A vast majority (ATT claimed 98%) of customers don't use over 2 gigs. On those cusotmers ATT is making money off of data, evidenced by their continued strong performance quarter after quarter. The other 2%, ATT could truly care less about. Those are the customers that ATT is not making money off of, and honestly ATT could care less about it. Yeah, it doesn't make you feel all fuzzy and warm inside, but its business, and honestly its smart business. This is the same thing as when carriers terminate customers with excessive off network usage, just not as up front - instead of kicking them out the door, ATT is just showing them the door and motioning to it in a "hint hint" sort of way 🙂

I think att would like you to believe that 98% don't use over 2gb but with all the iphones out there if you are not using about that much or more then why have it? Really get a itouch or something. I have a droid and I use 2 on a slow month. I have used over 5bg easy. I use pandora slacker radio allot just to name a few apps I like. When I drove to NJ and back I used over 8gb. Slacker radio the whole way there and back.

You and Jay just don't get it. You can't fathom people that use very little data. You can use what you like but you out just as out of touch as Obama. AT&T made a good move and they are getting incremental data sales out of people who would not otherwise have purchased a smartphone. THAT is the whole point of this and THAT user is their bread and butter.

I get it already. yes its great for people that use little but not for people that use allot. And if the others do not follow your great plan then att will lose in the long run. If sprint and verizon continue with unlimited then they will lose quite a few people. And the more smartphones take over regular phones that will impact it. Maybe you don't get it that Att is money hungry and have to do this because their data network can not handle all the data. And yes they even said that themselves. They would rather limit you then make costly upgrades.

So yes you are right on a point great for making it 10 dollars for data but bad on you to kill an unlimited option for 30.

It is only a matter of time.

they already stated they most likely will with 4g not 3g.

Monkey see Monkey do, as AT&T continues to have success with incremental sales of smartphones Verizon will follow with 3G as well.

how do you say that when the rumor was they will a few weeks after att did and they came out with a press release and said no. We will not change 3g pricing but will look at tiered data for 4g. Do you realize that att is doomed after they lose the iphone. Well maybe not doomed but verizon will surpass them in ever aspect. The iphone is the only thing that keeps them adding as many subs as they do! And only thing that is keeping their data consumed and that part is straight from them!

Because I do not base my assertions on rumor. And AT&T is not "doomed". They add quite a few non iphone customers every quarter.

And why do you think they will lose the iphone. There have never been any speculation Apple will take it away.

not lose it so to say I meant them being the only carrier. And yes they will add people but verizon will add allot more and get more from att. Plus with 4g rolling out in 30 markets end of this year and att still not even done rolling 3g out all over its a no brainier.

wombough said:
they already stated they most likely will with 4g not 3g.

AT&T has a superior pricing structure. The tier sizes and prices may be different, but it would be foolish not to follow at some point.

BTW: Where did you see a statement from Verizon or Sprint saying they will NEVER cap 3G smartphones? Everything I saw said, "We have no immediate plans to..."

They never said never and I never put never I said they said no. With 4g going to be network wide by end of 2011 I think why would they cap 3g its going to be non existent. And sprint won't do it until they become on the same level as att and verizon. They offer the farm and still lose people.

My understanding is Verizons 3G will remain unlimited and their 4G will be tiered data.

There are absolutely no guarantees that will happen unless AT&T fails with their rate plan. Now that they are advertising it we will get an even better indication of how well it helps incremental smartphone sales.

Verizon is only holding firm because they are not up against a wall on capacity. They are smart enough to make the change if there is financially positive outcome for AT&T. 3G is just as limited as 4G in regards to the fact that it WILL hit capacity issues sometime in the future if it remains uncapped.

Reaching capacity is for cheap, lazy wireless network operators who *refuse* to meet the demands of the market.

