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THE Tech Scoop | May 25, 2013

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AT&T Introduces Shared Data Plans

AT&T Introduces Shared Data Plans


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AT&T has followed the lead of Verizon Wireless by introducing Shared data plans. Many of the features of the plans are similar to Verizon Wireless’ plans, however AT&T does offer some additional options with their plans.

The idea behind shared data plans is to allow families the flexibility of grouping data across multiple smartphones, laptops, tablets, and gaming devices in lieu of having to pay for individual data plans for each device.

All of AT&T’s shared data plans include unlimited talk and unlimited text. You can have up to 10 devices per shared data plan. You can also have multiple shared data plans one one account, which is a nice perk.

There are some caveats with the shared data plans. There must be one smartphone on the plan. The cost of the data plans can seem a bit high. Prices start at $40 for 1GB of shared data, plus $45 for each smartphone. The options for the amount of shared data is as follows: 1GB, 4GB, 6GB, 10GB, 15GB and 20GB. The cost for each is $40, $70, $90, $120, $160, and $200.

The data plans also require a monthly fee for each smartphone, basic or messaging phone, laptop, and tablet or gaming device. The cost for a Basic of messaging phone is $30. The cost for a laptop (or netbook) is $20 per month, and Tablets and gaming devices are $10. This is per device, per month. If you go over, each additional GB is $15.

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There is one big change with AT&T’s plans versus Verizon’s plans. You are not REQUIRED to go with shared data. If it makes more sense, you can stick with individual data plans for each device.

The minimum monthly cost for a shared-data plan is $85 for one smartphone, but this does include unlimited talk and texting. The minimum cost for an individual account with Unlimited talk and text, with 3GB of data is $119.99 per month. If you were to upgrade to the 4GB plan, It would be $110, which is still cheaper than $119 per month.

For a certain segment of the population, this makes complete sense. It would depend on whether or not you pay for tethering and hotspot right now. It if you, this could save you a bunch of money on your monthly bill. Plans should be available starting in Late August.

Overall, I do not think there will be any real savings for some users. However, if you have a lot of Tablets or gaming devices that each have their own data plan, this may be your best bet overall.

You can read all about the shared data plan options by reading AT&T’s press release (below).

Wayne Dixon
I'm into anything technology related. I do some HTML/CSS/PHP development. I like to follow things that most people would find annoying or not worthwhile. I follow Apple, Microsoft, Google, The Cloud, cell phones and even programming. By Day I'm a Systems Administrator for a Library, which has it's own set of issues. Follow me on Twitter.
Wayne Dixon

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