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story category AT&T Kills Off $20 Unlimited Pre-Paid Data
Once again, silly customers thought unlimited meant unlimited....
02:34PM Monday Oct 06 2008 by Karl Bode
tags: business · wireless · bandwidth · telco · Cingular Wireless
Phone News (via Gizmodo) reports that AT&T wireless users were "abusing" their unlimited pre-paid GoPhone data service by tapping into it with their laptops -- so AT&T is pulling the plug on the $19.99/month option starting on November 12th. Pre-paid users can spend $60 for 5GB of usage, but can expect to be billed $0.00048 per kilobyte, or $480 per gigabyte -- though Gizmodo claims that the customer account gets locked should it hit $100 in overages.

Related:
  1. Verizon Wireless Announces Unlimited Calling
  2. AT&T's 5GB Wireless Broadband Mystery Cap
  3. Google, You're a Wireless Tease
  4. AT&T: LTE Still 2-5 Years Off
  5. AT&T Wants HSDPA/LTE In....Everything
  6. Tethered iPhone: $30/Month, 5GB Cap
  7. Verizon Aims for LTE Deployment in 2009
  8. Verizon's Open Development Initiative? So Far It's A Joke
Forums » AT&T Kills Off $20 Unlimited Pre-Paid Data
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Post a:
Enlightener

join:2006-01-28
Cedar Park, TX

iPhone

Does this include the iPhone?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Re: iPhone

No.
Enlightener

join:2006-01-28
Cedar Park, TX

Re: iPhone

Whew, I was about to blow a gasket. My wife totally loves her iPhone and there's no way in hell I'd pay another $40 for her dataplan.

Surfinusa
Premium
join:2001-02-08
said by Karl Bode See Profile :

No.
Good Article Karl.
Enlightener

join:2006-01-28
Cedar Park, TX

edit:
October 6th, @02:04PM

The article says GoPhones. This news posting is misleading or I speed read to quickly or it was later edited.
djboogie

join:2008-12-13
Montevallo, AL

Re: iPhone

"The article says GoPhones. This news posting is misleading or I speed read to quickly or it was later edited"

Actually its not that misleading, they (at&t) recently changed their data plans, if you check their website for example and look for a prepaid data plan for blackberry......you wont find one....a month ago, you would have.

ninjatutle
You can keep the "change"

join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·AT&T U-Verse


edit:
October 6th, @02:41PM

Sketchy

It was sketchy to start with. I remember the article and tutorial showing you how to tether go-phone 3G data + laptop for only $20/month. I thought about going this route since I pay $60/mo for a 3G laptop card. It was a work around and the people knew they were doing some sketch stuff.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
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Putnam, CT
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Re: Sketchy

said by ninjatutle See Profile :

It was sketchy to start with. I remember the article and tutorial showing you how to teather go-phone 3G data + laptop for only $20/month. I thought about going this route since I pay $60/mo for a 3G laptop card. It was a work around and the people knew they were doing some sketch stuff.
People used it within the terms that AT&T set. Hardly sketchy.
--
"A religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org

ninjatutle
You can keep the "change"

join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA

Re: Sketchy

It was sketch because tethering was not apart of the terms. I looked into it at the time and figured it would be shut down at any time so I didn't pay the early term to do this. I would have ended up with more money in my pocket each month.

ptrowski
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Re: Sketchy

said by ninjatutle See Profile :

It was sketch because tethering was not apart of the terms. I looked into it at the time and figured it would be shut down at any time so I didn't pay the early term to do this. I would have ended up with more money in my pocket each month.
Since it was not a part of the terms I would not call it sketchy. It was not prohibited.
--
"A religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: Sketchy

Exactly. It wasn't part of the terms mentioned as acceptable OR prohibited. Since it wasn't mentioned at all, one would assume that it is ok.
--
Canada = Hollywood North

ptrowski
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Re: Sketchy

said by en102 See Profile :

Exactly. It wasn't part of the terms mentioned as acceptable OR prohibited. Since it wasn't mentioned at all, one would assume that it is ok.
Bingo!
--
"A religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org

ninjatutle
You can keep the "change"

join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA

Re: Sketchy

Who says it wasn't prohibited?

ptrowski
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Re: Sketchy

said by ninjatutle See Profile :

Who says it wasn't prohibited?
Who said it was?

ninjatutle
You can keep the "change"

join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA

Re: Sketchy

Who says it wasn't?

ptrowski
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Re: Sketchy

Ok, this is fun.
My point is saying it is "sktechy" without showing "why" you think it is sketchy is silly.

