Rant: Say Goodbye to Your Unlimited Data Plan - I Had To!

A funny thing happened to me on Saturday. I received a text from AT&T, my iPhone's data provider. It warned me that I was in the top 5% of data users, and that my data speed may be adjusted until the end of the current billing cycle.

This isn't the first text I've received from them on this topic. I have received two previous texts, warning me that I am in the top 5% and that I should use wi-fi more. On both occasions, I called them and asked what I can do about this. They said that I was only using a little over 2GB and that was "pretty low compared to the heavy users" and not to worry about it. I asked them how I could reduce my 3G data usage, and they told me that they had no way of knowing which apps were pulling the most data, so I was essentially on my own to discover the solution.

I thought I had, reducing my data usage from 3GB+ to around 2GB.

Apparently not.

When I received this latest text with its different wording, I wondered. So I went outside, turned off the wifi and did a speed test. Instead of the usual 1-5 MB download speed I get from AT&T, I was seeing a consistant speed of 10KB/sec!. That's KB. That's 2G speed, slower than the old dial up modems! So they did what they threatened to do.

I checked my usage for the month ... 2.1GB! Hardly a massive amount considering I pay $30/month for "unlimited" data and their newer plan, 2GB/month is $25. I exceeded the cheaper plan by 100MB, and that put me in the top 5%? And even so ... so what? Don't I have an unlimited plan which costs $5 more? Isn't unlimited ... unlimited?

Sorta. My plan, I was told was still unlimited. It was just I could only get to it via 2G after I exceed 2GB of usage a month. This was the new policy I was told ... exceed 2G/month and you are dropped from 3G and live on the old 2G system until the next billing cycle. And yes, it's in the fine print of your agreement.

I couldn't believe it! Wanting to lash out, I was also having a problem, because the supervisor I was speaking with was a very nice person who essentially agreed with me as much as he could under the constraints of his job. This nice guy was giving me the bad news and we both hated it.

I was told that this was a new policy and even if they could reinstate me back to 3G speeds, which he couldn't, it'll all happen again next billing cycle if I go beyond 2GB on my unlimited plan.

Was he telling the truth? I don't know. Will this still be true once the public finds out about it? Maybe, maybe not.

All I know I had 2G speeds which were useless. Even Google Maps wouldn't load.

So we worked together on a solution. It's clear that AT&T is trying to pressure those legacy unlimited 3G users into one of the newer metered data plans, and this is their latest way to do it. Horrible decision which won't bode well ... except that Verizon is also doing it, so maybe it's the new way. Is it legal? Is it really in the contract? Who knows.

What were the options? Drop AT&T and go to Verizon. But they don't offer unlimited data plans and their 3G network is slower, so nothing is gained there except the satisfaction of sticking it to AT&T, along with paying a massive penalty for breaking my contract.

OK, drop AT&T and go to Sprint. They DO offer true unlimited data plans, but their 3G network is so slow that it's an industry joke.

Option 3, give in to AT&T and go to a metered plan, but somehow make it work out.

Stepping back for a moment, this blog entry isn't so much to blast steam (OK, maybe it is) but to offer you a solution in case this happens to you. Here's what we came up with.

I have an iPad which is also on the unlimited 3G plan which costs $30/month. Between the iPhone and iPad it costs $60/month to be connected, all with unlimited data. But now that unlimited means 2GB/month, it's time to do some math.

If you switch the iPhone to the 2GB plan, you save $5/month. They charge you $10 for each GB you use over that amount. So I would pay $35 for the essentially the service I was paying $30 for previously.

Not good.

OK, let's try again. For $45/month you get 4GB of data but you also get the ability to create a wifi or bluetooth hotspot. This means that your iPhone can generate a wifi signal which can get other devices, like your laptop, or yes, your iPad onto the internet.

This means that for $45 for 4GB, you could power both the iPad and the iPhone via 3G. If you go over, you will pay $10, so for $55 you get 5GB between the devices, which is a lot of data. This is $5 cheaper than what I am paying now, so it begins to look like a winning solution!Take the plan, drop the month to month iPad plan and save $5/month, plus I can power a laptop on 3G if I ever need to, also.

But it got better, and if this happens to you, try it out.

I told that AT&T supervisor that the 4GB plan might work, but that it will cost me $15 more a month to have it. "Would you like a $15 credit for the next six months," he asked.

That clinched it. Now I am paying $30/month for 4GB of data, more than I have ever used with the ability to cancel the iPad account and use tethering to have the iPhone power the iPad when I need 3G on the iPad. This was very winning. It saves $30/month if I don't exceed 4GB between the two devices, which isn't likely since I use the iPad mostly at home in wifi.

I was nearly sold. But I had a feeling he was try to tell me something between the words.

I asked, "why six months?" He said, with knowledge, "well, you know what happens this summer."

Of course! The iPhone 5 comes out with 4G LTE and almost assuredly a brand new data plan we'll all have to go to use to use 4G. In other words, he was offering me a way out of the 2G barrier with no additional cost, knowing I will almost certainly purchase an iPhone 5 and want one of the new 4G plans and would have to surrender my unlimited plan at that point, anyway.

Maybe he really was on my side.

So if this happens to you, work with them, try to boost your plan to the 4GB plan and get the credit like I did.

In review, their new policy is horrible and will likely get very bad press once it emerges widespread. But it is possible to make it a positive.

And if the press is so negative that they reverse the policy, it won't be hard to get them to reinstate the unlimited plan. According to various forums, they definitely have the power to reinstate the unlimited plan if you pressure them.

Now, back to the news ...

Update on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 11:28AM by Bob Penn

Here's a video demonstrating what throttling looks like:

Update on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 11:30AM by Bob Penn

OSXDaily.com is also covering the story.