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General discussion

Verizon & AT&T Kill Unlimited Data Plans, Phones & Tablets

Jun 1, 2010 11:44PM PDT

Dear Buzz Gang and Crew,
It was inevitable that mobile carriers in the U.S. would move away from unlimited data plans for smartphone and tablet users. Even the popular iPad has been effected. According to AT&T, 98% of their customers use less than 2-Gigabytes per month. AT&T new pricing plan starts on June 7th when Apple is expected to announce their new products and services including a possible new iPhone. AT&T also said that they will allow iPhone users to begin using their phone as a modem aka "tethering" starting on June 7th as well.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/197755/atandt_pulls_the_plug_on_its_unlimited_data_plans.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282173014134754.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

Verizon has indicated that they will also move toward tiered pricing for their mobile services especially for their new 4G LTE network but has not yet published details on what pricing they will have for their planned services.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/052710-verizon-tiered-lte.html?hpg1=bn
http://www.intomobile.com/2010/05/27/verizon-going-tiered-pricing-for-lte-4g.html

Opinions:
I have mixed feelings about this issue. Although the carriers are honoring existing contracts, if you choose to upgrade or buy a new phone or device, they are going to wack you with metered service plans. Neither AT&T nor Verizon have mentioned if these new plans include those users of "Microcell" or "Femtocell" devices which use an individual's home DSL service for back-hauling data to their networks. It will be interesting to see if people will be willing to deal with these new pricing plans in order to use their favorite smartphone and tablet device.

Later People.

Discussion is locked

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Reposter!
Jun 2, 2010 12:52AM PDT

lol...beat ya by a few mins on AT&T, at least.

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Had to work late, It is all good :-)
Jun 2, 2010 1:24AM PDT

Yeah, I had to work late last night so I only saw this a while ago. I plan on reaching out to AT&T to see what damage they put on my next phone bill since I am a heavy user of all of their services. This should be interesting.

Later Slikkster. Happy

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Update: AT&T MicroCell/FemtoCell Tower, Data, applies
Jun 2, 2010 8:41AM PDT

Hey People,
AT&T got back to me today and indicated the following:
If you have a AT&T MicroCell or FemtoCell in your home or office, the new data plans will apply to connections made through these devices as well. So essentially, your wireless data from your iPhone and iPad being back-hauled over your home or office broadband Internet connection will be metered as part of your their new wireless data plan.

Yuck, I think that I will just stick with my iPhone 3Gs for now so that I can keep my plan.

Later People.

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Uhh
Jun 2, 2010 8:49AM PDT

That's ********, they obviously don't want to sell any MicroCells.

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Update 2: AT&T CEO says "Don't Bother Me With Emails!"
Jun 2, 2010 11:27PM PDT

Dear Buzz Gang and Crew,
Hey people, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson recently responded to an AT&T customers email inquiry with a cease and desist letter. Essentially the AT&T CEO is telling everyone "Hey! Don't Bother Me With Emails!" Wow as if their PR is not bad enough, this guy is brushing off customers with legal notices.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/blog-post/1652416/complaint-at-t-ceo-result-legal-action
http://www.geekosystem.com/att-ceo-cease-desist/
http://www.slashgear.com/att-threatens-customer-with-legal-action-for-emailing-ceo-0388123/

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(NT) How 1950s
Jun 3, 2010 10:03AM PDT
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Update 3: AT&T Apologizes, Customer still bolts to Sprint
Jun 3, 2010 9:32PM PDT

Dear Buzz Gang and Crew,
The drama continues. It appears that AT&T may have figured out that alienating and or threatening your customers with legal notices is not a good way to grow your business. A Senior Vice President for AT&T contacted Galante and apologized. Interestingly, Galante still moved over to Sprint and got a HTC Evo phone. Hmmmmm, maybe AT&T will get a clue.

Later People.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/03/new.york.phone.company.apology/?hpt=Sbin
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-stephenson_04bus.ART0.State.Edition1.1abe7ff.html

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whoaaaa verizon too? I have mixed feelings...
Jun 2, 2010 12:23PM PDT

One, I still might go to Sprint for the Evo

Two, when you look at the iPhone plans, it looks like you can actually save a couple bucks if you arent a heavy data user... I don't know exactly how much data I use, but I'd guess it's not much more than 200mb.

still, the thought of having a cap is worrisome, in general but also as a step down a slippery slope....

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About Sprint...
Jun 2, 2010 10:04PM PDT

I live in the NY metro area, and Sprint just doesn't do an adequate job of covering the areas I need the phone. It's essentially Verizon for the best cell coverage. So, that's definitely a concern. If Sprint works well where you need it to, that's another story.