by MyRatePlan Staff on January 19, 2012
The changes below take effect on Sunday, January 22. If you sign up with AT&T prior to that date, you will be grandfathered into the current pricing. Use the MyRatePlan smartphone data calculator to find your best data plan across the 4 national carriers.
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AT&T is launching new smartphone data plans as outlined in the table below:
|
Current |
New |
|
Light User
Allowance
Additional
|
$15 for 200MB
$15 per 200MB
|
$20 for 300MB
$20 per 300MB
|
|
Moderate User
Allowance
Additional
|
$25 for 2GB
$10 per 1GB
|
$30 for 3GB
$10 per 1G
|
|
Heavy User
Allowance
Additional
|
SAME AS ABOVE:
$25 for 2GB
$10 per 1GB
|
NEW PLAN:
$50 for 5GB
$10 per 1G
|
For those interested in tethering, it is included in the $50 plan (total 5GB allowance). Previously, tethering was a $20 add-on (with 2GB additional allowance) on the $25 data plan.
These new plans are also valid for new tablet customers. The existing $14.99 tablet plan for 250MB will remain available.
MyRatePlan Analysis: Although AT&T is spinning this as ‘more data, more value’, it is clearly a price increase for most customers. The minimum price for a monthly smartphone rate plan increases to $59.99 ($39.99 for 450 minutes + $20 data) from $54.99. For all but the lightest consumers of data, the $30 plan will be the plan of choice.
- For those using between 3 and 5GB per month who are not interested in tethering, it doesn’t look like the $50 for 5GB plan offers any benefit over the $30 for 3GB plan.
- The only existing customers who might want to consider switching to these plans are those that use more than 2GB per month. For those, the new rates actually represent a $5 decrease for the same allowance of data. However, since the baseline commitment goes to $30 from $25, some of that savings is lost if not using more than 2GB on a regular basis.
To see current AT&T rate plans and cell phones, visit our AT&T carrier page.
Tagged as:
AT&T,
data plans,
iphone
by MyRatePlan Staff on September 19, 2011
In advance of the (rumored) arrival of the Apple iPhone this fall, Sprint has joined AT&T and Verizon with an increased early termination fee for “advanced devices”. We haven’t yet been able to locate a specific list of these devices, but they likely include all (or most) smartphones, tablets and data devices, which means most equipment will be subject to the new policy.
We’re working to update We’ve updated our early termination fee calculator for the new fee structure.
The new early termination fees apply to new (or renewed contracts) as of September 16, 2011. The prior policy had been in place since November 3, 2008.
Advanced Devices: The early termination fee for advanced devices is up to $350. For other devices, it will remain at up to $200. The prorating procedure has also changed. For advanced devices, Sprint will multiply $20 by the number of months remaining on your contract, with a maximum of $350 and a minimum of $100. This means that if you cancel within the first 6 months or so, you’ll be on the hook for the full $350.
Other Devices: For other devices, the termination fee is $200, which is the prior termination fee for all phones. For these phones, Sprint will multiply $10 by the number of months remaining on your contract, maximum $200 and a minimum of $50. This prorate is actually slightly more consumer-friendly than the existing one, although, as we noted earlier, it will likely only now apply to the most basic of devices.
Sprint has also reduced the trial period for new subscribers from 30 to 14 days. During this trial period, a customer can cancel service and not be subject to a termination fee.
We retrieved info on the new termination fee schedule from Sprint’s current Terms & Conditions (weren’t able to link to it directly, so here’s a snippet):
General Terms: If you agree to maintain service for a minimum Term, the Term begins when you accept the Subscriber Agreement (e.g., signature, activate service, use phone, etc.). You may terminate any line of service before its Term ends by calling us, however you will be responsible for an EARLY TERMINATION FEE of up to $350/line for Advanced Devices & up to $200 ETF/line for other devices for each line/number terminated early – except for terminations consistent with our return policy. The ETF is prorated and is calculated by taking the months remaining on your Agreement times $20 for Advanced Devices, with a maximum of $350, and minimum of $100. For all other devices, the prorated ETF is calculated by taking the months remaining times $10 with a maximum of $200 and minimum of $50. Payment of the ETF does not satisfy other obligations owed to us, including Term commitments with other lines or service/equipment charges.