Verizon smartphone users use more data than ATT smartphone users, and yet there are still no major issues with Verizons network.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20012011-266.html »

If both WiMax & LTE are tweaked right, with multiple input multiple output technology those technologies can handle a whole lot of data simultaneously.

exactly. ATT is doing it for 2 reasons. Money and help their network problem.

oh and don't make commercials that your doing EVERYONE a favor by changing your data plans. Just like don't make a commercial that you cover 97% of the country. No crap so does Verizon and sprint for that matter but what you fail to tell is you don't cover 97% with your 3g service. Which is why that commercial was made in the first place. Verizon pointed out their week 3g footprint and as they think people are stupid which only ones that don't care about 3g is on this point and try and convince everyone they cover 97% with everything.

one other thing how please tell me is 2gb good enough for an IPAD which is designed to only do data. Its not a phone? So why please tell me would 2gb be so great for an IPAD. Maybe a smartphone people don't stream movies and stuff on them so much but an IPAD??????? And why is 25 so good for 2mb when they use to have 29.99 for 5gb? Sounds like a bad deal to me. But hell I don't get it I guess.

I've got an iPhone, and I use it quite a bit, and stay under 2gigs quite easily. Its called WiFi at home. At work, unfortunately I'm not able to sit and listen to radio on my phone, so that takes that away. I listen to it on my commute to work and back, but still, at most i usually top out around 1.5 gigs.

Same with me. My girlfriend and I use wifi every chance we have, especially at home, and we haven't gone over 2GB. And we use them a lot!

that's nice if you have wifi at work. And that nice if you can sit with your phone pluged in because wifi uses the battery way faster then 3g.

But I guess everyone missed the point. The point was they are not doing everyone a favor in there new data plan. They could have kept a unlimited plan if they wanted to. Its all about them and only them not you as a consumer. Like I said smartphones I can kind of see as not everyone uses it and if they do they have other choices with other carriers. IPAD no as you have no choice of carriers and that is what it is for data.

Offloading to Wi-Fi is THE name of the game.

A household with 2 iPhones that had no landline internet connection now has the opportunity to save $30/month on their cell bill and put that towards buying a DSL subscription that they can use on almost any device in the house, freeing up the 3G airwaves for people who are actually moving outside of a 50 ft radius!

Where's the inhumanity in that?

Just because you choose to ignore the full potential of Wi-Fi doesn't mean you have a good point about 3G data caps.

In an open marketplace, NOTHING is more fair then pay-per-use billing with the same pricing structure equally applied to all consumers. NOTHING.

wombough said:
that's nice if you have wifi at work. And tha

...
(continues)

sorry I am not tied to a desk all damn day one. Two I never said at home. I get the home part. And two I don't need a bigger package I have unlimited for 27.56 something.

wombough said:
sorry I am not tied to a desk all damn day one.

Most people who buy high-end smartphones are tied to the same two buildings all day long, except for the commute.

since the data plans are REQUIRED, AT&T is requiring LESS monthly from their customers so they are expanding the target market for smartphone users to include those who do NOT want to spend $30 per month.

Are they doing the customers a favor? No, but it depends on how you look at it....its a favor for 98% of their smartphone users compared to other carriers who only sell unlimited for $30/month as the only option.

I use Wi-Fi all the time at home. In the past 9 monthsm I have used a MAX of 188MB per month total (not counting Wi-Fi). I would easily exceed 3-5GBper month if I didn't use WiFi. This means I can save approximately $180 annually on my data plan, but I choose to keep unlimited for now. I think we will see more data...
(continues)

Did I ever say offering a less priced data plan was BAD??? NO. I said only offering a smaller data package and doing away with unl and then making a commercial that they are doing everyone a huge favor and lowering data is dumb. They are not doing everyone a favor as they want you to believe. Reread my post if they kept and unlimited option then yes I would give them kudos. But no they didn't. Even on a IPAD.

Did *I* say that you did? Or did *I* say anything about lower priced data plans being bad (or good) at ALL?

Re-read MY post. I think you are the one that doesn't get it. If you already BUY unlimited LIKE I DO, then you can KEEP that plan. NOBODY is doing ANYONE a favor.....agreed.

Plus there's lots of apps that have videos, suchs as FOX News, G4, Newsy, FOX Business, Discovery Channel, Onion News Network. Videos rack up data also.

I lot of people seem to under estimate *ALL* the uses of a smartphone.

Btw, you should d/l the Thunderstorm Live Wallpaer! It is so, so cool!!! Clouds and bolts of lightning going across your screen.

will do that thanks!

I look at people's phone bills all day long and I've only seen one that used more than 2gb. You guys are the exception

yeah were the only guys in the whole country that use over 2gb lamo. come on!