AT&T Wants More $MONEY$
AT&T customers might have to pay more for their service.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Ralph de la Vega, AT&T CEO, said the carrier might have to change its $30 unlimited data plan for an ala carte pricing plan.
This is due to the stress multifunction phones have placed on their network.
With about 3% of smart-phone customers driving 40% of data traffic, AT&T is considering incentives to keep those subscribers from hampering the experience for everyone else.
Mr. de la Vega added the new pricing plan would give $eriou$ $martphone cu$tomer$ a rea$on to $cale down their data u$age.
What we actually found out is customers didn’t know how they were using data… but once you alerted them to it, they actually reduce their consumption significantly.
I’m sure most users do at some point, but the whole advantage of having an unlimited plan is to have peace of mind.
As it is – AT&T’s lack of performance in saturated user areas like New York and San Francisco has left a lot of customers dissatisfied with the company. These are not recent problems either, these heavily populated areas have had an issue with AT&T since the introduction of the iPhone.
If AT&T changes the terms of the contract the customer has the right to cancel their contract without penalties. Something the company should avoid by working on their infrastructure rather than alienating A LOT of customers.
Now with 2 expected Android devices joining their network things are not looking too good for the stability of their data infrastructure.
To add insult to injury Consumer Reports recently rated AT&T fourth out of the top 4 US carriers.
OUCH! I’m sure there’s not an app or a map for that.
Below are pictures taken from 9to5mac.com illustrating the CS report.
Writer’s Comment:
“If you’re consuming more than 5GB of data per month, don’t be surprised if AT&T gives you notice.”
This is from another source too.
For those of you who commented on the “unlimited” 5GB comment. Some RANDOM editor took it off.
There’s an “imaginary” 5GB cap the providers have. Kinda of like the one ISPs had. Once you hit this mark they pay a close attention to your account.