AT&T Undercuts Verizon, T-Mobile With New Unlimited Plan (cnet.com) 71
Roger Cheng, writing for CNET: AT&T just fired the latest salvo in the unlimited data wars. The Dallas telecommunications giant unveiled two new unlimited data plans. The first is Unlimited Choice, a stripped-down plan that comes with unlimited data at a maximum speed of 3 megabits per second, standard definition, and no mobile hotspot. At $60, it's lower than T-Mobile's $70 plan and Verizon's $80 option. Both plans, however, offer you full high-definition video and 10 gigabytes of mobile hotspot access. Sprint still offers the cheapest option at $50 a month, although prices rise by $10 after a year. AT&T continues to push its video aspirations with higher end option called Unlimited Plus that includes HD video and 10GB of mobile hotspot access. The plan costs $90 a month, but gives you the option to add DirecTV Now streaming video service for $10 and DirecTV home satellite TV service for $25 a month.
Taxes and Fees (Score:3)
After taxes and fees is it actually cheaper?
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i'm like $6 in NYC so it's not AT&T but your local county and state and paying the FCC fees to make sure the cows can use the phone
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Telcos often pad the bill by attaching their own fees to the line for the state and federal taxes and call it "Taxes and Fees". This makes look like their "sucker" fee is actually something mandated by the government and out of control of the telco. The "taxes and fees" line on the bill can very depending on how much particular company feels they can milk their customer.
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Can you provide some examples of that? Because I'm pretty sure that is a lie
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Google it. Really.
Basically anything not labeled a 'Tax' or 'Government mandated fee' is a BS surcharge by the provider padding their bill.
BS Surchages that are just $ to the provider:
'XYZ recovery fee'
'Administrative fee'
'Payment fee' (I love places that charge you to pay them)
'Ugly surcharge'
Examples of actual taxes not going to the provider:
'Sales tax'
'State 911 fee'
Now, some of the provider fees MAY be related to internal things that cost money. The fact that they decided to break that out of their mo
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Mine is pretty clear with Tmobile (copy and pasted from the bill)
T-Mobile fees and charges & Government taxes and fees:
T-Mobile fees and charges
Federal Universal Service Fund $0.90
Regulatory Fee $0.08
Government taxes and fees
CA Relay Service and Communications Device Fund $0.14
California High Cost Fund - A (CHCF-A) $0.10
California Teleconnect Fund $0.30
Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Tax (911) $0.24
Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Surcharge $1.30
Subtotal: $3.06
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Doesn't really matter if the coverage isn't there in rural areas.
AT&T isn't trying to steal Verizon's rural customers, and T-Mobile doesn't have better coverage. I bet AT&T would be happy to secure a big chunk of Verizon's urban customer base and leave Verizon with customers in the sticks.
Rural coverage is a byproduct, not the focus you think it is.
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Did you mean 12, or did they buy a new band and I need another new phone?
I just got one that covers 2/4/12
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You need to make sure your phone supports a new set of LTE channels to get that extended range with T-Mobile.
That expanded range comes from new frequencies, not new towers.
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It depends on the area for sure. In rural Vermont AT&T definitely has the best coverage, and Verizon's is just OK.
See, the free market works... (Score:5, Funny)
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The fact that a mobile hotspot is a separate cost is absurd.
You should be paying for just the SIM card with the data plan. If I choose to put that SIM Card in a wireless router or in a cell phone should be entirely up to me.
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The fact that a mobile hotspot is a separate cost is absurd.
You should be paying for just the SIM card with the data plan. If I choose to put that SIM Card in a wireless router or in a cell phone should be entirely up to me.
Why is this absurd at this price level? Do you really think that it should be cheaper to get unlimited mobile data for the home, in addition to the phone lines, and in addition to other benefits, for less cost of the regular landline cable?
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for less cost of the regular landline cable?
Since they don't have to run expensive last-mile wiring through the streets to every individual residence, their costs should be significantly lower. In a competitive market, this translates to lower prices.
Given the practical/technical limitations, would I expect gigabit speeds with no contention from my neighbors? Of course not.
But the idea that cellular bandwidth is particularly scarce is no longer true. In most areas, an unlimited home subscription should be viable.
Hell, even the old-school ISPs were lo
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Re:T-MOBILE ROCKS!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
The fact that TMO is owned by the germans it's not as alien for them to offer a tax/fee included rate.
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True. Just don't mention the war. [youtube.com]
Is this stuff even accurate? (Score:2)
Someone told me Verizon is offering unlimited again. I see up there it says $80 for unlimited from Verizon, but strangely enough, when I look at my Verizon account with my phone, they want $65 for unlimited. So what the hell? Get some accurate numbers people.
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For me the $80 becomes $110 When I try to sign up. It seems a little misleading.
Re: Is this stuff even accurate? (Score:1)
it's extra if you want dialtone
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Accurate numbers? Ha! Their whole game is to make it difficult to see how much you'll actually be spending. By the time the initial bill is all sorted and you're locked in for two years, you're stuck. The second bill arrives and you get sticker shock from all the fees and taxes that weren't very apparent when you signed up, but by then you have no remedy. Stay mad for 1.9 years, find new provider, repeat cycle.
missing something (Score:2)
How to they block hotspot? (Score:2)
If I bring my own phone and insert their SIM card?
