It looks like AT&T is working this Saturday afternoon, as they just announced their new “Best Ever Prices” Family plans. Which the prices are pretty nice, especially compared to their current offerings and even their competitor (Verizon)’s offerings. However, this only applies to those that enroll in AT&T’s Next program or bring over their own phone. It may be a bit confusing, but we’re going to try and dissect it and explain it the best we can.
Basically the pricing is $130 for 2 lines, $145 for 3 lines, $160 for 4 lines and $175 for five lines. This includes unlimited talk and text for all lines and 10GB of data for all lines. Now that’s now 10GB of data each, its just one pool of 10GB of data. Like their current plans. You can also add additional lines for just $15/month. AT&T seems to really be pushing their 4-line plan here which is 10GB of data for four lines for only $160. Which doesn’t look like a bad price, especially since that same plan would cost you $260 over at Verizon. But you must remember that you have to either bring your own phones or sign up for AT&T Next which adds on to that amount.
Basically, they are charging you $100 a month for the 10GB of data, plus $15 per device. Then if you’re an individual and only want one line, it’ll be $25 for the phone, + $100 for the 10GB of data. Normally, AT&T is charging $40 for the line, then more for the data depending on the data plan you choose.
So why is AT&T doing this? Well, we’ve seen T-Mobile get rid of subsidies lately, which is why their plans look so cheap right now. On T-Mobile you can get unlimited everything for just $70/month. But that’s before you factor in the pricing of your phone which could be up to another $20/month. Unless you buy your phone out right. Even so, it’s much cheaper than the competitors, but the only downside is the network. While their speeds are great in some areas, in many others they are not. So it’s great to see AT&T pulling the subsidies out of their plans, although I’d be more excited to see them bring back unlimited data, but I have a feeling that won’t happen. We may see the same from Sprint and Verizon rather soon.
While this does make it a bit more confusing, it’s really the same price as what you’re probably paying now or at a competitor, especially if you enroll in AT&T Next. Although with AT&T Next you can upgrade every year. If you have questions, be sure to leave them in the comments below and we’ll try out best to answer them.
Source: Droid Life,AT&T