So now that AT&T has scaled back how much data they are giving to consumers, what are the ramifications, if any?
Just to recap what the plans actually are:
- Option 1: Data Plus Plan for $15 per month and 200MB of data
- Option 2: Data Pro Plan for $25 per month and 2GB of data
There are many schools of thought on why AT&T has taken away the “all you can eat” data plans. One is that they’re trying to squeeze more out of their customers’ wallets, especially with the recent iPad release and soon to be released 4G iPhone. These two devices are essentially designed specifically for the mobile web user, who doesn’t necessarily want to worry about how many megabytes they are using. They just want to get on and go. Right? And what about when 4G lights up? Isn’t that going to use up more data, so customers will be using up their megabyte and gigabytes much quicker?
Another school of thought says that AT&T is doing it to save people money….really? By lowering their plan offerings to a more manageable figure they are making the entry into their service more affordable, in turn making AT&T more accessible to more consumers. This is actually not a bad point, in that, yes, now more people can get the iPhone they’ve always wanted and spend $55-70 per month instead of $90-120 per month. But will these budget conscious consumers realize that only 200MB is not enough or that they are flying through the 2GB because they love to multi-task and surf the web on their new 4G iPhone?
Some people are saying that AT&T is moving away from unlimited data bundles simple to alleviate network capacity issues. Now, I’m not an expert, but this also makes sense. The less data being used by one person, the more that is available for everyone else on the network. The more people that use the network at lower capacity, the less likely AT&T will have the “issues” it has been having with “outages” and the sort.
So what do I think? I think it’s a good thing. In today’s world of instant-facebook-twitter_update-youtube-google_everything, data use is the status quo. But limits are good for several reasons. Like, too much ice cream will either give you “brain freeze” or a stomach ache, too much mobile web could do the same. By using this service as you NEED can save you from brain freeze by making sure you’re not wasting time surfing for mindless subjects. You can save yourself from a stomach ache every time you open your phone bill by simply saying, “if I only need 200MB to check my email, facebook, twitter, and occasional YouTube video, then it’s only gonna cost me $15 per month.” My only concern is that users of the 4G iPhone are going to get bamboozled with overage charges.
Maybe I’m wrong…..
