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AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

mashable.com

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Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#71

Post by buster »

gte910h wrote: post #55
stanleydrew wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If things get bad enough, can't Apple buy out the rest of the contract ahead of time?

They can ignore it and pay damages if there is no cancellation clause. It is highly unlikely a court would enjoin them from doing some as pro consumer as opening their platform to another US provider.

It doesn't make sense to work out such a contract without a cancellation clause. They could as well just make a verbal promise without signing something. Penalties are usually very, very high if one side doesn't fulfill its part of the contract. By high i mean high enough so that Steve still sticks to AT&T ;)

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#72

Post by FluidDjango »

stanleydrew wrote: post #39
bshep wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPad is NOT carrier locked

You can't get 3G speed on T-mobile with an iPad though can you?

When I googled regarding alternative carriers and iPad a couple days ago I had trouble finding clear statements of this.

What I did find was the sale of $60-$100 devices/dongles that would enable you to use your iPad with T-Mobile, Verizon, etc.

Is it not only me that has trouble finding a clear statement about this (esp. on store.apple.com)?

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#74

Post by smackfu »

jodrellblank wrote: post #11
lanaer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but if you bought the iPad, with the intent of getting service only when you needed it, and haven't yet needed it…

Then your actual need for an unlimited bandwidth mobile service may be less strong than it felt.

It's only been one month.

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#75

Post by OrangeGuutan »

rmc wrote: post #22

While I sympathise with people who feel mislead, we all know there is no such thing as "unlimited data". No teleco can honestly provide "unlimited data", it's just not possible or econonically viable. It's common for telecos to actually have a hidden limit on their unlimited plan. At least now they are being (more) honest about what you get.

I don't understand why you are being downvoted. You didn't say you liked that the new plans offer very low data / dollar or that you have to pay more to tether (despite the fact that we are now being charged per bucket), you simply stated (correctly) that there is no such thing as "unlimited." More companies ought to outright state the limits to their plans / services (e.g., Gmail and its exact storage amount versus Yahoo Mail and its "unlimited storage").

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#76

Post by korch »

Wow! AT&T has to be one of the dumbest fucking corporations in the world.

I'm sure Steve is thrilled that AT&T just took a crap on his lap by significantly changing the way the average person can use their iPad. It's even better that they sneak this in 1 month after the iPad launch, after Steve has fully demoed the iPad to the public, showing the most common uses as bandwidth intensive. It's almost like AT&T wants to lose Apple, and finally resorted to personally embarrassing Steve. (Golden Rule: You can never undo what you have demoed.) If this doesn't break the deal between Apple and AT&T, then nothing will!

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#77

Post by ajg1977 »

ajg1977 wrote: post #35
yanowitz wrote: post #16

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for the screaming matches between AT&T and Apple. This must be a prelude to AT&T losing exclusivity on the iPhone and punishing Apple for it. With all the data intensive iPad apps (e.g., Netflix) and the video conferencing coming in the next OS, this is a brutal move by AT&T. Factor in the dynamics of Android competition and we are in for some interesting telco moves in the coming mon…

If this is a prelude to AT&T losing their exclusivity then it's an odd move - the standard "unlimited data" cap on Verizon is 5GB. I'm not sure why AT&T would charge more for less compared to a competitor who was about to offer an alternative for their customers. I wonder when we'll see the famed Jobs reality distortion field try and sell us on 2GB being enough data for anyone. This also exposes the ridiculousness of…

Further thoughts:

1) This is mostly AT&T putting a stake in the ground now to be able to charge more in the future. Yes, 98% of subscribers currently use less than 2GB of data but that won't be true in 2-3 years. Instead of increasing those 200MB/2GB limits carriers will offer additional plans and reshape/abolish existing ones to nudge people into upper tiers. As happened with minutes and SMS, you'll pay more for less as time goes on, even as the cost to carriers plummets.

2) I don't know what sort of bandwidth VOIP uses, but I bet it's a lot less attractive as an alternative to regular calling with a 2GB limit.

3) Tethering is also a lot less attractive there's a 2GB data limit. Note that extra $20 doesn't buy you any more data, it just allows you to use your existing data in a different way. That really really stinks.

4) The overage charges also stink. On the $25 plan you pay $10 for an extra GB, on the $15 you pay $15 for an extra 200MB. That's just nasty.

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#78

Post by kalid »

bretpiatt wrote: post #29

For some perspective on how low 2GB is, this isn't just about video, it is audio streaming too... Pandora uses 64 kbps for normal quality and 128 kbps for high quality. 64 kilobits (Kb) = 8 kilobytes (KB) 8 kilobytes = 0.008 megabytes (MB) 0.008 MB per second * 60 seconds = 0.48 MB per minute 0.48 MB per minute * 60 minutes = 28.8 MB per hour 28.8 MB per hour * 8 hours = 230.4 MB per work day 230.4 MB per day * 23 wo…

8 kilobytes / second in hours until 2 gigabytes = 73 (http://tinyurl.com/3yrdjq)

Basically you get 3 days of streaming music per month. Wow, that's pretty low.

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#79

Post by mgkimsal »

I seem to remember some pundit stating they believed the reason AT&T agreed to the initial pricing in the first place was that they didn't think many people would be using 3G on the ipad, preferring wifi instead.

Can anyone find that quote or story? I'm drawing a blank, but it seemed to be one of the stupidest things I'd read in a while at that point.

My guess is that people have been using so much 3G data that AT&T realizes they'll be in a horrible situation as the iPad adoption grows - could be 4-5 million 3G devices with long battery life basically in an 'always on' state, using up far more bandwidth than anyone predicted.

That said, I just can not figure out why people can't seem to predict this. Most active users (the early adopters) can easily use 5-10 gig on a ipad as part of their 'always on' lifestyle. This isn't rocket science.

Re: AT&T Gives Up on the iPad 3G Unlimited Data Plan

#80

Post by pyre »

stanleydrew wrote: post #68
pyre wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T-Mobile and AT&T 3G services require different antennae (and possibly chips). You can use the same device to access their GSM networks and get onto Edge, but when it comes to 3G a device either supports one or the other. To my knowledge there are no phones (or devices) on the market that support both AT&T and T-Mobile in the same device.

Correct. That's why it's "effective" lock-in. I can't see any technical reason not to support all 3G frequencies, but until these kinds of devices do we'll have this effective lock-in problem.

For smaller devices (i.e. phones), the issue may just be space, since you may need to include yet another antenna, as well as possibly another chip needing to be included.
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