We're getting close to
WWDC, which means the Apple rumor mill is nearing redline -- today it's BusinessWeek saying AT&T's working on cheaper iPhone data plans. It's not clear exactly how that would play out, but the most popularly-discussed option is a $20 "limited-access" plan potentially offered alongside a cheaper iPhone to be introduced at WWDC -- an option that's almost certainly being discussed as the two companies sort out that
exclusivity extension. Of course, we're extremely curious to see what "limited access" means, given
AT&T's recent SlingPlayer debacle -- cheap certainly isn't worth it if you're not allowed to do anything worthwhile. Phil, you have
anything to say?
[Via
AppleInsider]
posted May 18th 2009 12:44PM
YES! I may actually buy one now!
Unlimited Text/mms needs to be included in in the iphone plan with the ridiculous-ass iphone charge. I mean really an extra 20 dollars on top of the "iphone" plan is just fucking out of control
No, what they REALLY need to change is the voice minutes. I like the unlimited data but I'm not on the phone 24/7 so if I were to get an iphone, paying for all those minutes would be a complete waste of money.
I agree with nzo....
Especially when you end up with 4000 roll-over minutes..... but you lose them if you change your plan
Ha, yeah, I have 7000+ rollover minutes, but my company pays for my phone so I haven't bothered to switch to the 450 minute plan from the 900 that I used to need when I took more conference calls.
The persistent rumors are of a "low-end" iPhone and a new high-end one coming out at WWDC or sometime this summer. Many of the "low-end" rumors have centered around it being an EDGE-only phone. I'm still rocking my old first-gen which, as you recall, is EDGE-only, AND the data plan is $20/mo instead of $30/mo. So it seems like it would make perfect sense to have a smaller/more limited iPhone for cheaper, running on EDGE, at a price point AT&T already offers. They wouldn't have to cap your data, they'll just assume people who use EDGE won't be using a whole lot of data on the cell network.. just as it's always been (I remember tethering my GPRS Ericsson T39 to my laptop.. sllooow!)
I still can't afford it, that's why the only iPhone I use is on the internet. Which sucks since I have to have a laptop and a internet connection to use
@iPod Touch
that site is absolutely horrible at replicating what an iphone would see. it doesn't even send the correct user agent.
gah'd damnit this is ridiculous. i hate how att is so willing to bend over backwards to support iphone users. i mean jesus christ, there are plenty of us out here w/ other smartphones which are getting ripped of by the overpriced data costs. my contract is almost up, and i keep eyeing sprint n' verizon and even t mobles (even though their 3g coverage stinks compared to the other 3). att please hear me...if you wont drop my data costs, @ least give me a cheaper voice package since i only use around 100 minutes a month.
If $10 a month has been deterring an iPhone purchase for you, I suggest you still not get one cause you cannot afford it anyways.
In order for Apple to sell phones and compete with the smartphone industry, they had to price their 3G phones competitively and make up for the difference on the back end, hence the extra $15 difference between 2G and 3G. I am at least hoping that whatever options there are for new data plans, they are offered to us 3G owners. Don't be surprised though if Apple tries to make it up with another fee for MMS since 3.0 is right around the corner.
They should include unlimited text or say 1500 texts for all Smartphone devices not just the iPhone. I wish you people would stop acting like the iPhone is the only damn phone with a $30 Data plan.
Twice as fast. Half the price. *
*Dude looks like he just got raped by the $2400 contract associated with his iPhone. Wait, that's the look I had..
I agree with nzo too....
Personally, I would love to have a plan with unlimited data, and minute to minute(paygo) voice.
Not until it is on the Verizon network. AT&T's service is terrible in Atlanta. If Apple needs to move more units to keep up its sales targets, they need to bail out of the exclusivity agreement with AT&T. The floodgates will open wide if Verizon gets it.
