A quick look around the internet shows mixed reviews for AT&T’s wireless service. Many customer’s complain of lack of good customer service, expensive monthly plans, and narrow service areas. Other vehemently praise the mobile phone service company for their Rollover Minutes plan, exclusive partnership with Apple’s iPhone, and their extensive service network (hmm…I guess it depends on where you live. It is generally advised to look at service areas before buying a service so that you don’t buy in and get screwed out of it. I’m just saying…) Essentially, every company has their weaknesses and their strengths. Thanks to two great announcments this week, it looks like AT&T might get a little stronger.
iPhone Service Plan. Rumors started making their way around earlier this week about a possible $10 monthly cut on iPhone data plan service. Current iPhone plans cost the subscriber a raw fee of $69 per month. If you do the math that you learned back in grade school, the 2.5 million iPhone subscribers will only have to pay $59 per month before taxes and fees. This probable rate cut shows that AT&T understands that as the boundaries between traditional computers and cellular phones blur, much of the future of the mobile phone industry lies in smartphones. For smartphones to function in the most effective manor they must have a data plan. Cutting the data plan rate would presumably make AT&T much more appealing, and for Apple may result in a flurry of new iPhone owners.
goPhone Pre-Paid Plan. Prepaid mobile phones are big business these days. Boost Mobile (Sprint-Nextel’s prepaid service) is boasting around 756,o00 new subscribers in the first quarter alone. Prepaid phone plans are appealing for parents with younger children or teens and for elderly adults looking for a way to contact others in case of an emegency. Prepaid phone plans have come along way from the standard pre-load minutes stage. For many prepaid services, talkers can prepay anywhere between $30-50 per month (depending on the service) for unlimited talk, text, and data (internet). AT&T’s new plan for their goPhone pre-paid service will allow users to pay $3/day for unlimited talk time – with the option to add text and data plans for an extra fee. According to AT&T, the $3/day plan is the perfect way to round out their lucrative pre-paid portfolio. We’ll see how that works out…
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