The carriers are going crazy. For the past few weeks, we’ve seen Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular all release brand new unlimited plans or update current offering. Now for a second time in two weeks, AT&T is giving its customers more options.
Starting Thursday, AT&T will change how it offers its new unlimited plans. The more expensive of the two unlimited plans dubbed AT&T Unlimited Plus will offer unlimited talk, text, and data as well as 10GB of tethering. Prices start at $90 a month for a single line and will cost $185 a month for four lines.
AT&T is also leveraging its recently acquired DirecTV service to give customers more value. Customers who subscribe to one of AT&T’s video services, DirecTV, DirecTV NOW, or U-Verse TV, will also receive a $25 credit every month. That means AT&T Unlimited Plus customers with DirecTV Now will pay $100 a month ($90 for service + $35 for DirecTV Now – $25 bill credit) and customers who have full DirecTV service will pay as little as $115. A family plan will pay $195 for four lines and DirecTV Now and as little as $210 for four lines and DirecTV.
In addition to its Unlimited Plus plans, AT&T is also introducing a new plan with slower data speeds called AT&T Unlimited Choice. With Unlimited Choice, you get unlimited talk, text, and data with a max speed of 3Mbps and streaming video be capped at 480p.
A plan for four smartphones will run $155 a month, so $40 less than the faster Unlimited Plus plan, with single lines starting at $60. All of those prices are after autopay and paperless bill discounts.
This certainly seems a lot like the T-Mobile One plan that T-Mobile offered with limited streaming capabilities. T-Mobile recently did away with that plan to get more competitive, but it looks like AT&T is going to take it and run with it. It’s honestly a good idea to offer a lower cost option to those who really don’t care about streaming HD video on their phones so we’ll have to see how this works out for AT&T.
