by The Foundation | Twitter.com/thefndtn
AT&T has announced new data plans for mobile Internet and smartphones in an effort to make “mobile Internet more affordable to more people.” However, iPhone and iPad users are likely to be affected to a greater extent than other AT&T data plan subscribers.
There are now two data plans available to AT&T customers: DataPlus, which provides 200 MB of data for $15 per month (additional 200 MB chunks of data also cost $15), and DataPro, which provides 2 GB of data for $25 per month (every additional GB costing $10).
Existing iPad customers, who already have the $29.99 unlimited monthly plan can choose to keep it, or switch to the DataPro plan. Likewise, existing iPhone data plans will be grandfathered. On a positive note, iPhone users can now enable the long awaited tethering feature for an additional $20 per month, but only if they use the DataPro plan.
The new pricing structure is great news for smartphone customers, who won’t go bankrupt if they exceed their monthly data limit. The average AT&T customer uses far less than 2 GB each month. In fact, 98% of AT&T smartphone customers fall below the cap. But from the iPad user’s perspective, AT&T’s new pricing is a big letdown compared to the previous unlimited data plan. Even though iPhone users consume 10 times as much data as the average smartphone user, the most active iPhone users still won’t burn through more than a couple of gigabytes every month. Keep in mind that the iPad is a far more demanding device data-wise, and activities such as Netflix streaming will quickly exceed the limit of AT&T’s DataPro plan. Two gigabytes per month is just not enough data for a device such as the iPad, and we sense that many users will feel let down by AT&T’s new data plans.
The Foundation recommends that iPad users concerned about exceeding the 2 GB cap try to utilize the device’s WiFi connection whenever possible.