Problem is Verizon (and Sprint) are CDMA carriers, which while kinda of big in the US, is pretty much non-existent in the rest of the world. I'd like to see the cost to Apple of manufacturing a second version of the iPhone, plus I believe you need to pay CDMA royalties to Broadcomm, versus the profit they'd make of sales.
It must sick to be u,.
Stuck with vzw till 2012.
Having to settle for inferior phones storm,dare etc.
3 more years of depriving yourself, of heari g n reading how sick iPhone is.
did you compose this wonderfully articulate comment on your iPhone?
I would be happy with with the option of just having a data plan for the current price.
Hope they will finally allowed iphone without the require data plan, because not everyone would need to use 3G since this phone has wifi.
It's the only way they can subsidies the phones. But yea half the time your paying for data that isn't there* so... would be a plus. Just have to pay a lot more for it (which, I'm sure you're fine with along with many others).
*depending on geographical location
The problem with that is you'll be raped by paying the per kilobit data charge when you aren't on wifi. And to make this phone functional you need to have data turned on.
Forgive me, but what is the point of buying a smartphone like the iPhone if you don't get a data plan? You might as well just get an iPod touch since it has wifi and you can make calls with it over WiFi.
@Technophile, I would presume he is poor, and lives with his parents.
Can't wait to get my Palm Pre in a month, I'm currently stuck with the ipod touch approach and it's not really that great being tethered to wifi.
I've got an iPhone, first gen, that I purchased 3rd party. A little jailbreak and unlock later, and I have an iPhone on AT&T for $10/month. It's an extra line, (one I was already using, this replaced my Sony Ericsson w810i) on my family plan. No data plan! With a jailbroken phone, you can turn off the edge/3g, so you'll avoid racking up data charges.
I'm at home 95% of the time, and when I go out I can always find a wifi spot if I really need it. I get a great phone, with wifi browsing and email, plus a mp3 player, without paying the crazy fees for data. That's all I need, and I don't have to carry two devices to get it.
I've never understood this "wifi" concern...
If you're around Wifi...aren't you normally around a REAL internet device??
I mean...why sit in your house using an iPhone
When you have your laptop right in front of you =/
@iDavey, if you're on any college campus the walls are made of lead so kind of need the wifi. My accounting professor got his class where it is since he doesn't have to tell students to turn off their cell phones, they just don't work.
I had Iphone 2G and a family plan with total of 4 lines. Price of plan is around 70 with tax and fee still cheaper than Iphone 3G plan after tax. At home and work both has fast wifi, only time i think i really wish i had 3g is when i doing shopping.
templarian
That is hilarious. I bet he's an older professor too.
Aren't all the iPhone restricitons already "limited access" enough?
I completely agree.
iPhone? No thanks. Cheaper data plan for my existing smartphone? Count me in!
I here ya. It costs me $15-20 more for unlimited data for my ATT Tilt than my friend's iphone unlimited data plan.
It's the same data and network.
Indeed, drop the data plan across the board. At least I can still tether without having to shell out 59.99 a month to AT&T on a Tilt.
"Limited Access" means youll run out of bandwidth right at the end of the month from normal usage, and then rack up extraordinary charges in the last few days so that the original plan looks like a bargain.
HOW ABOUT A FLIP IPHONE
Too confusing.
Seriously?
Is your Caps Lock button stuck?
It's like I'm being yelled at... I don't like being yelled at. :'(
I've got an idea AT$T... Get off your ass and get with the program and upgrade you data network to handle high volume like oh Europe or Japan. Hmm... Lets do that instead of screwing us.
Just sayin'
Yeah because Europe and Japan are tiny and easy to upgrade the towers.
I'd like to see you plan and finance tower improvements for a country the size of the US. It is *not* easy.
Japan = 150K sq. miles
Western Europe* = 700K sq. miles
USA = 3700K sq. miles
Yeh, it'll be REAALLY easy to upgrade our towers... not. This isn't to say I wouldn't mind more reliable coverage, but realistically our infrastructure is a generation behind and more expensive to upgrade because the backbone networks in foreign markets were built out years after our's.