Tagged as:
early termination fee,
sprint
by MyRatePlan Staff on September 13, 2011
Straight Talk, a no-contract provider available both online and at Wal-Mart stores, has introduced its first Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Precedent. Now consumers can take advantage of Straight Talk’s incredibly low $45 price for unlimited voice, text and mobile web on a phone where the data component is actually meaningful.
Why is this a big deal? Until now, Straight Talk’s $45 unlimited plan looked very attractive against the cost of similar plans for the major carriers. However, their phone selection left much to be desired. Now, with the addition of the Android phone, customers get a complete mobile experience, including access to hundreds of thousands of Apps, for a fraction of the cost of similar service on other carriers.
How much do I save? Unlimited talk, text and data with a smartphone ranges from $80 on T-Mobile up to $120 on Verizon. This is a savings of up to $1,800 on a two-year contract. Even better, no contract is required.
What about service quality? Straight Talk buys airtime and uses the network of the major carriers (Sprint for this phone). Service quality/coverage will be roughly the same as if you were a Sprint subscriber.
About the Samsung Galaxy Precedent: This Android 2.2 device features a 3.2 inch touch screen, 2 megapixel camera with video capture and playback, Bluetooth, GPS and high speed data via 3G and Wi-Fi. Battery life is up to 6 hours, with standby up to 9 days. The Galaxy Precedent is M4/T4 hearing aid compatible, the highest ranking. In addition, the phone lets you have 5 home screens and supports microSD memory cards of up to 32GB: a 2GB card is included with purchase.
To buy Straight Talk: You can buy online, or at Wal-Mart stores. You can keep your existing phone number in most cases.
Tagged as:
android,
smartphone,
straight talk
by MyRatePlan Staff on May 23, 2011
On May 22, T-Mobile made some changes to their rate plans, adding more value to some plans and also updating the number of data plan options available for smartphone users.
For single lines, there are now 3 options:
- 500 minutes for $39.99
- 1,000 minutes for $49.99
- unlimited minutes for $59.99
The only real change in the single line category is that the $59.99 unlimited plan now includes unlimited text messaging, which was previously an additional $10/month.
For family plans there are also 3 options.
- 1,000 shared minutes for $59.99
- 2,000 shared minutes for $79.99
- unlimited shared minutes for $99.99
The above pricing is for two lines. the unlimited plan also includes text messaging. Up to 3 additional lines are available for $10 each on the 1,000 and 2,000 plan, $30 each for the unlimited plan.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the high cost of exceeding the monthly allowance, still 45 cents a minute. More than ever, it makes sense to find the rate plan that best fits your calling needs.
Tagged as:
rate plans,
t-mobile
by MyRatePlan Staff on May 22, 2011
T-Mobile has updated their smartphone data plan tiers, as well as some of their voice plans. We’ll address the voice plans in another post, but it is worth noting that T-Mobile now has more data tiers to choose from than actual voice only plans. We believe this is a first for the industry, and reflective of the growing importance of data to a carrier’s bottom line — both from a revenue and capacity perspective.
Until today, T-Mobile had two smartphone data plans, a 200 MB for $10 option, and an unlimited for $30 plan. They’ve now expanded that to 4 options:
- 200 MB for $10
- 2 GB for $20
- 5 GB for $30
- 10 GB for $60
Interestingly, there is no charge for additional data on any of these plans. Instead, T-Mobile will reduce (or throttle) the data speed, until the end of the billing cycle, to any customer once the allowance is exceeded. We’re not sure how slow downloads become in this situation, but suspect that the experience won’t be pleasant — otherwise most people would just stick to the minimum $10 plan. Our data calculator can help you figure out which T-Mobile data plan is right for you, and compare that option to those offered by AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless.
In reviewing the tiers, T-Mobile has undercut AT&T by $5 at the 200 MB and 2 GB tiers. Neither Sprint nor Verizon have those tiers. 5 GB for $30 is competitive with Sprint and Verizon and less expensive than AT&T. Only a very small percentage of customers currently exceed 5 GB. While Sprint and Verizon say their data plans are unlimited, they reserve the right to throttle speeds for customers who consume too much, although “too much” isn’t really defined. T-Mobile thus becomes the first carrier to explicitly create a plan for these heaviest of users.
Tagged as:
4G,
data plans,
smartphone,
t-mobile
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