AT&T announced today a new plan feature for its mobile share value customers: shareable rollover data. The carrier says more than 50 million subscribers will automatically gain the benefit when it kicks off at the end of the month on January 25th. If this news sounds familiar, that’s likely because competing wireless provider T-Mobile became the first of the big four national carriers to offer rollover data with its “data stash” feature announced last month alongside a free 10GB data promo. Here’s how AT&T says its version of rollover data works:
- All levels of AT&T Mobile Share Value plan customers automatically receive the Rollover Data feature – no signing up, no additional cost.
- Rollover Data can be shared with everyone on the same Mobile Share Value plan.
- If you do not use your full allotment of plan data in a given month, the extra amount automatically rolls over and is available to be used within the next month.
- Within a given month, you will use your plan allotment first, before you begin using your Rollover Data. Unused Rollover Data does not carry over.
That means AT&T’s rollover data feature is a bit tighter than T-Mobile’s data stash feature; AT&T is limiting rollover data to the following month only—presumably to avoid subscribers accruing large data pools—while data stashed with T-Mobile can’t be stored for longer than 12 months.
The rollover data feature should help some customers avoid overages or have more data to spare on any given mobile share plan, though.
On a 10GB mobile share plan with 8GB used in a service period, for example, the mobile share plan would then have access to a total of 12GB the following month. The limitations come into play quick, though, as the first 10GB would be used first the following month with the extra 2GB expiring the next month. If only 7GB of data of data were used the next month, though, then 13GB would be available the following month.
http://youtu.be/bDM7bKB1TZg
While the rollover data feature requires a mobile share plan, the rollover data applies to each device including smartphones and tablets including the iPhone and iPad. AT&T says both family and business mobile share plans will have access to the feature automatically starting on January 25th with the extra data being trackable through the carrier’s site and mobile app.
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More like flip over.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere on December 30th:
“I’m also betting AT&T will introduce a weak Data Stash™ knock off – but the fine print will be massive, and they’ll miss the first and most important step in the process – which is to stop punishing their customers with domestic overages and instead get rid of them.”
AT&T wouldn’t be doing this if they didn’t feel like they had to to remain competitive. I am glad I switched over to T-Mobile. Their disruption of the industry is great, competition that was much needed. They still have a long way to go in terms of coverage, but they’re getting there and I’m happy. Much better value, too.
So your rollover data expires month to month.”The data you don’t use this month rolls over to the next month.*” So the * means that we really don’t get rollover month to month on all the unused data, just the unused data we PAID for that month rolls over.
We would ditch AT&T in a heartbeat if there were a decent alternative where we live (Texas Hill Country). They steer customers to Shitroid phones and charge far too much for their dumb pipes.
Seems reasonable. If you were exceeding every month, you need a new plan. If you occasionally go over, you have a cushion.
T-Mo doesn’t really cap, they just slow it when you go over. So, their plan is more forgiving if you use a lot of LTE (and are patient). But, T-Mo is not for everyone, coverage in the areas I use is poor, so ATT is the only viable option.
Grateful for T-Mo, pushing the bar for us and forcing Ma Bell’s hand!
I’m actually kind of confused by T-Mobile’s Data stash, because I was on their two line 3 gb per line for $100/month plan when they introduced the Data stash last December
Then they went ahead and announced the unlimited data for two lines at $100/month. For my particular use case, it was a no-brainer to switch to unlimited, leaving the Data Stash feature moot.
T-Mobile said Data Stash applies only to post-paid customers with 3gb plans or higher. Anyone on a higher tiered data plan should have also switched to unlimited.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving what T-Mobile is doing with their consumer friendlier policies and clearly they’re driving Verizon and AT&T crazy by undercutting them at every turn.
Why do I find the girl in those commercials attractive? Anyway I hope Verizon follows suit.
For all intents and purposes, there’s no rollover. It’s just that the quotum period just doubled in length.
My recommendation to all operators would be to just do away with month-based fixed-volume quota and instead implement capacity-oriented, not-arbitrarily-limited volume. If somebody were to browse primarily around 3 am, that user would get (for example) 50 times more volume than one browsing primarily around network peak times—and all gradations in between. Many “unlimited” broadband connections function like that (calling it “fair use”) and it’s great.
Of course, my recommendation puts the customer before the money. So forget it—at least until competition really heats up when everybody is doing everything through cellular networks.
(I’m not aware of any large US operators offering fair unlimited data since I don’t live in the US. So I may be missing a few.)
Good to have competition in rollover data but AT&T is launching half backed plan, T-Mobile is good with 10GB stash.
“…and it’s all because we appreciate you, seriously…” is the only bigger load of crap than the one-month limitation.