Your info doesn’t make sense. In this case Apple is selling you 2GB of data for $25. If you want to use that SAME 2GB of data while tethered, they charge you another $20. It’s like ordering food at a buffet for $25, and getting no silverware. When you ask for a fork, they charge you a $20 fee.
posted by: Andru Edwards · 6/2/10
Wow! AT&T dropped the ball on this one. They only treat their customers this way because they know they are the only carrier with the iPhone. Once Android 2.2 AKA - Froyo gets a stable build of phones to compete with the iPhone, then the Sprint everything plan looks more appealing to Verizon customers who have been mistreated with crappy plans. IMO Android + Sprint = Win.
posted by: uglyfido · 6/3/10
Right, but the thing is that with AT&T’s new plan, if you use less than 200MB per month, you can drop your rate significantly by getting the $15 plan—and if you go over, you pay in increments of $15 per 200MB. No crazy hidden charges for overages, just clear stepping and scaling for usage. That’s a great, pro-consumer change, even if you don’t necessarily like the rates or the increments of data.
So why, then, does a data plan so focused on the consumption component charge an extra $20 for tethering (and without even adding any data to your pool)? For a plan so focused on usage, this makes absolutely no sense. There is zero technical or logical difference between a computer funneling data through a phone or the phone requesting that data itself, especially when you’re paying by the meg. Par for the course with AT&T, it’s a cynical and sour-tasting ploy to gouge customers for every last cent before consumers wise up and demand it be bundled. And the sad thing is, a lot of people are going to pay for it in the mean time.
Comments
Your info doesn’t make sense. In this case Apple is selling you 2GB of data for $25. If you want to use that SAME 2GB of data while tethered, they charge you another $20. It’s like ordering food at a buffet for $25, and getting no silverware. When you ask for a fork, they charge you a $20 fee.
posted by: Andru Edwards · 6/2/10
Wow! AT&T dropped the ball on this one. They only treat their customers this way because they know they are the only carrier with the iPhone. Once Android 2.2 AKA - Froyo gets a stable build of phones to compete with the iPhone, then the Sprint everything plan looks more appealing to Verizon customers who have been mistreated with crappy plans. IMO Android + Sprint = Win.
posted by: uglyfido · 6/3/10
Right, but the thing is that with AT&T’s new plan, if you use less than 200MB per month, you can drop your rate significantly by getting the $15 plan—and if you go over, you pay in increments of $15 per 200MB. No crazy hidden charges for overages, just clear stepping and scaling for usage. That’s a great, pro-consumer change, even if you don’t necessarily like the rates or the increments of data.
So why, then, does a data plan so focused on the consumption component charge an extra $20 for tethering (and without even adding any data to your pool)? For a plan so focused on usage, this makes absolutely no sense. There is zero technical or logical difference between a computer funneling data through a phone or the phone requesting that data itself, especially when you’re paying by the meg. Par for the course with AT&T, it’s a cynical and sour-tasting ploy to gouge customers for every last cent before consumers wise up and demand it be bundled. And the sad thing is, a lot of people are going to pay for it in the mean time.
posted by: Andru Edwards · 6/3/10