Today, AT&T announced its new Mobile Share Plans which will allow customers to share data across multiple smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices starting this August. Similar to Verizon’s Share Everything plans, AT&T customers on the same account can get unlimited voice/texts per line while sharing a limited amount of data between up to 10 devices (Android, Windows Phone, iPhone, other smartphones/tablets). The short explanation and pricing chart below will clue you in on how much that would cost your family.
“With AT&T Mobile Share plans, customers start by choosing how much data they want each month, then choose up to 10 devices to attach to their shared plan, one of which must be a smartphone. Each plan includes tethering and unlimited domestic calls and texts for smartphones and basic or quick messaging phones. The larger the data bucket you choose, the less you pay per gigabyte and the less you pay for each smartphone added to the shared plan.
Customers can select one of the new shared data plans or choose one of AT&T’s existing individual or family plans. Current customers are not required to switch to the new plans, but can choose to do so without a contract extension. There are no changes to AT&T’s device upgrade policy, which means customers eligible to upgrade to AT&T’s best device price are not required to switch plans. The new plans will also be available for business customers.”
AT&T’s new motto for such a plan is “the more you share, the more you save.” While that may be true, you still have to spend a lot if data is your priority. It’s unfortunate that in an age where data is king, we’re handcuffed to limited amounts of it. It appears this stingy shared data model is the new landscape of wireless plans, too. First Verizon, now AT&T, next… Sprint and/or T-Mobile? Eventually, with competition and the further advancement of technology, the premium prices per GB will need to go down to some degree; and we look forward to that day. For now, talkative families can bask in the glory of unlimited talk/texts.
Learn more about Mobile Share from AT&T’s website.
Note: AT&T has a video to promote the new Mobile Share plans, but they’ve made it private for now. We’ll update this post when it goes public again.
