AT&T users can keep $30 unlimited data when upgrading phones... unless they want tethering
There's naturally been a ton of feedback in the past few hours on AT&T's new data pricing strategy, and the company has been responding to comments all morning over on its Facebook page; one of the key tidbits that's come out of the discussion so far is that folks on the current $30 smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan when upgrading hardware. Translation: yes, you'll be able to get a new iPhone without switching to the $25 / 2GB DataPro plan if you so choose. What you won't be able to do, though, is keep the $30 plan and add on the $20 tethering option -- tethering specifically requires DataPro, so your hopes and dreams of a soft 5GB cap are quashed (unless you want to pay $30 for 3GB of overage, of course).
On a related note, we've been tipped that some folks' iPad orders from Apple have been pushed back to June 7 -- an interesting coincidence, considering that's when DataPlus and DataPro go live. If true, it's likely so that Apple can pre-install new orders with updated software for managing the new plans, but it's also a preemptive strike against a horde of people trying to grandfather into the $30 plan over the next few days.
[Thanks, John and Aaron]
