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New iPhone Data Plans Coming June 7

Apple and AT&T’s one-option data plan for the iPhone is no more. Since the iPhone 3G came out two years ago, the iPhone data plan has been $29.99 for unlimited use. Now, new customers have a pair of cheaper, but less-unlimited options. All data plans now offer unlimited use of AT&T’s 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, which is sort of nice.

The “DataPlus” package is $15/month for 200MB of data transfer — with a $15 charge for any overages up to 200MB. AT&T claims 65 percent of its smartphone users will fit safely under the 200MB cap.

The more prestigious “DataPro” package is $25/month for 2GB of data transfer, with a fairly reasonable (well, not compared to the prior unlimited plan) $10 per GB for overages. Tethering (including for the iPhone) can be added to this plan for $20/month. There is no tethering option for the DataPlus plan.

Existing AT&T customers are grandfathered into the $29.99/unlimited plan — but they cannot take advantage of the new tethering feature unless they “upgrade” to the new DataPro plan.

Follow all that? This might make it easier:

If you are an existing iPhone customer, you can keep your existing unlimited plan for $29.99. If you wish to add tethering as an option, you must drop your old plan and add the new 2GB/$25 plan — plus pay $20 a month for tethering.

If you are a new iPhone customer, you must choose the DataPlus or DataPro packages, and add tethering if you so desire.

Here is the relevant text from AT&T’s press release: