About those new AT&T Data plans

> While AT&T asserts that its high-end 2GB cap will only impact the heaviest users, the fact is that today’s heavy user is tomorrow’s average user,” Free Press policy counsel M. Chris Riley said in a statement. “Internet overcharging schemes like the one AT&T proposes will discourage innovative new uses and stifle healthy growth in the mobile broadband economy. It is price gouging for AT&T to charge the low-end users $15 per 200MB, and to charge $20 for tethering capability even if no additional capacity is used. This pricing system is clearly divorced from the actual underlying cost of service. This is the issue for me. From the looks of it, I actually stand to save some money in the short term. Looking at my average data usage, I’m most certainly safe with the 2GB plan, and can almost fit under the 200MB plan. And I’m a pretty heavy iPhone user. I have my email set to push, I’m constantly using apps, browsing, etc.

(I guess it helps to live in San Francisco, where I can’t get signal most places, anyway.)

So with the new plans, I will save $10 a month ($5 each for me and my girlfriend’s iPhone) at least. I could change my usage habits a bit and save myself $30 a month with the DataPlus plan, though I’m not sure I want to start counting kilobytes just yet.

But the real issue is that quote above. I may use just just over 200 MB now, but how much data will I use next year? New iPhones are going to have new features, features that are likely to drive me to want to use the Internet more. The iPhone that will likely be announced next Monday will have a front-facing video camera. How much data is a video chat going to eat?

It’s clear that AT&T has network issues. I don’t necessarily have a problem with charging the 2% of really heavy users more money. After all, they are helping to bring down the speed for the rest of us. But I always worry whenever a giant company like AT&T makes a change that appears to save consumers money at first. Tiered pricing is almost always a ploy to make more money, not help customers.

If the limit on the 2GB plan gets raised to 3GB, or 4GB, etc. as the needs of the average user evolve, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. For now, I remain skeptical.

And, as everyone seems to be suggesting today, the Tethering pricing is a complete ripoff. If you’re not giving me more data, I shouldn’t be paying more, period. At least now we know why AT&T hasn’t offered Tethering up until now. They didn’t know what to do about unlimited data. Removing unlimited as an option was the only way to keep their network from completely crumbling, I guess.

Which is why Tethering is only an option if you switch to one of these new plans. And for those of you planning on keeping your unlimited plan, have fun with that iPhone 3Gs for the rest of your life. Because you won’t be able to upgrade phones without changing to a non-unlimited plan, either.