Will AT&T’s New Data Plan Hurt Your College Budget?

Excited for the new iPhone? Most AT&T users are. And many non-users are considering changing their current phone for it.  Well, before you do, here is some exciting news for those considering buying the iPhone (or any of AT&T’s smartphones): AT&T has eliminated its $30 a month unlimited data plan! I know that doesn’t sound like good news. But, after taking a closer look, it just might be a blessing after all.

This week, AT&T abandoned its unlimited pricing plans (affecting only new smartphone users) and will instead offer these two options:

  1. $15 a month for 200 MB of data, or
  2. $25 a month for 2 GB.

*Keep in mind this is in addition to the cell phone service plan you purchase.

Side Note: Current smartphone users can keep their plan of $30 of unlimited data usage.  But you should continue reading because you may decide you want to change your data plan anyways.

So, let’s take a deeper look at the cost-to-service ratio. 

First, the price for 2 GB of data use has decreased by $5 a month. Win! Second, according to AT&T, 98% of their customers using smartphones use less than 2 GB a month. Therefore, many users may be able to find the 200 MB of service sufficient. Using that plan would save users $15 a month. Win, win! That’s a big money save for poor college students.

And it looks like AT&T had more than users’ wallets in mind.  By incentivizing smartphone customers to select the plan that offers the least amount of data, customers will be less inclined to mindlessly stream endless videos or run other programs that use high consumption of data. This will reduce the backlog on the network thereby making the service faster for everyone.