Re:How to they block hotspot? (Score:4, Interesting)
Android and iOS have a tethering API. There is a separate APN entry for DUN (tethering). On Android at least, there are hacks with root that you can do to force the phone to not report this as tethering usage to the carrier, but ultimately if they wanted to they could figure it out.
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Multiple different detection methods:
-Your phone queries the network to see if tethering is permitted, or it explicitly tells the network it's tethering.
-TTL value on packets are an unexpected value. If many of your packets have a TTL of say 30, but they suddenly see an influx of packets with a TTL of 29, that's a sign
-Examining MAC addresses. Similar to above, if they normally get packets with a MAC of XYZ but then get a bunch of ABC, sign of tethering.
-Fingerprinting of the network stack. By examining cha
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-Your phone queries the network to see if tethering is permitted, or it explicitly tells the network it's tethering.
Is there such a stupid feature in unlocked Nexus or iPhones? Did Google and Apple pander to the carriers that much?
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Yes. The Nexus 5, pre-Lollipop, did just fine tethering on AT&T. As soon as it upgraded, it disabled tethering.
https://forum.xda-developers.c... [xda-developers.com]
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Yes, I took my iPhone 6 Plus (normally on AT&T in the US) to the UK in December. A friend in the UK had mailed me an activated Asda pay-as-you-go SIM so I could have cheap phone service and data while in the UK.
When I first got there, tethering still showed up as an option. I (unfortunately) agreed to a carrier update while I was there and lost tethering -- apparently not a part of my Asda service. It wasn't a problem while I was there, the hotel actually had good and free wifi and I only really nee
No discounts (Score:4, Informative)
Looks like FAN company/corporate discounts will no longer be applied to these new plans. This was the only thing keeping them competitive w/ T-Mobile pricing.
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Bear in mind that AT&T isn't trying to be competitive with T-Mobile. They're trying to be competitive with Verizon. T-Mo stings in the cities, but it's Verizon that can threaten AT&T's national footprint.
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T-Mobile just responded (Score:2)
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You gotta root for Sprint and T-Mobile. Their networks still kind of suck in rural areas, but at least the competitive pricing of their plans are helping to stop the $10 per GB "data raping" of at&t and Verizon customers.
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And they have a kickback option where they give you $10 back if you used less than 2GB in that month on a line. For me it looks like I will end up paying $80 all included for 3 unlimited lines. I'll have to pay $25 for the new sim card and that's it ... now I have to figure out who gets the iPhone 5: the dog or the toddler?
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"Undercut?" You keep using that word... (Score:5, Interesting)
...I do not think it means what you think it means.
To undercut in price generally means to offer goods or services of comparable quality at a lower price. AT&T's offering remains inferior to its competitors; therefore, it cannot be regarded as "undercutting."
If someone is selling upscale donuts at $5 a piece, am I "undercutting" them if I decide to sell cardboard "donuts" at 10 cents each?
No, they didn't (Score:4, Insightful)
Unless it's a permanent pricing option, they didn't undercut anyone, they are tricking short-sighted fools into paying them more.
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Also unless they actually tell you what it will cost with taxes and fees.
TMO is throwing everything to the wind and doing what makes life simple for the consumer. Everyone else is trying to play catch-up and generally failing.
I do laugh at the comments 'oh but their network' ... you're a year or three behind the times if you're still thinking that. Coverage is virtually equal and unless you live in the ~1% of the population that it makes a difference to you won't even notice....except for the monthly bill
After my experience Saturday, Fuck AT&T (Score:2)
I've been a mostly satisfied AT&T customer for the last 7 years. In their favor, good coverage everywhere I've been, including Stumblefuck, ND, and they unlocked 2 (paid for) phones quickly and easily when I went to the UK so I could use an Asda SIM. Historically trips to the store have been brief and easy and I got what I needed done without grief.
That changed on Saturday. Like most people, we haven't been upgrading handsets and my wife was complaining about problems with her iPhone 5s, so we decide
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The same level of incompetence has also been my experience with AT&T. The reason for this kind of dumbfuckery is simple: it is cheaper to not have to hire and train intelligent salespeople; the cost of their errors come out of your pocket unless you raise a stink, and not everyone does; and their business thrives on clueless customers who buy the upsell.
AT&T is a bloated and parasitic corporate machine that has suckled on the teat of consumer and government excess for so long they have no reason w
Price is wrong (Score:2)
$60 from AT&T is //MORE// expensive than $70 from T-Mobile.
This is because AT&T uses la-la land pricing and T-Mobile has prices with ALL TAXES AND FEES included.
So this mobile hotspot thing... (Score:2)
...are they still just artificially disabling that feature in android phones sold by them, then selling it back to you?
I mean if you already have an unlocked android phone so it has hotspot support out of the box, can they even tell if you use it with a plan that does not include hotspot?
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I think you actually have to root the phone to make it hard for them to find out. The funny thing is that I have AT&T Next and I get 30GB a month, not unlimited and I can use ALL that for hotspot. If I don't use all 30GB it rolls to the next month(only) so I get another chance to use it. If I switch to "unlimited" I only get 22GB, limited hotspot and it's actually more money. That's a hell of a marketing plan they have there.