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AT&T forcing people into $30 data plans

If they want us to have 'Customer Satisfaction', then give us Free Unlimited Multimedia/Text Messaging. That will get rid of Bill Shock.
 
Not sure why this is a big deal.....AT&T isn't "forcing" anyone into anything. You don't like it, don't get a smartphone. Verizon has been doing this for a while, and i'm sure sprint and tmobile have their own policies.
 
you can get unlimited texting from Sprint and T-Mobile. but then you have to be a Sprint or T-Mobile customer. I know someone with T-Mobile in Colorado and it's constant dropped calls. With Sprint once you get outside the Washington DC area there are constant 3G deadspots.

and when i tried to surf the internet or receive an email on my sprint BB curve i almost laughed
 
Oskee2001 said:
Not sure why this is a big deal.....AT&T isn't "forcing" anyone into anything. You don't like it, don't get a smartphone. Verizon has been doing this for a while, and i'm sure sprint and tmobile have their own policies.
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thelatinist said:
I'd be even more 'satisfied' if they stopped charging me altogether. But let's get real.
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+1. Sheesh, OP. And Verizon just gives away their data for free?
 
Oskee2001 said:
Not sure why this is a big deal.....AT&T isn't "forcing" anyone into anything. You don't like it, don't get a smartphone. Verizon has been doing this for a while, and i'm sure sprint and tmobile have their own policies.
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+1

the only entity that can force you to do anything is the government, which is why no matter how 'evil' a corporation is, I'd choose corporations. at least then you get a choice between them.
 
dlemmon said:
+1

the only entity that can force you to do anything is the government, which is why no matter how 'evil' a corporation is, I'd choose corporations. at least then you get a choice between them.
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Ha ha...yeah, sure.

I mean, if you're talking about unimportant things like cell phones and video games, sure. But once you get into subjects that actually matter, you're pretty far off the mark.

Off topic, sorry, but I found that kind of funny.
 
+1 again

Oskee2001 said:
Not sure why this is a big deal.....AT&T isn't "forcing" anyone into anything. You don't like it, don't get a smartphone. Verizon has been doing this for a while, and i'm sure sprint and tmobile have their own policies.
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OP Microsoft forces me to pay $60 a game for a Xbox 360 right? Wrong I can choose not yo buy it.! life is full of Choices, getting a smart phone is a choice very few people honestly need. I don't need it but I choose to have it, it's a luxury for me.
 
Is it bad that I chuckle when someone starts a thread about how they bricked their phone trying to skirt the rules. :D
 
Wow all the sheep agree :D
Beeeeee
How about those who dont need or want a data plan? Shouldnt the customer have a choice? What if they're around Wifi all day and have no need for it? They should pay $30 per month for 20mb of data use?
 
IT's ABOUT TIME FOR OTHER SMARTPHONE USERS to SUFFER w/ us!!!!!!!!!!! (in AT&T)
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D


I choose to pay the extra $30! anyways

anyways, if u had an iphone w/out a data plan, the phone itself would be worthless!, might as well get an ipod touch!, and add fring into it, and make phone calls! through wi-fi :D
 
I don't think anybody is complaining about paying for a data plan that you're using, which is how it appears some people here have interpreted this new policy. I took it to mean that AT&T will no longer allow you to buy any phone they consider to be a "smartphone" without paying for unlimited data @ $30/mo.

Since iPhone 3G, with iPhones at the very least AT&T has always had a policy that required you sign up for data if you bought an iPhone (you couldn't sign up for a voice-only plan and have data usage blocked and simply live off of WiFi), but it sounds like that policy wasn't enforced across-the-board with all of their smartphones. With this announcement, it simply sounds like they are standardizing this policy across-the-board.

For those that currently have smartphones that are not on a data plan, AT&T will not force them to sign up for one. But all new smartphone activations from Sept. 6th onward will be required to have one.

I can see why some people, who would like the benefits of having a combined phone/PDA but don't see themselves using cellular data at all, would be disappointed by this decision. The complaint is not that they were getting free data before somehow and now are being forced to pay for the data they use. It sounds like the complaint is that they will be required to buy a data package, even if they won't make use of it, if they activate a smartphone on AT&T's network.

-- Nathan
 
Hahah I read some of the comments and look what I stumbled upon;
I used to work for at&t back in the day there is no difference in the data plans other than price, just one more way that carriers rape there customers, remindes me of when apple rebranded the macbook unibody to the macbook pro 13inch and raised the price how dumb do they think people are ?
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Did they not lower the price from the unibody macbook 13" to the unibody macbook pro 13" ?
 
Applejuiced said:
Wow all the sheep agree :D
Beeeeee
How about those who dont need or want a data plan? Shouldnt the customer have a choice? What if they're around Wifi all day and have no need for it? They should pay $30 per month for 20mb of data use?
Click to expand...

what happens is that a lot of these people end up using some data and get hit with a big bill and then call to complain that they didn't do anything.

i had a special for some LG phone a few months ago on my premier account and when i called they said data is not required but if you check email or use any data it's $1 per MB or some ridiculous price

jav6454 said:
Data isn't free and AT&T isn't charity either. Also, AT&T has its policies, so does Vercrap and T-Mobile. You don't like them, switch.
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i posted this as an FYI to everyone with an iphone who's using medianet. AT&T finally found a way to force everyone to pay for the data. i guess tech bloggers openly writing how they're cheating AT&T pissed them off
 
I go to school on a campus that is completely blanketed with WiFi. I use tons of apps. I don't use data when I go off campus. I might not be able to afford a data plan.

Should I be forced to buy a data plan?

Do I "deserve" an iPhone?
 
I personally blame apple for this happening. I have a strong feeling Apple was the one that forced the data plan to go with all iPhones on the argument that you can not enjoy most of the phone unless it has data. Then later on Apple wanted ATT to make sure every one of there phones had the data plan on it that or ATT got tired of everyone complaining about getting data charges on their phone.

Well ATT saw that forcing it on people only had very minor complaining and did not stop people buying it so they decided to do it across the board.

I think it is wrong for ATT to do this. My GF got a Blackberry with no data because she really like the phone and it was really good for text messaging.
 
I would hope

alent1234 said:
i posted this as an FYI to everyone with an iphone who's using medianet. AT&T finally found a way to force everyone to pay for the data. i guess tech bloggers openly writing how they're cheating AT&T pissed them off
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that people read there terms and conditions before agreeing to bright shiny objects of joy. AT&T is not keeping this a secrete from anybody, it's pretty clear in the terms and conditions. ;)

633731225080193460-theiphone.jpg
 
You can always block network data to a phone. Many different ways to do it.

alent1234 said:
what happens is that a lot of these people end up using some data and get hit with a big bill and then call to complain that they didn't do anything.

i had a special for some LG phone a few months ago on my premier account and when i called they said data is not required but if you check email or use any data it's $1 per MB or some ridiculous price
Click to expand...
 
Rodimus Prime said:
... I have a strong feeling...
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I just love how it's so easy to base a wild assumption on nothing at all, and then propagate a strong opinion about it.

I wonder why it would be in Apple's interests to tie iPhone sales to the generation of revenue streams for anyone but themselves. Given the iPhone has a perfectly capable wifi for those users who don't need a data plan, it would be rather unlikely that Apple would have any interest in convincing AT&T to demand a data plan in every instance. Apple make money from selling iPhones, not cellular service.

It's not at all difficult however to see why AT&T might see it as desirable.
 
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