don't have to, they just pay for the tethering feature, like they do with any other phone.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by mjwx ( 966435 )

              So does iOS. It's up to the carrier to decide how they charge to use the features on their network.

              But wait, I thought the great advantage of the Iphone was that carriers could not mess with it and do things like dictate what OS features you can or cant use.

              Seriously, I hear this argument used against Android all the time but people forget things like this.
              Android works like this:
              Manufacturer -> Carrier -> User
              Iphone works like this
              Carrier -> Manufacturer -> User
              Except with Android I

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by node 3 ( 115640 )

                So does iOS. It's up to the carrier to decide how they charge to use the features on their network.

                But wait, I thought the great advantage of the Iphone was that carriers could not mess with it and do things like dictate what OS features you can or cant use.

                Nice straw man. The advantage you are referring to is that carriers could not alter any of the software on the iPhone (they can't remove software, add software, or alter software, like Verizon is notorious for (and even *they* aren't allowed to alter the software on the iPhone)).

                What you are referring to is that the iPhone specifically allows the carriers to decide which *network* features they offer. Android offers the exact same customizability, *PLUS* the more severe ability for carriers like Verizon to

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by v1 ( 525388 )

      Sorry AT&T, people have been fed up with slow internet. Everyone that has wanted an iPhone but waited is going to jump on this.
      Everyone with an expiring AT&T contract that was fed-up with AT&T service is going to jump. People have already made up their minds, this little 'incentive' isn't going to help.

      Especially when you have to ask them to stop screwing you. If they wanted to make a serious attempt at saving face they'd just roll them all back, and not just those that are older customers. Letting older customers do it and NOT letting newer ones, wow. Way to keep a new customer!

      (why is the italic tag not working?)

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by dmitriy ( 40004 )
        Italic is not working?
        • Nope. Thank you fucking slashdot css.  To add to my list of evergrowing fixes, add to your stylesheet
          <br>
          i, .quote
          {
          font-style:italic !important;
          }

          Yes, folks, that's right. They fucked up the <i> tag. Have a good night.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by eyeota ( 686153 )
        ATT doesn't have to keep the new customer, that's why they make you sign a contract. It's the old customers with the expiring contracts they're trying to retain.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by index0 ( 1868500 )

        Most new customers won't have a choice because they signed a 2 or 3 year contract. Older customers probably will be having their contract expire soon.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mcrbids ( 148650 )

      AT&T screws more than just cellular customers!

      AT&T managed to screw up my billing on International calls, (over) charging me almost $5,000 on what should have been about $100 in charges. After more than 6 months of calls to customer service, deferrals, and notices, I finally called them to disconnect my phone. Suddenly, the $4,000 was taken care of in 10 minutes, by somebody who spoke with an American accent!

      I waited long enough to get the next bill (so that I'd have proof that the bill had been dis

    • Slow? What are you talking about? AT&T has the fastest network. How do I know? Well, they told me so that's how.

  • Unadvertised Loophole (Score:3)

    by kenrblan ( 1388237 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @06:35PM (#35014440)
    By unadvertised loophole, AT&T really means offered countermeasure to the prevent loss of a customer to a competitor. This is nothing new or revolutionary.

    • By unadvertised loophole, AT&T really means offered countermeasure to the prevent loss of a customer to a competitor. This is nothing new or revolutionary.!

      You just have NO idea what this means. Did you know this is an iPHONE we are talking about here?! I know, I know, it was hard for me to comprehend at first as well. I just hope that AT&T doesn't find a way to stop this from happening. I mean it's like we all hit the lottery.

      Off topic here, but I really find the new layout of the site is shitty. I hadn't even gotten used to the last change - which sucked as well. I hope this isn't the end of Slashdot. I used to go to Google news almost first thing when I

      • Slashcode was nearly perfect for awhile in 2005-6 but apparently they just kept tweaking until they pretty much ruined it. I agree the latest redesign is still difficult to navigate and painful to view. It helps to specify a custom css stylesheet just for this site in your browser's prefs, but of course that's kludgey and unsatisfying. Using elinks or lynx fixes the aesthetics; too bad they don't bother making it fully functional with any non-graphical browser.

