Comments on: AT&T ‘regrets’ Unlimited Data

By: DFS

DFS — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:23:00 +0000

If web content is soup (which itself is a ridiculous analogy, as the content doesn’t need to be manually remade every time someone wants a serving), the network is the spoon that puts the soup in your mouth. Last I checked spoons can be re-used.

The traditional (and correct) model is that of network-as-road (hence Information Superhighway, web traffic, etc). The network does not create content, it carries it. Outside of a few cases (turnpikes, toll bridges), you do not pay to use roads by the mile. You pay your taxes that provide maintenance and are free to use the roads as little or as much as you please. Tiered plans are an excellent way to discourage use (and what do the carriers care if you’re too paranoid to use the service you’ve already paid them for?), and this does nothing but stifle growth.

By: Joe Flores

Joe Flores — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:54:00 +0000

my $30 PER LINE to have unlimited data with AT&Pee is ludacris! Sprint has been always unlimited since before 2001 in most all of my plans. My biggest regret was switching from Sprint (who had 4G before AT&T in my area) to AT&T…the service SUCKS! 4G is almost never available IN A 4G market, and the other day, I learned that this stupid CEO only invests in money for infrastructure where he visits most so that he has the best cellular service.

By: Sundeep

Sundeep — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Oh wait? didn’t ATT and Verizon state that more than 95% of their customer base use less than 2 GB of data every month when they introduced throttling for the top 5% data users (not to mention, accusing of Data Hogs)? Take a minute and make up your mind before you speak, ASS HOLE!

By: Johnnie

Johnnie — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:27:00 +0000

I’m using less than the 5 GB I pay for on ATT… but that’s only because I hesitate to use their data service, because I’m afraid of running over. Their estimates of the average users data are way off, because people are relying on other sources to provide their real useage. 3 or 5 GB is frankly completely unreasonable. I sign on with the people who believe the internet needs to be more along a similar price scale to power… where you don’t really care if a guest logs onto your network. If I were actually limited to 3 GB, it’d be horrible to have a guest watch streaming videos.

I made the move to ATT a number of months ago, and the end result has been paying 50% more for a less service… the only plus is my phone… the note. Everything else about ATT must be ignored to be tolerated.

The first carrier with a good phone, and unlimited service with decent coverage, and I bid ATT goodbye. Frankly as far as I can tell, the costs of the industry don’t warrant the prices they are charging., so I’m fairly confident that eventually a carrier will be capable of providing a reasonable alternative… then bye bye ATT.

By: TheTruthSquad

TheTruthSquad — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:15:00 +0000

In Europe, unlimited texting is free. It should be, it costs the carriers nothing because it uses the control band.

By: Elgiulematt

Elgiulematt — Sat, 05 May 2012 10:17:00 +0000

Offering unlimited traffic is still impossible for the existing infrastructure, but I think that in common usage 3GB of data transfer per month may be the right amount to offer to every customer. Every month my traffic is 1.2 – 1.6 GB, and I make an intermediate use with youtube, social and mail.

By: n900mixalot

n900mixalot — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:54:00 +0000

Back in 2003, I don’t remember paying more than about 50 a month for all of the data, texts, and minutes I could use. No one could have foreseen how prolific the use of data would become back then, other than the few of us who were actively consuming it–and it wasn’t that much! Maybe a few megs per month–the web wasn’t developed enough and mobile browsing was still primarily text-based.

So, his statement becomes even more idiotic … I regret not buying Apple stock back in 2001 when it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. I regret not putting thousands of dollars in a betting pool in favor of this year’s NCAA champs, a month before they won, and I regret not buying a lottery ticket with the winning MegaMillions numbers on it he night before the actual drawing.

Hot air.

By: Joshua Mcwhorter

Joshua Mcwhorter — Sat, 05 May 2012 08:22:00 +0000

I am usually a respectable and nice person, but F**k you you greedy no good piece of used up dog S**t. How about that for a fresh perspective from a customers point of view.

How about you disclose the continually dropping cost of delivering that data to people, and the insane and growing profit margins you greedy f**ks rake in from hardworking decent folk.

The only thing I regret is having to stomach bulls**t from horrible, greedy people like Randall Stephenson that promote and sell people products designed to consume data and then try to convince people that it is somehow acceptable for them to charge absorbent fees for actually using it.