Plus knowing AT&T, if it was strictly prohibited they would sock people with charges instead of just change the plan.
--
"A religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org
wierdo

join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
·Cox HSI

Re: Sketchy

said by ptrowski See Profile :

Plus knowing AT&T, if it was strictly prohibited they would sock people with charges instead of just change the plan.
You can only know them by their written policies, which don't allow for any penalty for misuse of a data plan except removal of that plan. They can't add a different plan or add a different feature (like pay-per-use data) and remain within their written policies.
--
It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.
Enlightener

join:2006-01-28
Cedar Park, TX
Please stop feeding the troll.
quatrix

join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL

Re: Sketchy

Please stop calling people stupid names when you don't agree with their opinions. People who throw around the word "troll" are worse than the ones they're accusing.

tapeloop
Long live Ollie.
Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One
Is too!

Maccawolf
Premium
join:2001-02-20
Hillsdale, NJ

said by en102 See Profile :

Exactly. It wasn't part of the terms mentioned as acceptable OR prohibited. Since it wasn't mentioned at all, one would assume that it is ok.
while I personally agree with you, the law is
"ignorance is no excuse of the law"

BTW, you know what happens when you ASSUME, don't you?
--

Mom and Crockett...... I miss you both!

ptrowski
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Re: Sketchy

said by Maccawolf See Profile :

BTW, you know what happens when you ASSUME, don't you?
You get hit with a higher rate?

fancydancer
Still alive
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Springfield, IL
clubs:
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said by Maccawolf See Profile :

while I personally agree with you, the law is
"ignorance is no excuse of the law"
I agree with your quote, but if ATT omitted to say it was allowed or prohibited, then it is not a "law"
--
Thank you for keeping this a work-free environment!

tapeloop
Long live Ollie.
Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One

Re: Sketchy

said by fancydancer See Profile :

said by Maccawolf See Profile :

while I personally agree with you, the law is
"ignorance is no excuse of the law"
I agree with your quote, but if ATT omitted to say it was allowed or prohibited, then it is not a "law"
True. And even if it were explicitly stated, it would be a "Term of Service," not a law. But I'm splitting hairs.

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
·DSL EXTREME
·DSL EXTREME

When there was no 'law', AT&T essentially allowed it. Typically AT&T and many others tend to blanket cover themselves (i.e. 'anything other than WAP / MMS / SMS covered by MEdia Net is forbidden, such as VoIP, p2p, or anything 'we' deem bad'.
This is something that I would have expected out of AT&T.
--
Canada = Hollywood North
wierdo

join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
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said by ptrowski See Profile :

People used it within the terms that AT&T set. Hardly sketchy.
Or not. Unless at&t is stupid, which is quite possible. They've had no-tethering terms on the postpaid MEdiaNet Unlimited plans for several years now. (either '04 or '05) They made the mistake of not having those terms (or international data roaming fees) in their original MEdia Works Unlimited plans.

Surely they remembered to put the same clause in the prepaid version of the data plan.

Of course, I'm a hypocrite. I don't have those terms, and if I did, I wouldn't pay attention to them.
--
It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
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clubs:

Re: Sketchy

I tried to search about what the terms were, but there is no way to tell if the terms were changed or not.
wierdo

join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
·Cox HSI

Re: Sketchy

said by ptrowski See Profile :

I tried to search about what the terms were, but there is no way to tell if the terms were changed or not.
at&t is one of the few who has the policy of notification before any change in terms. If they don't notify you, your terms didn't change, even if new signups have different terms under which they get service.

Contrast this with Sprint, who not only doesn't require notification, only posting on their website, but if you use the phone after they post the new terms on the website, you've accepted whatever they decided to put in there without telling you.

On the bright side with them, at least the terms are easier to find. You're not stuck digging through your closet looking for the contract you signed.

One thing that does annoy me about at&t is that they don't have a policy of sending you a paper copy of the terms under which a particular feature operates when you sign up over the phone. You do in store (on the rare occasion that reps actually give you all the paperwork they're supposed to), but on the phone, you're pretty much out of luck unless you think to ask, and even then I don't know that they can mail you a copy.
--
It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Related to Old MediaNet Plans?

