AT&T has launched a new initiative called Mobile Share Value Plans that is designed to save customers money on their monthly AT&T mobile phone service bills. The following changes are specifically for the Mobile Share program, which allows devices to work under the same AT&T account and share data, talk, and text plans. Similar to T-Mobile’s “un-carrier” approach, the new AT&T plans separate the cost of the device hardware completely from the monthly service charges:
With the ‘No Annual Service Contract’ options, smartphone customers can save $15 a month on Mobile Share Value plans.2 Customers can receive these monthly savings when they: Get a new smartphone for no down payment with AT&T Next; bring their own smartphone; purchase a smartphone at full retail price; or when their smartphone is no longer under contract and they switch to the new plans. All Mobile Share Value plan customers will benefit from shared data plus unlimited talk and text on their phones. Consumers will have the ability to connect up to 10 devices, including tablets and other wireless devices, while business customers will be able to connect up to 10, 15, 20 or 25 devices, depending on the plan.
So, if you do not want your AT&T phone on a contract with a hardware subsidy, you will save $15 a month off the top. This applies to both new and existing customers (if they inquire) and supports devices brought to the network by a customer, AT&T Next devices, and phones bought at their full retail price. The most notable part of the new plans are the additional monthly savings. Depending on the plan you pick, you will be saving between $10 and $115 per month for one device or between $20 and $105 on an account with two devices.
For instance, the 300MB/month data version for one device currently costs $70 per month, but the new plans will drop this down to $60. At the high end, the $530/month 50GB plan will become $415. AT&T is also adding a new 8GB/month data tier for $130/month (1 device) and $170/month (2 devices). With the new approach of separating the phone cost from the monthly charge, the savings are even more significant if your phone is not subsidized. For instance, one phone on the 300MB/monthly plan will be $45 per month, and two phones on the 4GB plan will be $120/month.
In addition to the Mobile Share Value Plans, AT&T has announced a new tier for its AT&T Next program. AT&T Next allows a customer to pay (at minimum) $0 down for a device and roll the price of the phone into the service bill over the course of a 12-month period. The new tier allows a customer to pay over 18 months, and this means lower payment installments per month. This plan is meant for people who feel like they would be better suited to upgrading their device every year-and-a-half, rather than annually.
The Mobile Share Value Plans and new 18-month AT&T Next program become available on Sunday, December 8th. Full press release below:
With the ‘No Annual Service Contract’ options, smartphone customers can save $15 a month on Mobile Share Value plans.2 Customers can receive these monthly savings when they: Get a new smartphone for no down payment with AT&T Next; bring their own smartphone; purchase a smartphone at full retail price; or when their smartphone is no longer under contract and they switch to the new plans. All Mobile Share Value plan customers will benefit from shared data plus unlimited talk and text on their phones. Consumers will have the ability to connect up to 10 devices, including tablets and other wireless devices, while business customers will be able to connect up to 10, 15, 20 or 25 devices, depending on the plan.
It’s never been more affordable to get on the nation’s fastest and most reliable 4G LTE network. For only $45 a month, smartphone customers can now get unlimited talk and text plus 300MB of data.3 Qualifying smartphones can be added to any Mobile Share Value plan for $25 more a month per phone; tablets can be added for $10 more per device.
Customers with basic and messaging phones can enjoy a low monthly rate of $40 for unlimited talk, text and 300MB of data.3 For $20 more a month per phone, additional basic and messaging lines can be added to any Mobile Share Value plan.
In addition to the 300MB option, AT&T Mobile Share Value plans offer data options ranging from 1GB up to 50 GB, all with unlimited talk and text.
AT&T is also adding a new AT&T Nextsm plan with an 18 month upgrade option on Dec. 8. It will be available to consumers for up to four smartphones, and to select small business customers, who may provide employees with up to six company-owned devices.3 The new plan will make monthly smartphone payments even lower than the existing AT&T Next option, by spreading payments over 26 months and giving eligible customers a way to get a new smartphone after 18 monthly payments for no down payment, no upgrade fee, no activation fee and no financing fee.
“With our new Mobile Share Value Plans, customers don’t have to compromise,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility. “Our new no contract option lets customers add a smartphone to the nation’s fastest and most reliable 4G LTE network at a lower monthly cost. Customers want great value and a premium network – and now they can save more and get unlimited talk, text and data to share.”
The new Mobile Share Value plans make it easy for customers to manage their data without needing to keep track of multiple plans. Consumers, Individual Responsibility Users (IRUs), and Corporate Responsibility Users (CRUs) have different options to stay informed about their data usage and can check it anytime online through the my AT&T mobile app, or by dialing *DATA# from their mobile phone. AT&T also sends courtesy alerts as customers nearing their data allowance for the month.
All plans include access to AT&T’s nationwide Wi-Fi network at no additional charge.5 Customers can learn more about the new plans and determine which plan is best for them at www.att.com/mobilesharevalue.
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I guess my grandfathered-in Unlimited data plan is worth an awful lot, given that AT&T charges $415/month for a 50GB plan.
