Existing AT&T customers can keep their rate plan and add a $20 a month iPhone data plan. Activation of the iPhone plan is done so on their phone via iTunes. There are also special plans for new iPhone customers as well as family plans.
What about the 2-year contract? You bet it you’re going to have to agree to a new or extend your current contract by 2 years in order to activate the iPhone.
“Minimum new 2-year wireless service plan and activation fee required to activate iPhone features, including iPod. Plans are subject to AT&T credit approval.”
I doubt this will fly, but it seems like they’re trying to charge existing customers an activation fee.
All iPhone service plans include Visual Voicemail and unlimited data — Internet and email — so you only have to decide how many minutes and SMS text messages you need. You’ll select your plan when you activate your iPhone using iTunes on your computer.
Make sure to watch the how to video by Apple to get all your questions answered. Click over to watch the iPhone Activation & Sync video.
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Rate plans for Apple iPhone [Thank you to everyone for sending this in!]
The family plan options are distressing for me
Having to pay $29.99 for a second iphone on top of, say for instance the $80.00 plan ($80.00 + $29.99 = $109.99), results in about a $10.00 savings over getting two individual accounts with an iphone ($59.99 + $59.99 = $119.98), except with the two individual lines (450 + 450 = 900 any time minutes) you get an additional 200 minutes over the 700 family plan minutes you’d get with a second iphone on the family plan.
Also, nobody in my family has ever used as many as 5000 night and weekend minutes, so with the individual plans it is just as good as having unlimited nights and weekends.
On top of this, I do believe that the unlimited text messaging that I would put on the iphones would be charged twice for the family plan, so having a family plan at the entry level 700 minute, with or without unlimited text messaging, can only save a family $9.99 a month, before taxes and fees, but at a cost of losing 100 anytime minutes per iphone (200 total per month that are rollover elligible).
The other pricing options for individual and current AT&T customers offer far superior pricing, IMO, than the family plans released to the media today.
With only a frew days left, I am now contemplating getting two separate iphone accounts to replace one family plan with two phones.
I hope that Apple and AT&T can come up with something better for families than this plan, before the actual June 29th iphone launch.
IMO, adding unlimited text messaging to family plans would be a great way to put the family plan over the top and make choosing a family plan irresistable to buyers like me.
That way, for the $109.99 (or whatever family plan option is selected) plus taxes and fees, my family and I would have the full spectrum of services at a rate that rewards families rather than offering them barely observable savings over individual line rates.
We are talking about a two year contract.
Disabling the iPhone’s features without a 2-year extension and activation is a bit harsh.
Though the unlimited data plan’s pricing for existing customers is not so bad, considering that AT&T has maintained one of the highest priced data plans I have seen thus far amongst carriers.
[quote comment="4459"]The family plan options are distressing for me…
[/quote]
Trust me my friend, it’s distressing us too! Our current T-Mo business/family plan includes a second phone – plus unlimited texting is only $20 for ALL accounts. Additional phones only cost $10! We will be forced to go with separate accounts for now.
[quote comment="4460"]Disabling the iPhone’s features without a 2-year extension and activation is a bit harsh.
Though the unlimited data plan’s pricing for existing customers is not so bad, considering that AT&T has maintained one of the highest priced data plans I have seen thus far amongst carriers.[/quote]
Obviously you haven’t seen Verizon’s data plan?!
F*ck, the more I think about the rate plans, the more I get really pissed off!
We have it so good with T-Mo business/family plan where we get $20 unlimited text/sms for all phones, where as, AT&T tears us a new a$$hole with $20 unlimited text/sms per phone! On T-Mo, the first two phones are included in the plan, additional lines only cost $10! What the f*ck is AT&T thinking?! Oh yeah, they can rip all of us a new a$$hole because they can – they have the exclusivity on the iPhone for the next 5-years.
Edit ; Additional $20 for data plan on extra phone
One more thing to notice (a possible bug in iTunes):
When he’s figuring out his plan, you can see upgrades for 1500 text messages ($10) and unlimited text messages ($20). However, when he is reviewing his plan at the end, the 1500 text messages now cost $20.
[quote comment="4462"]Obviously you haven’t seen Verizon’s data plan?![/quote]
Nope. I haven’t been a fan of Verizon’s incessant fascination with disabling their phone’s capabilities for no good reason, so I haven’t found a good enough reason to research into them :)
Well, let me be the first to admit it:
I’m impressed with AT&T. I expected them to extort money given the opportunity and they’re not!
At the moment, (using my Nokia N95) I have the $39.99 plan with the $19.99 MediaMax bundle which includes unlimited data and 200 sms/month. The new iPhone plan for me would be essentially the same ($59.99 with all of the above). Very pleased.
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