        The depressingly poor slashcode hasn't stop

  • "Unlimited" is usually a lie (Score:5, Insightful)

    by slaker ( 53818 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @06:38PM (#35014456)

    Just remember, people, that "unlimited" data plans in the US actually cap out at 5GB/month for almost everyone in almost every situation. The only truly un-metered data services I'm aware of are Sprint's plans for phones that offer 4G service or for circumstances where a user was grandfathered in on a contract that offered truly unlimited data service (e.g. Sprint SERO).

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by lwsimon ( 724555 )

      While you're right, in theory, in practice I routinely take my iPhone to 8-10GB / month, and have never seen any ill effects.

    • Re:"Unlimited" is usually a lie (Score:5, Informative)

      by PhreakOfTime ( 588141 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @06:50PM (#35014566) Homepage
      You did say 'just about everyone', but... My android phone with Verizon is unlimited data, and I regularly use around 7-8GB/mo with no charges.
      • With Verizon, at any point beyond the initial 5GB, they can at their discretion pull the plug on your data at which point you must then submit a petition. At this point Verizon reserves the right to conduct an "illegal downloading" investigation. If everything checks out, your data privileges are resumed. From what I understand, this can happen on a per month basis as well. I used to work for Verizon, you see.

        • That sounds incredibly unbelievable and unrealistic.

          The largest month saw 21GB of usage. And many months well over 10. During the colder months it is less. Not one single instance of 'illegal downloading' went over the network.

          The offer was for unlimited data on the droid when I signed up in 2009. It was the only verizon phone to offer such a plan, as the rest were supposedly limited to 5GB/mo. In other words, it was unique to the initial android release on the verizon network. I signed up for the phone

          • And WinMo, Blackberry, any other smartphone I missed? The Verizon smartphone plan is unlimited.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by jeepien ( 848819 )

          Well, I routinely run over 5 GB each month, and have for nearly a year and a half, on my Droid. Not a peep out of them (VZW). So unlimited is, so far, not limited.

      • I regularly use around 7-8GB/mo with no extra charges.

        FTFY

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      True that, but even while streaming Pandora everywhere I go and using it as a wifi tether device occasionally I still only use about 2GB/Month, yet I am forced to pay an extra $10/month fee per line for "4g unlimited" usage, which 4g is not even available in my area.

      I'd honestly rather pay less and have a 5gb cap on 3g.

      • True that, but even while streaming Pandora everywhere I go and using it as a wifi tether device occasionally I still only use about 2GB/Month, yet I am forced to pay an extra $10/month fee per line for "4g unlimited" usage, which 4g is not even available in my area.

        I'd honestly rather pay less and have a 5gb cap on 3g.

        I thought forcing users to pay for line items that weren't available to them was illegal? It's small claims court unless you get a class action, but it's still not legal. They've broken their contract with you.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I used something like 12 GB on an Incredible in October, and nobody cared. I've been using 4-6 GB a month on average on a smartphone since 2005.

    • Just remember, people, that "unlimited" data plans in the US actually cap out at 5GB/month for almost everyone in almost every situation. The only truly un-metered data services I'm aware of are Sprint's plans for phones that offer 4G service or for circumstances where a user was grandfathered in on a contract that offered truly unlimited data service (e.g. Sprint SERO).

      Just remember, person, that unlimited data plans in the US actually are unlimited for a sizable portion of subscribers in many situations.
      Anyone who thought internet on a phone was worthwhile before the iPhone came out had, or had the option for, such a plan.
      MANY people are grandfathered in, and AT&T will NOT be kicking them off their contracts because they'll just leave.