I had a similar MediaNet plan from 2003 which had "unlimited" data for $15 a month. The same plan was recently capped at 5MB a month. Not only did I promptly drop it, but I also changed the data connection settings on my phone so I don't "accidentally" use data anymore.
--
"At the moment of conception."

kamm

join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
·Packet8

Re: Related to Old MediaNet Plans?

said by pnh102 See Profile :

I had a similar MediaNet plan from 2003 which had "unlimited" data for $15 a month. The same plan was recently capped at 5MB a month. Not only did I promptly drop it, but I also changed the data connection settings on my phone so I don't "accidentally" use data anymore.
I still have the same plan and it's not capped at all.
--
[BQUOTE=[user=bicker]]Waaaa waaaa waaaa. You just want what you want and don't care to factor in what is right or true. Your perspectives are un-American, and deserve far more ridicule than I'm prepared to pile on them.
[/BQUOTE]

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: Related to Old MediaNet Plans?

said by kamm See Profile :

I still have the same plan and it's not capped at all.
Shrug. AT&T's maneuvering cost them 2 data plans from my account. I am sure they won't miss the money though.
--
"At the moment of conception."

kamm

join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY

Re: Related to Old MediaNet Plans?

Mine is slow but it's not capping because occasionally I can still get up to 700-800kbit (rarely though, mostly home @ very early morning hours.)

jjoshua
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ

That was a good deal

It was somewhat of a hack but if you were able to get a GoPhone sim and activate it on a GoPhone, you could use the sim in any device and only pay $20/month for an unlimited data plan.

snipper_cr

join:2002-01-22
Wheaton, IL
clubs:

Protection

Its nice to see some protection for the customer with that 100 dollar limit. It was starting to become common place for people to accidentally do something wrong and get a 20,000 dollar phone bill.
--
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
BF69

join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN

Re: Protection

said by snipper_cr See Profile :

Its nice to see some protection for the customer with that 100 dollar limit. It was starting to become common place for people to accidentally do something wrong and get a 20,000 dollar phone bill.
Yeah but that $100 only get you an extra 213 MB of data. Hardly a bargin. $480 per GB is outrageous. If gas stations were selling gas for $6000 a gallon the governemnt would be having all kind of investigations.
iansltx

join:2007-02-19
Fredericksburg, TX

Re: Protection

Crap. Guess it's time to sell my AT&T HSPA card. Anyone want a Sierra Wireless USBConnect 881? No way am I going to pay $60month for 5GB of data. $20/month for 5GB, no problem, for wireless stuff. $60, uh uh.

koma3504
Advocate
Premium
join:2004-06-22
North Richland Hills, TX

Sprint

I do believe sprint has a unlimited usage plan for 60 bucks a mounth with a free card.
iansltx

join:2007-02-19
Fredericksburg, TX

Re: Sprint

No, they're capped at 5GB/month. Millenicom is different, but you have to pay for a data card there. See previous stories here on Sprint.

koma3504
Advocate
Premium
join:2004-06-22
North Richland Hills, TX

Re: Sprint

Ill have to double check but Have a truck driver that has one and he says it is unlimited but it alos might depend on what cell package you have also.
iansltx

join:2007-02-19
Fredericksburg, TX

Re: Sprint

Nope, not unlimited anymore. It's a recent change.

Simba7

join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

Re: Sprint

I'm on Alltel and enjoying my unlimited data.

I just hope Verizon doesn't fsck it up, but you know they will.

NewOrder2k

join:2001-08-24
Rego Park, NY

1g for 3g

I paid $83 a month for iPhone 3G with tax and everything. so a year is around $996 about $1000 to AT&T, I just don't know how people can afford this. also the crappy 3g service is just another story.

kamm

join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
·Packet8

Re: 1g for 3g

Greedy AT&T put all the iTards on the network and now it's crumbling under the load - pre-iPhone times it used to be decent, 1-1.2Mb/s on my TyTn but now it's ridiculously slow all the time in NYC: no matter when and where I go I can barely reach EDGE (~300kbit) speeds.
--
[BQUOTE=[user=bicker]]Waaaa waaaa waaaa. You just want what you want and don't care to factor in what is right or true. Your perspectives are un-American, and deserve far more ridicule than I'm prepared to pile on them.
[/BQUOTE]

ptrowski
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Re: 1g for 3g


Maybe you should move?
said by kamm See Profile :

Greedy AT&T put all the iTards on the network and now it's crumbling under the load - pre-iPhone times it used to be decent, 1-1.2Mb/s on my TyTn but now it's ridiculously slow all the time in NYC: no matter when and where I go I can barely reach EDGE (~300kbit) speeds.
Too bad, as one of the iTards that you so nicely speak about I get usually around 800 kbps or higher.

Maybe it's all the fault of those "financial" people you like to compain about.
--
"A religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org

kamm

join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
·Packet8


edit:
October 6th, @10:32PM

Re: 1g for 3g

Since you couldn't figure out on your own let me help you out: it is because AT&T prioritizes iTards on its proxies - rest of us are second-level users.

