When our friends over at The Verge got wind of a price change coming to AT&T’s data plans, AT&T responded that it was “an error. There are no changes to our data plans.” What they should’ve said was “There are no changes to our data plans… yet.”
AT&T has just announced a new set of data plans for smartphones and tablets. As you’d probably guess, they’re a bit pricier than those they replace. On the upside, they’re (ever so slightly) cheaper per megabyte.
The Old Plans:
- $15 for 200MB ($0.075 per megabyte)
- $25 for 2GB ($0.012 per megabyte)
- $45 for 4GB with Tethering ($0.010 per megabyte)
The New Plans:
- $20 for 300MB ($0.06 per megabyte)
- $30 for 3GB ($0.0099 per megabyte, or slightly less than a penny)
- $50 for 5GB with Tethering ($0.0097 per megabyte)
(Note: Only the latter two in each category are available for tablets. The old $15/250MB plan for tablets will continue to exist in place of this new one.)
In the end, each plan gets bumped up $5 for a slightly larger helping of data. Current customers can keep their existing plans, though you’ll almost certainly have to pay for the pricier new option if you’re looking to enable/disable tethering on your account. I’d find some reason to be outraged — but really, when you’re already paying through the nose for data, it’s hard to be surprised when they come back around with bigger coffers.
The plans will launch for new customers this Sunday.