AT&T call center representatives in the GoPhone divison have confirmed to PhoneNews.com that the current $19.99 unlimited GoPhone data option on Pay As You Go service would be discontinued on November 12th, stating that the offering was meant as a trial exercise and that the company is exploring other options for prepaid data offerings.
Speculation and criticism abounded that the offering has led to abuse of network resources, and that many sites including PhoneNews.com encouraged people to drop more profitable data plans in order to take advantage of the much lower rate, compared to current rates offered as postpaid add-ons.
PhoneNews.com has been at the forefront of this situation ever since we were the first news organization to break the news on an unlimited prepaid data offering thanks to our savvy readership in May, and combined with our promotion in the Sony Ericsson Z750, made the idea of cheap 3G data access appealing to thousands of people, especially those fortunate to live in markets with full HSPA access, as the $19.99 rate made AT&T the least expensive provider of 3G data in the world.
Now with the imminent discontinuation of the offering and no other immediate alternatives available, savvy users will once again be left with other more mainstream and expensive options for no contract data access such as Verizon, unless one chooses to take advantage of a longstanding loophole in AT&T’s GoPhone Pick Your Plan Rollover program.
Can you pay for several months of unlimited data service ahead of time? For example, if I load $60 on to my GoPhone account, can I call three times in a row and purchase/reload the unlimited data service, and have access for three months?
Yes, you can.
I would suggest using a $100 card for this, as your account must not expire during the timeframe (for which you have prepaid the data plan). The advantage with the $100 card, is that you don’t have to top up (your balance doesn’t expire) for one year. Plus, you can use that balance to buy up five Unlimited MEdia Net add-ons, giving you five months of unlimited data.
I wouldn’t push it much farther than that though… I doubt that AT&T would let you actually use 12-24 months of unlimited MEdia Net add-ons… though, as I read the policy, there’s no reason why you couldn’t.
Thanks Christohper,
Gonna go do that right now. Data access for a few more months will be all that I need, so I’ll just prepay for them now.
[…] the impending kill-off of cheap iPhone 3G data loopholes is what ultimately did things in, but, I actually think I will pick up some utility. And, if Apple […]
[…] Go (PYG) plans that the carrier launched in April? Well, it looks like the party is almost over. Phonenews.com has confirmed that the widely rumored demise of the plan is true. November 11th or 12th is the last day that […]
“The advantage with the $100 card, is that you don’t have to top up (your balance doesn’t expire) for one year. Plus, you can use that balance to buy up five Unlimited MEdia Net add-ons, giving you five months of unlimited data”
The GoPhone IVR will only let you stack three unlimited MedaiNet packages. I don’t think it will be possible to extend unlimited data beyond 90 days after the cutoff date. You will only be able to extend it to about Feb 9th, 2008.
Confirmed. Looks like they pro-actively clamped down on that idea.
I’ve also heard some reports that a couple of markets have already yanked the unlimited option from the IVR (the MEdia Mall). Get it while you can…
[…] unlimited MEdia Net prepaid plan, it’s going the way of the Dodo. Word comes from Phone News that the $19.99 monthly plan will no longer be an AT&T Go Phone option. The axe comes down on […]
[…] how to use AT&T’s prepaid GoPhone service to get unlimited access for $20 a month. Well, Phone News tells us that option will be cut off as of Nov. 12th, which is a damn shame. They offer up a few alternatives, but those appear to […]
Hi Chris,
Can you please confirm two things.
1. Is this for both pick your plan and pay as you go? Or is it just for pay as you go?
2. What is this I hear about paying for 3 months of media net in advance? How does that work?
Thanks!
I didn’t write the article… we always suggest you do not address questions to any one person. It’s kinda counter-intuitive to the nature of the web.
1. This only affects Pay As You Go, AT&T has not made any changes to Pick Your Plan.
2. You call 611 and add MEdia Net Unlimited three times in a row. This extends the cancellation of the add-on out by 90 days. As such, it will last up to three months after November 12. This is the only tactic that is available to keep using the feature after November 12.
Good info, but you really need an editor. The article’s grammar was so bad as to make it nearly unreadable. But valuable news – keep it comin’.
