Opinion: AT&T’s New Data Plans Make iPhone Look Worse Than Android

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After just two months of (perhaps overconfidently) offering a $29.99 unlimited, month-by-month data plan to purchasers of the iPad, Ma Bell has already killed it off… and are now replacing it with a vastly inferior and more pricy plan.

The new plan — called DataPro — offers 2GB of data per month for $25. Go over 2GB in a month and you’re charged another $25, with your 30 day window to use that 2GB resetting itself.

Think that’s bad? It gets worse. AT&T is also canceling unlimited data for the iPhone. Current subscribers get to keep their $30 all-you-can-eat plans, but when you new customers or contract renewers will now only get 2GB of data.

The positive side? After over a year of waffling on it, AT&T are finally bringing tethering to the table with iPhone OS 4.0. But you have to pay an additional $20 a month for it, and you’re still only limited to 2GB. To put this in perspective, this is twice as much as Verizon charges for 5GB of tethering data on a $29.99 unlimited monthly data plan.

Our succinct thoughts on the matter, after the jump.

&%$@ you, AT&T. Has there ever been a more worthless telecom? After three full years of supplying terrible service to their iDevice customers and skimping at every turn on using their profit from iPhone contracts to substantially improve their 3G networks, they’re now raising prices for inferior service.

It’s shameless, but what’s worse is the fact that AT&T feels like they can do this. This is not a telecom that feels like serious competition is right around the corner from another carrier. That AT&T feels they are in a good position to raise prices while shrinking data caps implies they know full well that a Verizon iPhone isn’t coming anytime soon.

Let me be blunt: if I were in the States, this move would cause me to drop my iPhone contract at the next opportunity, wander over to Verizon and get a Android handset with an unlimited, $29.99 per month data plan. An additional $10 a month would get me 5GB of tethering, or two and a half times as much data for half as much money.

AT&T is now actively making the iPhone look worse than Android. Why is Apple sticking with these bozos? They’ve betrayed them and their customers.

We’re curious what you think. Is Apple’s continuing partnership with AT&T taking the luster off of the iPhone for you? Let us know in the comments.

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