PlanPricing
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AT&T adding $35 3GB plan, cutting 5GB plan to $50 for LaptopConnect devices
We're still mourning the untimely death of unlimited data, but the good news is that carriers are still playing with plan pricing to figure out what the market will bear -- and in at least some cases, it's for the cheaper. AT&T's on the verge of revising its 5GB LaptopConnect plan (the type of plan you use on USB modems and MiFis) down from $60 to $50 per month with overage now $10 per 1GB rather than $0.05 per MB previously -- $50 per GB. Additionally, the old 200MB plan for $35 is being replaced with a "promotional" 3GB plan at the same price (also with $10 per 1GB overage), though no expiration date has been put in place just yet. The changes dovetail conveniently with the recent tethering / mobile hotspot boost to 4GB, and might even suggest a boost in AT&T's confidence over its network as it starts upgrading to HSPA+ nationwide. [Thanks, Amg]
Verizon tweaking low-end data plans, using '3G' distinction to upcharge for LTE
Well, that didn't last very long at all: looks like Verizon is killing off its $15 150MB data plan for smartphones altogether, instead corralling folks into the $30 unlimited option. Of course, with the proliferation of data-hungry smartphone apps on Android (and soon, the iPhone), 250MB per month of usage is becoming less and less reasonable by the day, so we can't say we're terribly surprised. Meanwhile, the $9.99 25MB feature phone data option is getting a bump up to 75MB with $10 per 75MB overage, a slight drop from the 20 cent / MB overage that those customers deal with currently. Finally, you'll notice that the $30 unlimited plan is now qualified as applying to "feature phones and 3G smartphones," not merely "smartphones" as they were before -- a nod to the fact that Verizon's upcoming LTE handsets won't be eligible for the same pricing. What, did you think you were going to be blazing on your ThunderBolt at 20 or 30Mbps without a care in the world? [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Cricket's new tiered data plans seem like a model for the industry to us
Here's something we can all agree on: data caps are a bummer, especially now that we've all got smartphones capable of gobbling literally gigabytes a day. Unfortunately, they seem to be a necessary evil in this crazy supply-versus-demand world of capitalism we all call home, particularly in light of the spectrum crunch the FCC keeps warning us about. Or are they? One great band-aid rarely explored by North American carriers is the concept of bandwidth throttling, whereby you don't have a hard cap that results in overage -- instead, you just get slapped with a lower data throughput if you blow past your quota. That's what regional value carrier Cricket is doing with the launch of its new data plans today, offering buckets of 2.5, 5, and 7.5GB for $40, $50, or $60, respectively, at maximum speed on its EV-DO network -- but additionally, the quota is on a rolling 30-day basis, which means you can potentially free up some of that bucket each and every day of the month (depending on your usage patterns). If you exceed your cap, you risk falling down to a lower speed where you "may only be able to do basic email and web browsing." The downside is that this represents a $10 increase in the cost of Cricket's 5GB plan -- and bandwidth throttling still isn't fun, of course -- but at least you can keep using your modem without the dread looming in the back of your mind that you're going get a 20-page bill at month's end.
Dan Hesse email: 'no current plans' to alter data pricing
Bypassing a company's power structure altogether and contacting the CEO directly is the vogue thing to do right now -- and in light of the AT&T incident this week, it probably behooves said CEOs (and / or their assistants) to earn some PR brownie points by responding with a positive attitude. Take this response from Sprint boss Dan Hesse, for example, in reply to a request that the company "keep [its] great pricing and customer service, and most importantly -- keep unlimited data." In short, Hesse says "one can never say 'never,' but [the company] has no current plans to change our pricing." That's certainly the "correct" thing to say coming off AT&T's big strategy shift toward killing unlimited and hints from Verizon that it'll do the same, but whether Sprint is able to hold the line when the WiMAX airwaves are flooded with EVO 4Gs and EVO 4G-like devices is another matter altogether. We'll see. [Thanks, Matt P.]
T-Mobile's Project Dark: $99.99 unlimited on Even More, $79.99 on Even More Plus?
The details of T-Mobile's mysterious Project Dark definitely seem to be congealing around retooled handset billing and a set of new plans, and it looks like TmoNews might have the first word here on the all-important subject of plan pricing. Even More Plus, which would be contract-free and offer new handset FlexPay over four installments, is apparently tracking for a $79.99 all-you-can-eat package, $69.99 with 1,000 voice minutes, or $49.99 with unlimited voice and no data. Even More meanwhile, which basically amounts to new contract plan branding with traditional hardware subsidies, will come in at $99.99 for unlimited everything (mirroring Sprint's pricing) or $59.99 for unlimited voice alone. It seems strange that the contract pricing is higher than the prepaid, especially since Even More Plus apparently won't offer any hardware subsidies whatsoever, but we're sure we're going to find out how this all shakes out soon enough. Follow the break for another shot of the pricing grids.