*and lets face it, eastern europe's infrastructure isn't altogether to begin with, so there is no point grouping them together with the western half.
I'm getting tired of the AT&T apologists comparing sq mileage of Europe to the U.S. NOBODY is saying they have to cover every frickin square mile of land in Tumbleweed, KS or Nowhere, MT. Just the densest populated areas like NYC or San Fran for god's sake. I bet if you compared based on populated area than the Europe to U.S analogy breaks down.
@BayCreekIT
You make the very silly assumption that companies are going to blanket the entire US with coverage, especially in places where no one lives. Now, true, one tower in Japan may cover more people, but they still have to put up more towers per square mile because a tower can only make so many connections at once. It would be better to compare the square mileage of major cities rather than the country as a whole.
Not to mention that there are more than twice as many potential customers in Europe than in the US. Considering how spread thin the US (80/mi^2 vs 180/mi^2 in Europe) we've got it pretty good.
@BayCreekIT
Why are you going to need a tower in the desert in AZ or TX where no one lives? Most geographical areas of the US hardly have any form of habitat that would need a mobile phone let alone the need for data.
Comparing cities in the US to cities in Europe, Japan, Korea etc, we here in the so called bigger cities in America still have horrible and pretty old infrastructure and the result- piss poor data rates and high fees. This is what needs to be improved as pointed out. Go all out LTE or WiMax. Lay more high capacity fiber optic cables. The phone companies don't fleece you for nothing.
Technophile:
If Telstra, 3, Optus and Vodaphone can provide 3G support to 97% of AUSTRALIA, I'm sure AT&T can get decent connection to people in Major Cities.
Unless it's doing away with the "required" data plan I dont care!
Same goes for the G1 and all other smartphones.
So let me get this straight you want to buy a smart phone that eats through "Data" at insane rates even if only to push email and not have a data plan. Your bill would be huge every month. If you just want to watch movies you woudl eb better off with a PMP.
I carry two phones. I dont really like the plain jane-ness of non smartphones.
I would like to just purchase one for an everyday use...
I meant everyday use a data less phone. And I use my other phone for data purposes.
@redspear
I would drop the cell carrier's data plan, and only use wifi. (given the phone's software supports this)
why they dont have more pay as you go plans? voice plan in general is more expensive in USA, comparing to some other countries.
There's something not right about that photo that I can't put my finger on.
Other than its about a year old??? Maybe its the pants the guy is wearing?!
Pre, Pre, come on Pre ...
Boost the cost of the iPhone to eliminate (or reduce) the subsity, open it up to all networks, allow tethering at $30/mo and I'm in. The replacement for the Newton is brilliant, convenient, and fun - all that the computer is supposed to be.
WHY DONT THEY CHANGE THE PROBLEM WITH THE SLINGBOX FOR IPHONE
Oye. Stop yelling, please.
you can use 3g for slingbox if you jailbreak your iphone and download a program 3g fringe or something like that. off cydia
At the end of the day you're still stuck with an iPhone. How is this good?
WHAT IS OUT THERE THAT CAN DO ALL THAT THE IPHONE DOES
Practically every feature phone on the market.
Now the question you should ask is what is out there that can do MORE than the iPhone. And the answer would be:
Practically every feature phone on the market.
Marv got OWNED!!
But seriously...to do the REAL fun things, you have to jailbreak.
Yet all I ever see are people yelling..."Well to get anything out of WinMo you have to do extra"
I see a resemblence...
Thats the only reason I havent upgraded to the 3G
I am already paying
$40 voiceplan
$20 iphone + 200 texts (which is like a weeks worth of texting for me, for some people a day)
$10 1500 texts
Thats a minimum of $70 each month, its crazy, sure I got to do alot but as a college student, its alot.