      I have an unlimited data plan. As many kaybees and geebees as I want. In an fashion. Via any cellular transceiver that uses the IDs

    • Verizon is unlimited as long as you're not tethering. T-Mobile's 4G is capped at 5GB, but then they just throttle you to 3G speeds. So I just see it as $40/month for unlimited 3G with a speed boost for the first 5GB.

    • Not sure what the limit is for AT&T, but I've regularly brake 5G and have hit as high as 10G a couple months.

    • How the hell is this still marked "insightful?" I have the AT&T unlimited data plan with my iPhone and every month go over 5GB, and have yet to see an additional charge or throttling. I think my highest usage month was something like 13GB (which takes a certain amount of doing over 3G, I tell you...).

      Hey, if you want to astroturf for Sprint, feel free, but expect to get called on it.

    • Pedantic question: isn't unlimited always a lie, since the bandwidth is always finite? If they offer you a 5 Mbps connection, then the maximum you can download in a month is around 1.5 TB, even if they don't cap you?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Firehed ( 942385 )

        Strictly speaking, yes. The term they should* be using is "unmetered". Unlimited should mean not only unmetered, but that your pipe is also infinitely wide, which is obviously impossible.

        * If it was, in fact, unmetered. Which is almost never the case. In theory I've inherited my old "unlimited" iPhone plan, but it's hardly relevant as I only use about 400MB/month. Yay for WiFi.

    • You mean the 4G service that is actually 3.1G... right.....

    • And Verizon. I have never been cut off for data usage on their wireless or FiOS.

  • This is nothing new. ATT has made no effort to move me from my unlimited plan to a limited plan when I bought my last phone Why would they? I am probably seldom over the 2GB limit, and they get $5 more than if I went to the max plan, and $15 more than if I went to the lower plan, which honestly is enough. The only thing this has to do with Verizon is that if one has an unlimited plan with ATT, it is unclear that one will be able to get the same deal with Verizon, at least long term. Verizon has says it

    • What unlimited tethering? I read that the Verizon iPhone tethering option was $20 for 2 GB and $10 for each GB beyond that.

  • So the real question is how long will this "unadvertised plan" last? Unless it's officially offered then this isn't a permanent solution nor a reason to say, "AT&T is better than VZW!!"
  • AT&T removing "unlimited" data was a really stupid mistake. If they wanted to offer lower plans, they should have had introduced a variable plan, where the money you pay per month is based on bandwidth usage. They only pay the $15 or whatever it is for the pathetic amount of data, the $25 or whatever it is for the 2 GB of data and after 2 GB it just jumps up to the usual $30.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Surt ( 22457 )

      Theft by definition is an unlawful taking, so you've gotten pretty circular with your sig.

      • No because laws don't determine what is right or wrong. For example, if tomorrow it was legal to kill children under the age of 8, would it still be murder? Would it be right simply because it is legal? Things like theft, fraud and murder transcend laws, they are moral and natural principles practiced by every civilization, by every human. For example, if you take some kids and have them play and one kid takes something that belongs to the other, most likely they are going to protest. Why? There was no lega

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Surt ( 22457 )

          Laws determine precisely what is lawful or unlawful. Not right or wrong indeed. You might more properly have said: Taxation is legalized taking, no more, no less. Then we'd be in agreement. Murder is exactly unlawful killing,
          http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/murder [merriam-webster.com]
          definition (1!) is:
          : the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought

          And of course the natural 'right' to own property is quite heavily debated. By what authority do you derive the right to deny someone els

  • Unlimited or not, there are many people eager to switch simply for better service, especially in Metro areas.

  • I got my data plan BEFORE the original iPhone launched.
    My data plan is ACTUALLY unlimited - no fine print hidden cap.
    My data plan INCLUDES tethering (because it makes zero mention of it - it's a DATA PLAN and I get DATA to do with as I please).
    My data plan costs $10 / month.

    No way in hell I'm giving that contract up.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by vux984 ( 928602 )

      My data plan INCLUDES tethering (because it makes zero mention of it

      It includes free ice-cream by that logic.

      it's a DATA PLAN and I get DATA to do with as I please).

