AT&T New Data Plans Unlimited Data Grandfathered: Data Plan Pricing Old vs. New

On Sunday, AT&T changed its pricing for data plans.   Those who are already AT&T customers with data plans and like their data plans don't have to worry. The  Los Angeles-based AT&T spokeswoman confirmed that AT&T plan holders who upgrade can keep their present plans and pricing.

Say for example, you started off with an iPhone with unlimited data and you want to upgrade to a new 4G LTE smartphone, you can keep your unlimited data plan and pricing.  The same holds true if you have one of the limited data plans for 3G or HSPA+ and upgrade to the 4G LTE network.

The new AT&T plans cost less per megabyte it but more per month. Heavy data users may want to consider one of the new plans while light data users who are thrifty may want to keep their present plan.

Consumer Reports, however, called the added value "dubious" for a price hike of 11 to 33 per cent.  They point out that the average smartphone consumer only uses 600 megabytes of data per month.   Those who are already paying $25 for the 2GB for $25 don't need the extra data.

Let's look at the old plans versus new data

Smartphone data plans:

• AT&T Data Plus 300MB: $20 for 300MB, previously 25oMB for $15.
• AT&T Data Pro 3GB: $30 for 3GB ($10 GB),  formerly $25 for 2GB ($12.50 GB).
• AT&T Data Pro 5GB: $50 for 5GB ($10 GB), with mobile hotspot / tethering, formerly, $45 for 4GB ($11.25 GB).

Smartphone customers needing additional data can pay $10 per additional gigabyte on the AT&T Data Pro 3GB and Data Pro 5GB plans; AT&T Data Plus users will receive an extra 300MB for $20.

The new tablet plans include:

• AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB  ($10 GB)formerly 2GB for $25 ($12.50 GB).
• AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB ($10 GB), formerly $45 for 4GB.
•  $14.99 for 250MB remains the same.

Existing smartphone and tablet customers will have the choice of keeping their current plans or choosing one of these new plans, and the current $14.99 for 250MB plan for tablet customers will remain available.

The best deal of course, if you could go back in time and get an unlimited plan. However, there are still many options based on what kind of data you use and how often you use it.

Verizon data plans are $30 for 2GB, $50 for 3 GB and $80 for 10GB.  Over the holidays Verizon doubled the amount of data for the same prices, which ended January 15.  It's highly competitive market, we would not be surprised if Verizon offers more deals data in the future.