I’ll be happy to transfer ownership of my Unlimited Data account to someone else for, um, $4000. Payback will be less than 1 year of service!
Better to compare with the 5GB plan. That’s how much data you can use on Unlimited before AT&T throttles your data throughput. And, of course, you can’t tether, so the plan itself is weaker.
I finally gave up my Unlimited plan after doing the math and realizing that in my situation (one phone, two tablets, 6GB of usage between) the Mobile Share plan was actually cheaper and more versatile. But that’s largely because AT&T doesn’t really play fair with the Unlimited plan anymore.
Thought I’m also grandfathered, I’ve found it’s not really unlimited; AT&T notified me once that I was about to exceed 3Gb, after which it would throttle my data. Not truly unlimited, as I understand that word.
Sure, but do you actually use all of that data? Possibly, but most people don’t. I’m a heavy data user and I dropped my grandfathered plan over a year ago and have never had any issue with the 6 GB my wife and I share.
This is actually a pretty good deal. It amounts to getting a $15 discount per month if you bring your own device.
So, in short:
$550 = Unlocked iPhone 5S purchased outright
$560 = Locked iPhone 5S, but payable over time. ($200, plus $15 a month for 24 months)
If I could do that with my existing plan, I would.
AT&T has “blinked”. They are acknowledging T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” is having an impact.
It’s honestly too late for me. I switched over to T-Mobile last month and I absolutely love it. In my area, they have significantly better coverage and data speeds. I also pretty much get unlimited everything for $50 month on my 4S.
T-Mobile in my area gets faster data than either Verizon or AT&T do even though the signal is far worse locally. For example AT&T doesn’t even have 3G so it is just the old 2G speed. Verizon boast LTE but the best I get near home is terrible while T-Mobile who I switched to, with barely signal gets 1 1/2 times the speed.
When I phoned Verizon on the iPhone I had with them she even complained that the call quality was terrible and tried to tell me that the superior call quality was why I should stay with them. I told her, your complaining about the lousy call quality on the ‘superior Verizon’ service – that’s why I am dumping you.
I pay $78 to T-Mobile. I get unlimited Voice, SMS and Data and a 2.5Gb Mobile Hotspot for that price. Verizon I got 450 minutes of voice, 1000 text messages and 2 Gb of Data and if I wanted Hotspot It was another $25 a month. Without the hotspot it was $84 a month. So in real terms I have not saving a little I am getting a lot more for way less than the equivalent that Verizon would have charged for it.
Think if you have one phone, t mobile has the best plans but for me and my family it’s AT&T. I stay in Chicago so we have lte plus 3 phones at 25 plus 6gs of lte, is 155.
This is not a saving. It’s an enticement to get you to buy your device at full price rather than them carry that debt while you run your contract out.
In real terms, that $15 doesn’t cover the difference between paying them the upfront fee and then run through a 24 month contract with them!
Now lets take an iPhone 5S with 16Gb of memory. This is the cheapest option for this model of iPhone though 16Gb is totally inadequate for anyone that uses a lot of apps or has a lot of iTunes Music.
The cost from Apple for the unlocked iPhone 16Gb model is $649.
You pay for the phone up front. Then you save $15 on your bill over the 24 months? That’s $360 reduced in monthly costs.
Stay on the contract… You pay $199 up front and then you bill for the 24 month contract is $15 higher. So that is $559 for the same iPhone model. That’s a saving of $90 by STAYING on their contract account and let them carrying the cost of the device over that time rather than you carry the burden.
This new gimmick from them is badly orientated towards benefiting them. They don’t have that cost that they have to recoup. Improves their liquidity at your expense.
You’re being a bit fuddy with your doom and gloom talk. There are situations where this plan will save people money. For example, I have a 10GB Family Share plan with 6 devices (5 smartphones + 1 iPad). 3 phones are not in contract (2 iPhones and an International Galaxy S3 that I did not even buy from AT&T). Yet I still have to pay full plan pricing the same as a family that has 5 phones in-contract. With this new plan, I will save money.
This post is not presenting the full story. For the 10GB tier and above, the per phone charge is currently $30. The new plan raises it to $40. The $15 off contract discount is based on the new $10 higher rate. You would have to go nearly four years between upgrades for this plan to save you any money. For me this is a price hike.
@kcreelmower, for some reason I can’t reply directly to your post, so I’m posting here instead.
You need to do the math again. The base plans are cheaper for these new Mobile Share Value plans versus the normal Family Share plans. My 10GB base plan is currently $120, under this new value plan it will be $100.
My current plan:
Base 10 GB plan w/ tethering and unlimited text ($120) + 5 smartphones ($30 ea = $150) + 1 tablet ($10) = total $280
New value plan:
Base 10 GB plan w/ tethering and unlimited text ($100) + 2 smartphones in contract ($40 ea = $80) + 3 smartphones out of contract ($25 ea = $75) + 1 tablet ($10) = $265
The new plan will save me $15 per month / $180 per year. Not an earth-shattering amount, but it’s free money for simply changing plans.