      If tethering was an available feature, enabled in the phone at the time of the contract, then I'd say yes.

      Otherwise... honestly... yes and no. The AT&T site for example states that:

      AT&T DataPlus/AT&T DataPro plans with Tethering may be used to tether such SMARTPHONE and BlackBerry devices to a personal computer. If you are on a data

  • Just let me use the bandwidth you give me any way I want to! Why does tethering cost more? Why does adding a 3G hotspot device cost more?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )
      There are two ways to price things. "Cost plus" where you mark up everything by some amount to get some desired profit, and "value pricing" where you price based on what you think people will pay. Monopolies charge "value pricing" (things like SMS messages at $0.20 each are value pricing). Giving you the added "value" of tethering or hotspots are as well. They may not be technically monopolies anymore, but the high barriers to entry and mild collusion result in the same effects.

  • News? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by YesDinosaursDidExist ( 1268920 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @07:06PM (#35014714)
    If you had an unlimited plan before they rolled out the metered ones -- you were grandfathered in. Even if you had unlimited on a BlackBerry and later decided to "upgrade" to an iPhone you were grandfathered in....I don't know why this is news. The loophole doesn't affect you -- there is no loophole -- just demand unlimited data from AT&T and threaten to switch if they won't give it to you for $30\month. But then again....maybe they might benefit from 10% of their iPhone users moving over to another network...on paper it may seem bad -- but in the long run it may draw new customers when the service gets "better" from less data traffic.

    • This is like the sun's gas cycle of compressing and expanding itself. I wonder how many times uses will jump in and out harmonically as more companies get the iPhone and AT&T loses and regains its hungrier bandwidth-chewer percentage points

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It is news because AT&T originally said that when if you were to change to one of the capped data plans, the unlimited plan was gone, For good.

  • ...when AT&T is already having issues with dropped calls and slow 3G traffic? Did they do an infrastructure and/or backbone overhaul when nobody was looking?

    • Yes, just no one noticed.

      AT&Ts network has improved significantly since the iPhone was originally released, all likely due to the iPhone unlimited data plan.

      By the time they dropped the unlimited data, the network was just about to the point of supporting what they had reliably everywhere most of the time. You'd still have issues if something happened that caused a lot of people to use their phones or put more people in an area than normal but for the most part, day to day, they caught up.

      The reason yo

  • How many AT&T users with unlimited plans switched to a metered plan? Who would?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by robco74 ( 855120 )
      I would and did. I was annoyed by the announcement at first, but then I went on the customer service site and looked at my past data usage. I never came close to 200MB. It's as AT&T stated - it's enough for 65% of their smartphone customers. I check email, I browse the web, I read news apps. I don't stream Pandora over the 3G network all day. I don't stream movies over the cell network. I can wait to watch that YouTube video until I'm on WiFi or I get home - and I'm around WiFi a lot. I mostly use the p

  • wont last (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Charliemopps ( 1157495 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @08:47PM (#35015444)
    Having worked for ATT in the past and having seen these "loopholes" I can attest to the fact that this wont last long. ATT's billing system is about the nastiest old 70's unix system you can imagine. Up until about 10 years about you still had to log into it with HPUX terminals. Right before I left they were building a web interface for it, but its still the nightmarish terminal system in the background. To get people "Packages" you'd apply codes to their account. ATT was always screwing their customers one way or another and your average billing rep just wants to get the angry customer off the phone. So every once in a while someone would figure out something like: "If I apply the tx320 plan, then the 43t33 plan... then backdate the install date and remove the 43t33, then the main package will go unlimited!!" Then this would get share with a couple of their closest work confidants... this is how to do it and get them off the phone. After a few months everyone knows about it and it's getting applied all over... then the main office finds out about it and brings down the hammer.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      To get people "Packages" you'd apply codes to their account. ATT was always screwing their customers one way or another and your average billing rep just wants to get the angry customer off the phone.