The 3G is minimum $70 with NO TEXT plan.
If they can somehow drop the price or include a better text plan I would be in, in a heartbeat.
I do realize many people can pay this, and already do, but if they lowered it even by just $15 it would be enough to make many people switch over or upgrade, I believe.
My bill is $71.47 after taxes. w/ 1500 text and 200 bonus mins. basic 450 plan. and I have 966 rollover, which I need to get on somehow before july. Maybe I can sell them to the people in the commercial.
Anyways I agree its expensive and yea I'd like it to be lower, but if its gonna mean I go over on data, no thanks. I can use multiple MB in a day. I imagine AT&T wouldn't be so generous in the cap. And i'm on Edge until 2010 so i'm told. I bet some 3Gers can go through alot of data in a day/month.
Just checking my usage i've used 76.16MB in 10 days. Some E and some 3G. Mostly E though.
I hope att does not lower $30 data plan .
There is no need to, att might impose a iPhone data plan cap.
GIVE ME A IPHONE KILLER
We don't need killers. We need competitors.
Y lower it , when att n iPhone just had their best year ever!
This is sick
VeriOn has more customers than att,
Yet att has twice the activated number of smartphones ,
Insane,!!!
Verizon has a lot of cheap crippled phones. That and WinMo, which is next to worthless as a "smartphone" OS.
IIRC, it wasn't until relatively recently that you could get a BlackBerry on Verizon. To this day, I still don't think there are Symbian phones available on Verizon.
They may have the strongest network, but they're really hurt by their crippleware and lack of phone selection being stuck on CDMA.
As long as the GSM carriers (AT&T + T-Mobile) work fine in the areas I want to use my phone, I'm willing to "suffer" knowing I might have worse coverage than I would with Verizon. Anyway, the coverage gap has really narrowed in the past 5 years or so. I simply don't find areas where my phone doesn't work anymore, where that used to happen occasionally on Cingular/T-Mobile 5+ years ago.
I'm still hoping for a unlimited 'family' plan for data. I suppose I'll see that when I visit the land of unicorns and purple leprechauns.
I would be more than happy to pay per byte. ATT's 3G is so horrible in my area (NYC - not like it's a big market) that I usually walk around until I found an open wifi or just scrap it altogether. It's easily the only real issue I have with owning the iP3G.
AMEN, brotha!
It's a capacity/congestion issue in NYC - and it fucking sucks.
It's sad that as shitty as my data service is - despite it taking fucking 30 seconds to update the 14 numbers (highs and lows for the week) in the "weather" app - I'm still hopelessly drawn into Apple's ecosystem.
c'mon Verizon LTE iPhone 4G!!!!
IPHONE IS THE #1 GADGET IN THE WORLD
why are you type-yelling and camping this article. please leave. AND NEVER COME BACK (maybe you'll understand that part).
while you're the number one tool in the world.
seriously. stop praising the thing like its the be all end all of the smartphone industry. its just one of many very capable devices out there. you're entitled to your OPINION, but you people need to stop speaking in tongues like its a freakin god or something. its pathetic.
....*sigh* i need a drink.
@MARV
REALLY LOUD NOISES!!!
I REALLY just want a data-only plan.
I would definitely be down for a limited data access plan, as long as the limits were reasonable and it saved me money.
I read every single comment
I'm shocked at how many broke ,borderline welfare recipients expect everything for free.,
Insane. $20 or 30 for basically unlimited full true HTML on iPhone is ok price .
I'm cool with a $20-30 month unlimited data plan.
I'm not cool with the voice plan. I use almost no minutes, since everyone I talk to is on AT&T. Current voice cost + data makes the phone too expensive for me to use.
Alternatively, they need to ditch the data plan requirement so I can just use my campus wifi. I almost bought a HTC phone but right now just have some POS old phone to wait for newer stuff (ala Verizon iphone or an AT&T android phone)
You'd be surprised how price sensitive some people are. A buddy of mine would love the iPhone, but is holding out because of the plan's price. Like me, he's married, and if he got an iPhone he'd likely have to get one for his wife, and then you'd add an extra $60 at least for both data plans not including texts.