And yes, it is EXACTLY because of the parasitic greedy MFs at CFO level.

Any more blurry point in your life e.g. why iTards are called as such?
--
said by bicker See Profile :

Waaaa waaaa waaaa. You just want what you want and don't care to factor in what is right or true. Your perspectives are un-American, and deserve far more ridicule than I'm prepared to pile on them.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
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Re: 1g for 3g

said by kamm See Profile :

Since you couldn't figure out on your own let me help you out: it is because AT&T prioritizes iTards on its proxies - rest of us are second-level users.

And yes, it is EXACTLY because of the parasitic greedy MFs at CFO level.

Any more blurry point in your life e.g. why iTards are called as such?
Yawn....then maybe you should think about getting a new phone and becoming first class on their network if what you theorize is true.
--
"A religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org
k1ll3rdr4g0n

join:2005-03-19
Homer Glen, IL
·AT&T DSL Service

Greedy AT&T

Wait, why can't they just punish the users that are abusing it off the network?
This is SIMPLE programming, if user uses more than X kb/min then trottle. If user is still using Y kb/min deny them access to the network.
Your telling me a million dollar company couldn't have thrown a few $$$ at some programmers to make something like that? Instead they have to punish even the honest users? Bad economy my butt, AT&T is just being greedy now.

tapeloop
Long live Ollie.
Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One

Aw man...

I was really enjoying using the AT&T 3G SIM MediaNet/ExpressCard combo for short-term roaming access when I went on trips. I can't justify paying $40+ a month for something that I won't use that often. Oh well.

Matt_31
Who Hit The Power Button
Premium
join:2003-02-21
Jasper, IN
clubs:
·Insight Communicat..

Sad way to save butt

just 3 weeks ago we debated between contract or gophone and we chose contract. Im glad we did (am i really saying that) .. cause now im not going to have to monitor it every second. Also now ill have proof to show my wife that going contract was worth it (ouch ... what a way win browie points)
--
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pabster

join:2001-12-09
Waterloo, IA

PYP Still Works, To Be Clear

Just to be clear, the $20 option will still work fine with GoPhone Pick-Your-Plan. Just the cheapo pay-go accounts won't be able to use it any more. I'm not surprised.
thunderpants

join:2008-10-06
united kingd

Re: Pulling the plug...

I cannot for the life of me, as a non-us customer, understand one thing. This company has advertised an UNLIMITED service for $20 a month, and then gets all p*ssy when customers use it. If its not an unlimited service, they shouldn't advertise it as unlimited, then they wouldn't have all this trouble when they withdraw it.

Dunno about the USA, but we have laws against false or misleading advertising in the UK. Maybe someone needs to take AT&T to task.
TheMG

join:2007-09-04
Edmonton, AB

Reply

If you advertise something as UNLIMITED, you have to be ready to accept the fact that some customers will make very good use of the service.

If it's not truly unlimited, then don't use the word unlimited or don't offer it at all.

ATthrowmoremoney

@insightbb.com

Re: Reply

I totally agree! I also want to vent about the so called"unlimited M2M" on the $39 voice plan that first takes the M2M minutes from my 5000 nite/weekend sum first, HUH!
wispalord

join:2007-09-20
House Springs, MO

wtf

when i called asking for this on a gophone 3 months ago they told me there was no such thing

Dr Don Pietro

@cox.net

AT&T does it again!

Well what's new - with AT&T or any of the US carriers??????


This is typical of them. They offer teaser deals to suck customers in, them hike their fees after they have the customer hooked.


Or as in this case, perhaps they thought customers didn't understand the definition of "unlimited". Once again, thinking that their customers were stupid.


Another favorite trick of most all the US carriers is to strip features out of the phones so they can sell them back to the customers at higher fees.


As I travel throughout much of the world, I find that most all of these practices are limited to just the US carriers. In other parts of the world, better service, better phones, more features, and fewer or lower fees abound.


Perhaps such greed is rooted in many US businesses, which has led to the financial situation we are now faced with, as well as much of the world because of US businesses exporting such practices. Pity.

djboogie

join:2008-12-13
Montevallo, AL

Re: AT&T does it again!

"Another favorite trick of most all the US carriers is to strip features out of the phones so they can sell them back to the customers at higher fees"

Actually this isnt a big deal, theres a mountain of information on the web that lets you unlock and setup your phone, smartphone etc. Even the newer smartphones such as the blackberry bold, its pretty simple to setup for say......tmobile. (apps such as crackutil and the downloading of a service book, means it takes all of 5 minutes). Really doesnt take a genius to add features manually to most phones.