I’ve been a customer with ATT (formerly known as Cingular and Cellular One before that) for 11 years and have had unlimited data for the majority of that time. I’ve had it so long that I am fairly confident that it was before they had a separate ‘tethering’ plan and as such I’ve been tethering off and on during that time. Now this is not something I do exclusively (I have home Internet) but it is something I do when at airports and sometimes hotels and want to get online.
It is also true also that most months I am below 4 GB in data (though there are a number I have gone above it).
With all that being said I’ve gotten three nasty forms of communication from ATT the past few days telling me that the plan I signed up for many moons ago is no longer valid and they will automatically enroll me in a plan that offers much less and costs way more.
TOTALLY UNCOOL.
Now I’m not a lawyer and so I’m not sure the legal ramifications. I’m guessing they have a great team of lawyer’s that work for them and they made all this legal (is grandfathering plans a legal thing anyway or is it just a ‘nice’ thing they do?)… The point is I’ve been a loyal customer all these years and even an advocate for them much of this time (though obviously there’s no way for them to know that) and they’d rather screw me and discontinue something I’ve had and try to pad their wallets a bit more then work with me. They would rather me leave then take the $90 a month I have been giving them.
Not cool att not cool.
Now before you say it I know Verizon doesn’t offer an unlimited plan either anymore and though Sprint does offer unlimited data for the phone it’s not unlimited for their tethering (oh and there’s a HUGE black hole in western MA where my parents live so can’t use them.) I know I’m basically looking at paying a higher bill anywhere but I just can’t stand to do business with a company that revokes on something they said they grandfathered in. It is like breaking a promise. I have lost faith in ATT.
ATT I will give you one more chance however. If you contact me (you have my info) before Verizon releases the Galaxy Nexus with a solution I will consider your offer. If you do not hasta la vista baby bell.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I also have an AT&T Nexus One that I tether with. I have not received their nastygram yet, but I expect one someday.
I bought the Nexus One with tethering turned on, and so I think that tethering is part and parcel of the phone and plan and that they would have no business turning it off.
I also use data far more than voice.
That said, the Nexus One is aging, and yet, the Galaxy Nexus is not quite the next phone I am looking for.
I am thinking instead of ditching the service for a 4G mifi and then using my Nexus or an iTouch/iPad or more likely a 7″ Android Tablet as a phone with SIP or Google Voice/GrooveIP.
I think these days I find the portable wifi hotspot to provide a lot more value for me than randomly nice phone.
I also wonder if a portable 4g mefi hotspot breathes some life back into the Nexus One, since it will be able to surf at 4G speeds, and if two years down the line (end of contract), a 4G mefi hotspot has more value left in it than yet another 2 year old phone.
Not sure what the cost comparison is, and I’m a bit shaky if Google Voice & GrooveIP or SIP is ready to be a replacement for GSM.
Okay so speaking with VZW right now, a VZW LTE mefi is $19 for refurbished for a 2 year plan, with $50 per month plus taxes for 5Gb data for tethering up to 5 devices. (14 day return.)
That *should* be cheaper than my AT&T plan, and yet the Nexus One should still work “fine” on it as long as I use either a SIP number, or I believe using Google Voice and GrooveIP over wifi.
… I may have to try this out.