[…] soeben fand ich eine Meldung auf phonenews.com . Am 12. November wird demnach die Daten-Option Unlimited für $19,00 eingestellt. Man […]
can you use a Verizon prepaid phone to conect to the internet?
Yes, there are workflows to do so in the PhoneNews.com Forums. It does require modifying hidden settings inside of your phone, and is not supported by Verizon Wireless.
I am really disappointed with ATT taking the unlimited media net out of the pay as you go feature. I am enjoying it as it is now and this is making me consider of moving to another provider.Thanks for this forum.
[…] On top of killing prepaid unlimited data access for regular customers, AT&T has also decided to eliminate […]
I knew this had to come to an end sooner or later. People paying so much for iPhones and then getting screwed for their loyalty. Then the ppl unlocking them and doing this were getting rewarded. Ahhh well, it was nice well it lasted.
I’m going to Florida this weekend for 3 weeks holidays. If I buy a new GoPhone Pay As You Go SIM card (SIM only), can I still add the unlimited package? (before Nov. 12)
Thanks!
[…] (PYG) plans that the carrier launched in April? Well, it looks like the party is almost over. Phonenews.com has confirmed that the widely rumored demise of the plan is true. November 11th or 12th is the last day […]
The work arounds continue. Anyone figured out a good inexpensive data plan yet to try to replace the $20 deal?
T-Mobile prepaid is working with the APN hack (see the T-Mobile forum). Other than that… Sprint’s $20/month developer plan (or $30/month Sprint Relay plans) are the best deals out there right now.
[…] $60/month seems to be a going rate for an extra data plan – a little steep for my sporadic use. Short-term data accounts seem to have gone away, and renting is pricey given you have to ship hardware […]
I can confirm that you can no longer get unlimited MediaNet on Pick Your Plan either. I attempted to set up a 2nd generation iPhone in iTunes yesterday and was advised that I needed to be post paid or an existing customer. Also speaking with a rep at AT&T sales, I was told there is no unlimited media net on any GoPhone plans right now, that it used to be an option but isn’t any longer.
This is both PAYG and PYP.
I am using an unlocked iPhone from Italy and have the $60 unlimited plan and Unlimited MediaNet working fine on my phone. Only came to the US 2 months ago and have this all working no problem.
Here is a cut and paste from my GoPhone online account!!
Feature Packages:
Name Balance Effective Expiration
Unlimited Data Unlimited 11/18/2009 12/17/2009
Unlimited Talk and Text Unlimited 11/09/2009 12/08/2009
can u have a pay as u go plan with iphone 3G
AS OF TODAY 2/20/2010 i doubt you can get prepaid internet today from at&t since they offer only a 100mb for $19.99 (which is alot of $ for such little amoung of data) But you have 2 options for unlimited data. Of the two one results expesive as in 2x the cost and the other cheap but possibly slow?
SPOILER:
option#1:TMOBILE unlimited prepaid data only (gsm carrier compatible with the iphone3g)
cost:$40/month (it also includes blackberry services but high price for standalone)
even though this does seem like an outrageous price to me.
option#2:Boost mobile (iden/cdma carrier, compatible with nextel/sprint/verizon/cricketwireless/metropcs/etc.
cost:$0.35/day (once activated though you cant stop daily charge caution)
TIP: IF your using this i reccomend you take it to an expert to flash your phone to boost cdma network since its internet is WAY! faster.
as for other companies such as verizon wireless or sprint, verizon wireless used to offer unlimited data and text for $35/mth standalone but removed that? i reccomend you do a strike against all carriers to make a “fair” price standalone data only plan prepaid and/or contract.
I can help, and you (if you want) can donate to me at david2biz@yahoo.com
stupid response: lets all donate together and make our own cell towers (each cell tower costs $150,000 approx.) we can use our own internet, and voice service 😛
why the **** u ppl stop web for 20 dollers **** u att im going to straight talk everthing for 45 dollers beat that
[…] going to drag people out longer waiting for solutions that you may be in for a long wait. If prepaid plans can disappear without any notice, leaving people paying hundreds for a phone in a lurch… VoIP can turn on an even faster […]