      Having worked in cableco customer/technical support for four different companies I can attest this is how it is over here, too. Far too often the billing and even technical systems are run on software that you can tell is 1) very old, 2) originally designed to be used on a text-based terminal of some sort, and 3) not designed very well to start with.

      The company I currently work for, who is one of the "big three" cable companies in the U.S., is using a program like this. It has an ugly non-intuitive GUI on t

    • That would explain the difficulties I had when upgrading from my iPhone 1 to an iPhone 4. Somehow, I got activated with no data plan. It was giving me weird messages and wouldn't connect to the Edge network (rural). Two days later I got a text and two phone calls telling me I didn't have a data plan, was required to have one, and had been enrolled automatically in a 2GB plan.

  • I'm currently on AT&T but don't have a smart phone nor contract. Just month to month, and while I want to stay with them since they have the best coverage in my area, it seems this is just screwing over the customers who didn't get an iPhone or unlimited plan prior, even more.

    I really want an Android phone and am willing to pay for an unlocked HTC one, but I wouldn't be able to get an unlimited data plan. However I can always sign up for Verizon and get the same HTC phone, which AT&T doesn't even

  • Very few people with the unlimitied AT&T plan switched away from it (statisticlly speaking anyway). The reason that Verizon is offering a 'temporary' unlimited plan is to entice those AT&T users who can't see themselves surviving on a metered service, but hate their coverage, to switch over to Verizon secure in the knowledge that they can still have an unlimited plan. Once these folks have had enough time to jump over, Verizon kills the plan for new subscribers. It's a great marketing ploy. I just

  • The cellphone companies need to completly change their pricing model.

    Ditch the lame idea of charging for incoming calls and SMS and move those costs onto the sender/caller.

    Ditch the "data plan" crap and just charge people for the data they actually use. They should offer data blocks (where you can buy in blocks of 500mb or 1gb or whatever at a cheaper price than the pay-as-you-go rate for the same amount of data). And since they are now charging people for the data they actually use, they could fully allow

  • Unlimited AT&T users still can't use tethering -- even if they'd agree to pay extra for it (They need the not-quite-unlimited-take-it-bitch-take-it plan for that). It will indeed be nice to see what competition does in this space. Both providers have their share of baggage, but at least now there's competition. But what will we do with http://www.thisiswhyiphonesucks.com/ [thisiswhyiphonesucks.com] now?

  • Yes, My plan with AT&T has be "grandfathered" in. I barely use their bare bones "less than 3G" where I live, I have wifi most everywhere I go so I don't impact their network much unless I am out of town. Still, if you became an AT&T customer at the right time and don't change your contract, you have unlimited 3G, 4G and previous access in an unlimited contract. AT&T has not earned my loyalty, but I will ride it out and see if they catch up or just remain a follower. They just sent me info on a G

  • IPhone users had one significant reason to switch from unlimited to metered: It allowed them to tether. If you switch back, do you get to keep tethering? Judging by what VZ has said they're going to offer, the assumption would be yes. But leave it to AT&T to completely screw this up.

  • The ONLY smartphone-class phone on AT&T allowed to be set up with unlimited data right out of the gate is the ORIGINAL iPhone. Yes, you can still use it to this day. The only data options for the original iPhone are unlimited.

    In an "unrelated" note, if you already have a smartphone-class device with unlimited data, even if you migrated from another carrier that was absorbed into AT&T, you're entitled to keep your unlimited data if you change to another smartphone, be it through upgrading or simpl

  • If you want to switch back to an unlimited data plan, you'll have to call Customer Service. At present, the option to switch back is not available through AT&T's website.

  • AT&T I see your ruse and raise you a unicorn.

  • There should be no tiering. No phone companies own the internet or the data. The fact that they throttle users usage is criminal. They make money off of what should be freely available. The internet is the citizens data highway.

    By throttling data, they are not serving their users interests. They should be expanding their capacities because future demand will be thousands of times greater than it currently is. Getting stuck in an old paradigm hurts their company and hurts their subscribers in the meantime.

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