Add to that, some people are just frugal with what they pay out in terms of monthly bills its not surprising normal, middle and upper-middle class would prefer not to spend that kind of money on a service.
Turns out some people would rather SAVE than SPEND, or just cut back on little luxuries to have a nicer house/car/etc.
Part of the reason I didn't upgrade to the 3G was because of the plan increase... I'll be getting the new iPhone either way, but I hope they do lower the plan rate to more along the lines of the original iPhone.
Wow so for $10 a month , .33c a day u r denying yourself high speed ,?gps. Louder speaker.
That's sad to see that $10 would break u.
Wrong, it's $15 more a month for the same plan, not to mention paying for the phone. As I said it was PART of the reason why I didn't get it. You may enjoy being taken for a ride by these cellphone providers, but I do not.
I have an iPhone 3G, but I keep the 3G radio turned off because the coverage is so awful. I'd still be using my 1st Gen iPhone if I hadn't accidentally destroyed it.
Sweet. I am about to drop sprint this month and get rid of my Touch Pro. My contract ends on the 27th so I am about to switch to AT&T for the Iphone. I need the data plan for my work emails so I can keep my job but I do not have to have unlimited data.
Also, does anyone know about Apple coming out with the 32 GB model? I want to get something so I do not have to carry around a cell phone and an IPod. The 16GB is not enough to carry around my music and with a 32 GB or even better a 64 GB lol would finally let me have it all in one device. I just do not want to switch to AT&T buy the Iphone 16 GB and then in June or July Apple drops the 32GB model.
Apple has released an iPhone in May/June in each of the last 2 years. You are pretty dumb if you don't wait until after WWDC (early June) before buying an iPhone.
Last years WWDC was in June. And they didn't release the iphone for sale until July 11th... Just sayin.
Um...just put the music you like on it. A 64GB iphone wouldn't hold my music, but I don't care. I have an 8gig phone and its not even filled up. I change it out every few days when I get tired of hearing things or find myself hitting the next button too much. With 32GB of old music that would get boring.
That said I also have an 8gig nano but thats for the gym. But I love the iPhones all in one feature. I used to carry around, phone, ipod and pda. No more.
Because they have such a great network and can take care of who they have signed up already. Yep, let's lower the price and get more users to bog down this POS network.
How about allowing the iPhone to be sold with pay as you go plan. Currently one can have the 25c per min voice with $20 per month 100MB media net.
See thats what i'm saying. Currently they cut the price of the phone, and up the montly fee, but why not offer a discounted monthly fee if you pay the full price of the phone, or if you "pay off" your phone.
Otherwise, if you don't get a new phone every two years you're basically getting screwed.
How about a iPhone with the same looks as a Nokia n97.
Totally agree with the minutes. Thanks to free nights and weekends, I've been sitting at 4000+ rollover minutes for the past few years. I'd love it if AT&T came out with a 200 minute plan.
I thought they expired every year?
i guess its already quite cheap, aint it ?
forgot to mention mobile to mobile as well!
Since I work 9-5, I use like 10 minutes a month :(
Sprint CERO or Club Advantage plans. :)
You get unlimited everything (data, text), 500 any time minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, nights starting at 7pm, and best of all no contract (with Club Advantage only). CERO is $30/month and Club Advantage is $20/month.
Yes, CDMA, blah blah, but I rarely travel to another country. Data download speed is super fast.
Get a Palm Pre with either plan - the plans are not for everyone, though - only if you know some one working at Sprint.
Oh yes, and unlimited Sprint-Sprint any time minutes. :)
I thought for the Pre Sprint is forcing the everything plan. Seems like they are doing that for all their smart phones, just like the touch pro.