AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless company, announced new data plans for iPhones, iPads and other smartphones. This change comes in response to network congestion arising from data-hungry devices like Apple’s iPhone. Before you panic, note that these new plans, only affect new subscribers after June 7 and people who decide they want to switch to the new contracts.
Under the new plans, DataPlus allows 200MB of data use per month for $15 (an extra 200MB can be added for another $15). DataPro reduces subscribers from a 5GB “unlimited” plan to 2GB and it will cost $25. An additional 1GB can be purchased for $10 more. For people that share their data connection or tether their wireless phone with other devices, they will need to buy a $20 Tethering plan in addition to the DataPro plan for a cost of $45. In addition, the $30-per-month (truly) unlimited data-plan for the iPad, will now be replaced with a $25, 2GB DataPro option.
Existing iPad customers who have the $29.99 per month unlimited plan can keep that plan or switch to the new $25 per month plan with 2 GB of data. AT&T said 98 percent of its smartphone customers use less than 2 gigabytes of data each month.
Most bloggers and industry pundits are complaining about these changes, but there could be some positive outcomes from these changes. First, the caps may actually improve the accessibility, reliability, and speed of AT&T’s network. For business users these are likely to be good changes. Second, most business users will find the new plans are actually less costly. We find that the average iPhone user consumes 400 MB per month. Blackberry devices, which currently have the largest market share for organizations in North America, consume data more efficiently. This allows Blackberry users to average between 40 and 80 MB of data each month. There will also be cheaper entry-level prices for people that want e-mail and internet access on mobile devices. This will enable organizations to provide more people with access to these services and improve employee productivity.
Enterprises that have data intensive applications and employees that send large data files need to be wary of these changes and stay with their current plans. Verizon has not announced any changes to its plans and Sprint has promised there will be no changes so large consumers of data may need to change providers if AT&T stops allowing existing users to stay with their current plans. While these changes can be troubling to large consumers of data, it seems like the real losers are likely to be providers of movies and other data rich content.
AT&T has applications for Blackberry, iPhone and Android devices to track consumption. To help manage your usage, AT&T will send text messages when subscribers reach 65%, 90% and 100% of the threshold. In addition, Telesoft can provide reporting to help manage mobile expenses with reporting and optimization programs.
