AT&T Lowers Price of Unlimited Data Plans -- Update
February 27 2017 - 9:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Thomas Gryta
AT&T Inc. lowered the price of its unlimited data plans less
than two weeks after opening them up to all subscribers, and said
it would give added discounts to customers who pay for one of its
television services.
The unlimited plan for a single phone now costs $90 a month, a
drop of $10. Subscribers who choose one of the company's DirecTV or
U-verse television services will get a $25 monthly bill credit.
AT&T also introduced an unlimited plan that limits
connection speeds. It costs $60 for one phone but isn't eligible
for the TV service discount.
Until recently, AT&T only offered unlimited data to
customers who also paid for one of its television services. But
days after main rival Verizon Communications Inc. began offering
unlimited data last month, AT&T opened its offer to all
comers.
Smaller rivals T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. have been
taking market share from the two biggest U.S. carriers by pushing
lower prices and plans without data caps.
Sprint sells unlimited data for $60 for one phone and T-Mobile
sells unlimited data for $70 for one line, including taxes and
fees. Verizon sells its unlimited plans for $80 a month, and is
also selling four lines for $180 a month.
AT&T is starting a lower-end plan called "AT&T Unlimited
Choice," which is $60 a month for one phone. Data is unlimited but
speeds are capped to a maximum of 3 megabits per second. That
allows for streaming videos in standard definition instead of high
definition.
At A&T, four lines of unlimited is $185 a month. On the
cheaper Unlimited Choice plan, four lines costs $155 a month.
AT&T was the first major U.S. carrier to stop offering
unlimited data to new customers back in 2010, when it tried to
limit congestion on its network and profit from rising data use.
Verizon followed the next year.
The shifts at Verizon and AT&T come after years of trying to
get customers to pay for data based on usage. The companies argued
the surging growth in data traffic required expensive network
upgrades, and unlimited plans prevented carriers from collecting
more money as usage rose.
Like its rivals, AT&T says it may curb speeds for heaviest
data users when there is network congestion. AT&T could impose
limits after a subscriber uses more than 22 gigabytes of data in a
billing cycle, the same level as Verizon. Sprint could limit speeds
after 23 gigabytes; T-Mobile may after 28 gigabytes.
The plans begin Thursday and are open to new and existing
customers.
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 27, 2017 08:51 ET (13:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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