By: threejean

threejean — Sat, 05 May 2012 05:45:00 +0000

Are we supposed to feel sorry for this asshat? He makes more money getting out of bed in the morning than I do in a year. If they try t take my unlimited plan away from me, it’s war! Or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Maybe I’ll just superglue his car doors shut. Or something. Krap. I know! LSD in his water supply. A bunch. He probably gets town water. Krap again. Why do these douchebags alaways win?

By: Stocklone

Stocklone — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:35:00 +0000

Can’t you see all the cable companies have been broke for years? Every single MB requires more investment in capital. It’s like a hammer. You can’t eat soup with a hammer. No free lunches. This comment I’m writing costs $6.99 worth of capital investment and that doesn’t even include the bread.

By: Granpa

Granpa — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:19:00 +0000

He’s full of doo doo. He just doesn’t want to spend money on infrastructure. Other countries are running unlimited data plans without crying about it. The U.S. has just become all about the bottom line $$$. There is no humanity left any more in American businesses.

By: w00zzy

w00zzy — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:51:00 +0000

“Every additional megabyte you use in this network, I have to invest capital.”

How is this true? Is he talking about maintaining the network? What?
He’s the one that wasted $4.2B on the T-Mobile debacle. Maybe if he didn’t throw that money away it could have been invested in ways to increase revenue sources. Also, what about the money the company throws away on things internally. BellSouth was purchased (by AT&T) because it was managed into the ground. Then those same policies are brought over like a cancer and it’s eating the company from within.

Stop crying and start giving customers a reason to want your products and services. Give them great service when they have a problem so they feel appreciated. You start doing these things right and money will come in even faster and your stockholders will also love you.

By: YeP

YeP — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:33:00 +0000

Att is nuts charging $20 just to text. Everyone I know with ATT is ALWAYS complaining @ terrible service, expensive bills (inc overages) , and dropped calls. Texts cost them nothing but their ongoing greed takes over. Everyone should use a free texting service. Tmo, Sprint, all the prepaid offer unlimited texts.

By: guest2

guest2 — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:05:00 +0000

Yes, but they’re the same price. 5GB for 30 and unlimted for 30 (Which is throttled at 3GB)

By: Ron Larson

Ron Larson — Sat, 05 May 2012 00:39:00 +0000

I don’t understand the problem. Are the people with unlimited plans under an open ended contract that promises the same terms indefinitely? Can’t AT&T tell them “Sorry. The old terms have expired and we no long offer that product.”?

If AT&T doesn’t want to offer unlimited plans, the don’t renew them. Even if someone is under such a contract, when does it expire? It must be soon since they stopped offering this years ago no. What is the longest contract… 2 years?

How is this different than a lease on your home? When the lease is up, you and the landlord agree to new terms, or part ways. It isn’t that complicated.

By: Wasson_C

Wasson_C — Sat, 05 May 2012 00:34:00 +0000

I love my Sprint account. I feel sorry for anyone with AT&T to have to hear how much they hate their customers.
Here is the scenario. Now that I know how happy my customers where willing to pay me to fix their plumbing problem. I should have charged them double, darn if only I knew I could rip them off so easily?
News flash “AT&T customers are suckers”, so says the CEO.

By: Sean Buckman

Sean Buckman — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:50:00 +0000

ah, the nano-scale violin, she sounds sweet…

By: Navi9899

Navi9899 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:33:00 +0000

United slaves of corporatons

By: Navi9899

Navi9899 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:31:00 +0000

I m dumping atntatntttttttt… THIS YEAR SIR. I REGRET I WENT WITH ATTATATATTTTTTT

By: Joe Blake

Joe Blake — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Cable companies have been offering “all-you-can-eat” for years.

By: Prevacator

Prevacator — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:26:00 +0000

“Now we’re here in 2012 and there are no “real”
unlimited data plans, with even those that advertise such using Data
Throttling to keep their costs in check.”

What? Sprint IS Unlimited. I’ve used upwards of 8GB in a month before and have never been throttled.

By: ATandT_Cust

ATandT_Cust — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:25:00 +0000

Unlimited? AT&T? Did their Network ever work? Always no signal and customer service says they don’t have any issues reported from any tower. AT&T’s unlimited data plan is big joke for ever.

By: Jameseverts

Jameseverts — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:24:00 +0000

I like how I got a text message accusing me of tethering…. Why would I ever tether to such a slow connection. I have wifi 50 meg down roadrunner cable. Anyways AT&T accused me of this, and is automatically changing my unlimited data plan to 5 gig, and $20 more a month… I even took my phone to at&t and asked them how to tether on my phone. They couldn’t do it, same message I would get when they would ask me to test…. Way to screw me.. I’m dropping my data plan the day they change it on me..

