AT&T's all-you-can-eat data plan died Wednesday, and plenty of wireless customers mourned over their loss. But is it really a big deal? It depends on the type of data consumer you are.
The new tiered pricing structure gives AT&T customers the following options:
- 200 MB for $15 per month. If you exceed the limit, AT&T will charge $15 extra in units of 200 MB.
- 2 GB for $25 per month. If you surpass this limit, you can pay an extra $10 per extra gigabyte.
- Current smartphone users can continue their unlimited data for $30 per month -- but if they switch to one of the cheaper plans, they can't go back to unlimited.
- To tether your smartphone to a computer, you must use the 2-GB, $25 plan, and pay an extra $20 for the tethering privilege.
For some, these changes stink. For others, it won't affect their lives much. Which plan is right for you? Let's break down the options.
Current AT&T smartphone users
In a poll Wired.com conducted Wednesday, 73 percent of 11,000 survey takers reported data usage under 2 GB. A Consumer Reports study also found that the average iPhone user consumes 273 MB of data per month, while a measly 4 percent consume an average of 1 GB per month. It's safe to say that the majority of customers can confidently subscribe to the 2-GB plan. Keep in mind you have the option to jump between the two limited plans -- so, if you find you're using less than 200 MB, you can switch to that $15 plan instead.
If you haven't checked out your average usage to determine where you stand, follow the steps laid out in our poll article Wednesday.
Data "hogs"
As for the remaining 27 percent of our survey takers who reported data usage exceeding 2 GB: If you're already on AT&T, stick with your current unlimited plan. AT&T designed these plans to deal with data hogs, just as AT&T's Ralph De La Vega warned last year. If you opt for the 2-GB plan, you're going to be paying at least $35 per month ($25 plus $10 for each extra GB), or possibly much more if your usage goes into many gigabytes.
If you're not yet an AT&T customer and you plan to gorge a ton of data, you have the option to adjust your behavior to avoid excessive fees by handling more of your data-heavy tasks over Wi-Fi rather than 3G. Or stick with your current carrier.
3G iPad owners
The changes in data plans are most frustrating for 3G iPad customers. The device launched in April with an option to buy unlimited data with no contract commitment for just $30 a month. If you've already activated your account with unlimited data, you can continue using it, but here's the kicker: If you choose not to use 3G data for a single month, you're booted out of that unlimited plan forever. So essentially AT&T is bullying you into activating unlimited every month if you want to keep using it.
Still, as with smartphones, your course of action depends on your average data usage. The iPad is a tad too new to gather hard data for average usage, but currently we think the device is being used more in living rooms over Wi-Fi connections. So the 2-GB cap might not be too stifling for most iPad customers.
We recommend against the 200 MB plan for iPad customers. The apps and media you stream to the iPad will be bigger in file size than those of a smartphone, so 200 MB can be exceeded easily, even if you only use 3G lightly. Better to pay the $25 for 2 GB rather than $30 after exceeding the 200-MB cap.
If you're a rebellious 3G iPad customer who also owns a smartphone, you have the option of paying nothing at all for iPad data. Jailbreaking the iPhone enables you to tether it to the iPad, and there are likely similar utilities for other AT&T smartphones, as well. However, keep in mind that jailbreaking an iPhone can void your warranty, and Apple has claimed hacking the handset results in security and performance issues.
Tethering customers
AT&T's tethering option is indisputably a raw deal. After paying $25 for 2 GB of data, you have to drop an extra $20 each month just to activate tethering. What's lame is that that extra $20 doesn't give you an extra data plan; you're pulling from the same data as your overall usage even when untethered. As GDGT's Ryan Block said, it's as if Comcast charged you an extra $20 a month to use your Wi-Fi router.
If you're really eager to use your phone as a wireless modem, you're going to be adding upward of $45 a month to your wireless bill. If you're cringing at the idea, there are alternatives to tethering: Standalone devices such as Verizon's Mi-Fi and Sprint's Overdrive will give you a portable Wi-Fi hotspot you can take anywhere. But then you're talking about a separate data contract with another carrier.
Going forward
The tech industry is making a big move into "cloud" computing, where data is stored on the internet instead of on your own devices. Apple is rumored to be planning a reboot of iTunes that involves streaming media. Therefore, it's conceivable that data usage will increase as more of our media is stored online, but it's unclear just how much. For music, LA Times writer Mark Milian points out that you'd need to stream about four hours of Pandora every day to hit that 2-gig monthly limit. (That's quite a lot of tunes over a month.) But Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk on Wednesday noted that many cloud services, such as Rhapsody and Spotify, allow you to also store songs for offline listening.
Streaming video is poised to play a bigger role in the near future, with phones such as the HTC Evo 4G and the next-gen iPhone (if the final product is mostly the same as the prototype) sporting front-facing cameras. And let's not forget about already-popular services like Netflix streaming or YouTube. People who are especially interested in streaming video are going to be the biggest victims. (If you're a current video-savvy customer with an unlimited plan, don't ever leave it.)
Still, even as networks become faster and coverage increases, we think in the next five to 10 years people are going to prefer handling their media in a combination of offline and online environments -- not only because networks are consistently imperfect, but also for reasons such as privacy and native performance. Whenever a company takes something away from you, it inevitably amounts to outrage. But in the near term, we think most will enjoy the benefit of paying less for just the right amount of data, while heavier data users pay more.
See Also:
- Apple: We're Sticking With AT&T for the iPhone
- With iPad, Apple Still Has a Fatal Attraction for AT&T
- How Apple, AT&T Are Closing the Mobile Web
- Cap My iPhone? Try This Instead, AT&T
- FCC Position May Spell the End of Unlimited Internet
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
