According to a report filed by the Associated Press, AT&T is quietly allowing iPhone customers that switched to the DataPlus/Pro plans last year the option to switch back to the former unlimited iPhone data plan as a retention offer.
The offer is ostensibly to prevent AT&T customers from defecting to the Verizon iPhone, which is expected to sell up to 12 million units this year and possibly more with the limited-time unlimited data offering, which the carrier is using as a trump card against AT&T.
The option to switch back to the former unlimited iPhone data plan has been available to select customers since last June when the DataPlus/Pro plans were first rolled out along with tethering, but was never publicly disclosed until now.
According to AT&T, in order for customers to be able to switch to the former unlimited iPhone data plan, they must have had the plan on the account before switching back from the DataPlus/Pro plans, as new customers that signed up for the iPhone since June 7th are not able to move to the old unlimited iPhone data plan because the plan code was never placed on the account.
AT&T’s statement on the issue is as follows from Mark Siegel:
“We handle customers and their situations individually, and we’re not going to discuss specifics,”
The above also does not take into account that a loophole was discovered last October, where new iPhone customers with DataPlus/Data Pro plans that wanted the old unlimited iPhone data plan could take a feature phone, swap devices on the account, add the $30 unlimited feature phone data option, then swap back to the iPhone with successful results.
This is because the old unlimited iPhone data plan has to remain in the system for accounts that decided to keep unlimited iPhone data instead of switching to DataPlus/Pro plans and due to the fact that AT&T featurephones still have the option to add unlimited data access.
Wasn’t AT&T claiming that only 2% of users or something like that went over the 2GB of data anyway?
So them capping the data was not necessary since only 2% went over anyway. And uncapping it is also not necessary because it only affects 2% of the users.
Of course, that is if you take them at their word. if you accept that AT&T was, is, and probably always will be full of crap, then you can understand how uncapping the data makes sense.
Unlimited data + Jailbreaking = free internet at home
I believe this is the path that AT&T wants to shut down.
It’s not “free internet at home.” It’s “very expensive and slow 3G data” that you can use at home if you want to. And it should be noted that it is in no way comparable to most home broadband offerings in either performance or price.
AT&T was and is just trying to buy more time and make more excuses for their failure to upgrade and maintain their outdated network.
On another site bgr people are commenting they are now on the unlimited plan even though they’ve never been on it before. I called to threaten and leave for VZ and did not get it. I was told my account was being sent up the chain AT&T seems to be getting a feel on numbers maybe? Phonenews should reach out to ATT and see what the skinny is on those getting unlimited data and have never had anything but the 2gb plan.
AT&T thus far has told us that this is a case-by-case basis, and that they won’t comment on it further than that.
However, enough people may be calling in that the call centers are getting jammed, and they may be changing tactics and doing it automatically for some.
I find that a bit unlikely though, because when you switch off DataPro, you lose tethering. AT&T wouldn’t want to disable tethering automatically for people.
[…] class device from AT&T if customers are being forced to abandon data plans. This also follows recent reports of AT&T allowing certain customers back on unlimited iPhone data […]