|
AT&T's Data Limits - Savvy Marketing, or Dollar Grab?
As AT&T Mobility announces a change in their smartphone data plan offerings, consumers are livid, investors are wary, and some people are just plain baffled: Has AT&T wireless committed business suicide, or is this just savvy marketing?
If you're wondering what the data plan changes are, then you're not likely an AT&T wireless customer, because iPhone and iPad users (and everyone else who owns a different kind of smartphone for whatever reason) are really up in arms, angry and betrayed, especially on the eve of Steve Job's anticipated announcement of a new shiny iPhone for AT&T customers.
Currently, the plans for both the iPhone and the iPad, along with other smartphone offerings such as Windows Mobile, Android, and BlackBerry phones on AT&T are straightforward: $29.99 gets you all you can eat, perfect for bandwidth hungry video viewing, or surfing for new applications. The new plans are $25 for 2GB (AT&T claims that 98% of their users are under this limit), and $15 for 200MB of data (again, AT&T states that about 62% of their customers stay under this limit for data).
Of course, this has AT&T users up in arms - but is this really a change for the worse? If you follow the cell phone industry, you may remember a few years back when everyone was offering unlimited bandwidth on their mobile broadband cards, and it was Verizon Wireless who was the villan, squashing everyone's dream of unlimited mobile downloading, and eventually it spread to all providers.
However, Sprint, when it started to offer 4G WiMax products, 4G was an unlimited plan, offering faster speeds. Is AT&T, as it starts overhauling its backend to support greater speeds and eventually LTE, going to start offering unlimited mobile broadband to get people to pick up the new technology? Very likely - It's happened with Nextel ($1.15 service fee that went away when you changed to a new price plan), Sprint (see example in this article), and Verizon will likely offer the same thing at the end of this year when it rolls out LTE.
Yes, this decision is going to alienate a few customers, but unfortunately, customer memories are pretty short when it comes to this type of thing, and even those that do leave will come back if Apple (or some other up and coming hardware manufacturer) releases another killer gadget. In the meantime, check your usage if you get a new iPhone or BlackBerry Slide and watch video (customers who currently have a $29.99 plan won't have to worry about getting shafted with the $25 plan).
| |
