Yesterday, TUAW reader Stephen wrote and asked whether dropping EDGE would "stick". And that simple request led me a lot further than I expected. So let me start from the beginning. As you can see from this picture, this month I was charged only for voice minutes. So as far as that goes, dropping EDGE does "stick". But there's quite a bit more to the story.
Every now and then I check back in with AT&T to see whether they've launched a data-only plan that I can use with my iPhone. The word from AT&T is always that plans are phone specific. As far as they're concerned you must purchase a plan that was designed for a particular phone. Thus, the Blackberry $45/month data-only plan cannot be offered for the iPhone.
What I'm particularly interested in are two data plans: SmartPhone Max ($30/month, unlimited data, 1500 SMS) and MediaNet Unlimited ($20/month, unlimited data, no SMS). AT&T reps say they cannot offer these plans without voice (the cheapest voice plan is $40) and that even if they did, they must be matched to certain phones, like the Nokia 61024.
I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to disable voice and I'd love to be able to do so without canceling my data--at least for a while.
I know that some TUAW readers have succeeded in using their non-iPhone SIMS with existing AT&T accounts in their iPhones. Do any of you have data-only plans? And if so, how much are you paying?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
As you're well aware, data plans are pricey and limited. For example, AT&T recently revealed its new data options for the prepaid GoPhone service. $5 for one prepaid megabyte of data and $10 for 5MB. Other data plans charge a half penny or a penny per KB, or about $5 to $10 per megabyte. Bottom line, data costs a lot. So here comes Steve Jobs telling us that iPhone will do the "real" internet, none of this namby-pamby made-for-mobile sites. We're even talking YouTube video, some of the most bandwidth-intensive data on the net. Do you really want to pay $5 per video to watch a dog skateboarding? Maybe you should only use YouTube when you're on a WiFi connection.
So where are the pricing details? It's only 4 more days until iDay. Will Mark Siegel's promise of a pre-29th rate plan disclosure hold up?
And how much would you pay to watch a single YouTube video?
Update: Boy Genius Report claims possible inside knowledge about the iPlan: $35-$45, unlimited data, 2000 text or unlimited text.
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