Looks like it's a lucky day for AT&T users out there, as AT&T is planning to cut its 2GB mobile service to $15, from $55 to $40 per month. This is probably AT&T's way of counteracting its rival, T-Mobile, and their promo to increase its prices for unlimited 4G LTE access by $10 to $80.
The AT&T promo was announced last Saturday and like all of the carrier's shared data plans, you'll need to pay an extra monthly fee for each device that accesses that data pool. That cost is remaining the same at $40 per month for each on-contract smartphone and $25 per month for smartphones purchased at full price or through the carrier's next installment plans. All Mobile Share Value plans have unlimited talk and text, as well as free texts from the United States to international numbers. The carrier is also offering 50GB of cloud storage on its own service with the plans.
With $15-per-month discount on AT&T's popular 2GB plan is good news, but even better is the carrier's offer to its current customers. The company will let any existing customers who start using the new 2GB plan switch over to the lower $25-per-month smartphone device fee. That means that even if you are in the middle of a service contract for the last smartphone you bought with AT&T, you can drop from paying $40 per smartphone down to $25. It's worth noting, however, that the price will jump back up to $40 if you purchase your next phone on contact. Nevertheless, for AT&T users with 2GBindividual plans, this change combined with the price cut announced today means that your bill could drop by a total of $30 per month starting tomorrow. Unfortunately, you will need to change your plan online, over the phone, or in a store to get the new pricing.
Along with the revised 2GB price, AT&T's old 1GB plan - which used to cost $45 per month - is being canceled. Inexplicably, current customers on that plan won't automatically be switched over to the new 2GB bucket, which is $5 less per month and comes with twice the data. You'll need manually switch.
With the price cut to the 2GB Mobile Share Value plan, AT&T is getting its pricing more in line with the plans offered by T-Mobile and Sprint. Like many recent changes to rate plans, this move likely comes as a direct response to the prices set by those two smaller carriers. Indeed, AT&T has struggled to keep up with T-Mobile's subscriber growth since it began its "Uncarrier" transformation last year, which has spurred a number of changes through the wireless industry. It's great to see lower prices get passed along to customers, though Americans still pay far more for wireless service than people in other countries.
T-Mobile's price increase was folded into an announcement it made last Friday about new wireless options. T-Mobile also offers free talk and text within the U.S. and to select countries, with no annual contract.
T-Mobile's deal also offers unlimited data use, a point the company trumpeted in a press release Friday.
John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile said that data caps are "just this side of extortion. It's like getting your data from the neighborhood loan shark and paying 100% interest when the bill comes due. It's the classic shakedown."
For its part, AT&T pointed to its cost savings. "We're delivering more savings for customers across the board," said AT&T Mobility chief marketing officer David Christopher, who touted the company's service as "the nation's most reliable 4G LTE network."
