Those hoping to pay $20 for service...

[austincharles]

All of us excited iPhone hopefuls have been up, down, and all around these forums and other sites to get the most information possible so we will be ready to make our moves tomorrow when iPhone is ready to buy!

Unfortunately, for us 'existing customers', I've been informed that it might not be so easy to upgrade our services with a mere $20. For people like myself that are weaved into shared plans or family-type plans, selecting just a data plan might not be possible.

I spoke to an AT&T rep about ten minutes ago and she proclaimed that for my sort of line -- one that shares minutes with other phones -- it would need a new iPhone voice plan. (Meaning it does not currently have its own voice plan -- to begin with -- and would need to pick one of the plans that were announced recently to start.)

I was originally skeptical about whether or not you can just add the 'existing customer' plans to your current line as though it were a new feature; adding the data plan/texting capabilities to iPhone.

Maybe I'm just not lucking out, or others in this position as well, but in the end Apple hasn't really explained thoroughly what happens for current customers.

 

[underwater]

Everything I've seen from ATT and apple indicates you can add the $20 data plan to a single iphone on a family plan using shared minutes and shared rollover minutes. This is what I will be doing. You have always been able to add/remove data plans to individual phones on a family plan. I did this with a treo650 briefly.

 

[clevin]

Everything I've seen from ATT and apple indicates you can add the $20 data plan to a single iphone on a family plan using shared minutes and shared rollover minutes. This is what I will be doing. You have always been able to add/remove data plans to individual phones on a family plan. I did this with a treo650 briefly.

do you need to extend your current plan for two years from now? e.g. if u have 2 months left with your contract, u can get an iphone without a new 2 year contract?

 

[jtkellertx]

You will only need to extend contracts on the phone you're replacing or the phone your adding. For example, I am replacing a Sony Ericsson W600i that still has 6 months left on the contract. I resign the contract on ONLY this line (not the entire family plan) and add the data service.

Edit: Yes, you need a new two year contract, it's a requirement with EVERY iPhone plan. The contract will be only for the iPhone line not the entire family plan.

Source: AT&T Customer Service

 

[cgingrich]

Someone else had this same question and I replied with what I was told. You can simply add the $20 onto the plan. I received an official in writing response from AT&T so I will be doing just that. Don't forget, it doesn't matter what the AT&T rep tells you (obviously they will want you to get a larger plan because they are profiting from it), it will ALL be done on iTunes with you making the decisions, all the choices will be there, Black and white, plain as day. Just wait until tomorrow and I'm sure you will be fine.

 

[austincharles]

Everything I've seen from ATT and apple indicates you can add the $20 data plan to a single iphone on a family plan using shared minutes and shared rollover minutes. ... You have always been able to add/remove data plans to individual phones on a family plan.

Hmm.. I, too, was hoping to just add the new service to my existing line but was informed that because of the line not having its own voice plan -- as opposed to sharing minutes -- it would require an iPhone voice plan.

It really bummed me out because I'm in a situation where I share 4000 minutes, pay the extra $20 for unlimited text (which is ridiculous), and the line itself was only $9.99. I was super stoked to learn (or thought so) that I would just add in the data plan for $20 -- or drop my unlimited texting and grab the all-together $40 data plan -- and be on my merry way.

Now there's a fork in the road. One leads to a dead end, the other to new services.

 

[cgingrich]

I think the big question lies in what line you are upgrading. For example, if your extra line (9.95 currently) is the one you are replacing with an iPhone, where does that leave you? Add $20 for data or $30 for extra iPhone line? I don't think they have the answers. Luckily for me, my main line is the one I will be getting an iPhone on (the extra 9.95 will remain untouched) so for me it's really a nonissue.

 

[eddietr]

According to the training manual for AT&T employees, you can activate the $20 plan on an existing line and will it automatically replace whatever data plan is on that line.

Further they seem to have made provisions for family plans, because they specifically say the person who is activating the phone on an existing line must get the billing zip and last four of the SSN from the primary account owner. And it even instructs the AT&T rep not to give that information out directly but to instruct the customer to contact the primary account owner himself.

Also, it's clear that existing accounts cannot even change their voice plan or choose any of the new plans through iTunes. The only available options will be to add the $20,$30, or $40 data plans to your line.

So I think we're covered. I plan to activate two phones with two $20 plans on two of our four family plan lines (replacing our current $30 and $35 data plans) After reading the training material and watching the activation video, I'm not expecting any problems.

 

[austincharles]

I think the big question lies in what line you are upgrading.

My line is not the main line. This is all super strange because through the week as I've poked around with talking to AT&T reps, they all were uninformed of just about everything. Nobody knew about the existing customer options, or much more of anything else.

Today, though, the woman I spoke with didn't sound like she was out to make a sale by informing me that I'd need a new iPhone voice plan, but rather was telling me what she had been recently informed. She did not have an answer as to why a line like mine would not be able to just add the $20 data plan, but she strongly said it would not be allowed.

): I'm really just upset and confused because it seems that there is all this unheard of fine print. I hope it dissolves come tomorrow.

 

[tttexxan]

As with any other phone you get and add a data plan....I have the family plan also...They just add the data plan when needed...In the past that has been 45 now dropping to 20...Bonus....

If you had to have your own line then that would defete the purpose of just adding the minutes to existing customers.

 

[eddietr]

My line is not the main line. This is all super strange because through the week as I've poked around with talking to AT&T reps, they all were uninformed of just about everything. Nobody knew about the existing customer options, or much more of anything else.

Today, though, the woman I spoke with didn't sound like she was out to make a sale by informing me that I'd need a new iPhone voice plan, but rather was telling me what she had been recently informed. She did not have an answer as to why a line like mine would not be able to just add the $20 data plan, but she strongly said it would not be allowed.

): I'm really just upset and confused because it seems that there is all this unheard of fine print. I hope it dissolves come tomorrow.

Really, don't worry about it. From what I've been reading and hearing some AT&T reps are having a difficult time keeping things straight. This is a new way of selling phones for them.

Read the manual they got. It's very clear you can do exactly what you want to do tomorrow:

Launch Guide

 

[austincharles]

Read the manual they got. It's very clear you can do exactly what you want to do tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[wongulous]

Before you posted this alarmist thread proclaiming the sky is falling, maybe you should have considered lack of information and misinformation on the AT&T representative's fault. There are official documents stating otherwise from AT&T themselves.

(This is assuming you don't have a blue plan (pre-Cingular).