By: Inyourbasketproductions

Inyourbasketproductions — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:22:00 +0000

Get them to unlock it (they have to now) and switch to tmobile prepaid. 70 bux for unlimited calls text, 5 gigs at high speed if you configure your phone. My wife did and she is very pleased with the phone now.

By: RayBurne

RayBurne — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:18:00 +0000

Good ol’ Randall… You have to remember folks, Randall has a closed circle of advisers telling him what is happening in the company and many of them are brain-dead… old SBC folks that could not run water in a tub, never the less a cellular phone company. Of course, there are those old BellSouth managers that sucked-it-up to play the game of trying to be a large multinational company while failing to deliver at home. Honestly, I think AT&T home moves around with the affiliate generating the most returns. Fickle.

I have unlimited data, Unlimited talk – Nationwide, Unlimited texting and TRUE 4G, not that 3.5G stuff that AT&T tries to tell everyone on their TV commercials is really 4G.

There is life after AT&T and it is the good life.

By: Kenneth Orr

Kenneth Orr — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:13:00 +0000

Nobody is asking for more than they pay for, they are asking to get what they paid for; an unlimited data plan. If in my business I advertised an apartment and rented it out for a specified amount with utilities included, I am obligated to cover the utilities- whatever they are- for the length of the lease term. I wouldn’t throttle electricity if the cost exceeded my projections if I could by law, which of coarse I can’t, but it’s the exact same thing. What don’t you get about that?

By: La_reyna_loca_99

La_reyna_loca_99 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:12:00 +0000

on the website itself… yeah sure at&t keep lying… Ever hear of a wireless company called H2O Wireless? Neither have we, but you might start seeing them more often now that they’ve announced a new pricing plan. For just $60 per month they’ll give you a SIM card that connects to AT&T’s network (H20 Wireless is a mobile virtual network operator) and gives you unlimited talk, text, and data. That’s right, even data. AT&T doesn’t even offer unlimited data, and if you get their largest data bucket, plus unlimited talking and texting, you’re looking at spending well over $100 per month. We’ve been recommending Simple Mobile forever now, their service uses T-Mobile’s network, but even today it’s kind of difficult to find devices that use T-Mobile’s funky 3G/4G spectrum bands. That isn’t going to be the case with H2O Wireless. There are plenty of smartphones, dongles, whatever, that connect to AT&T’s 3G/4G network, which makes you wonder why anyone in their right mind would sign a 2 year contract just so that they can pay more the for exact same service?……. H2O WIRELESS IT IS. SAME NETWORK AND NO KRAZY COSTS!

By: Revilla7548

Revilla7548 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:11:00 +0000

….. how about sprints 4g? … or Clears 4G internet? those are all unlimited… as in you can go out an buy that service right now…. I still can’t understand how these companies have thousands of thousands of customers and they can invest to have supernetworks that can take that and much more…

By: Inyourbasketproductions

Inyourbasketproductions — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:10:00 +0000

It’s nice to see at least someone standing up for ATT. I can’t stand to see a massive monopolizing corporation being ganged up on by the internet.

By: Guest

Guest — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:10:00 +0000

Well of course they don’t throttle the capped plan- if they did that it would take the consumer longer to reach the cap!

By: ThinkngMn

ThinkngMn — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Whine. Enough already, the carriers are way overcharging for texting and AT&T offers unlimited in the house so what’s the big deal for unlimited on the phone? People have a max amount they will use so plan for it. In the future it will be unlimited and either AT&T will be a player or they will be a has been.

By: sitizenx

sitizenx — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:06:00 +0000

“Did he regret all those billions he bilked his customers for with
AT&T charge by the text plan – something that basically used up no
resources?”

Yeah. Even the current text plan is a joke. $20 for unlimited texts. Really?! It takes $20 worth of resources to send 1,500 texts a month? I don’t think so. at&t has a long history of publishing prices that have nothing to do with the cost of the services they provide. I have zero sympathy.

By: x181

x181 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:06:00 +0000

It probably costs an ISP about 2 cents per gigabyte. Comcast harasses you if you go over 250 gigabytes, or $5 worth of bandwidth usage, for a $50 to $100 “unlimited” plan.

By: A_crazy_trucker

A_crazy_trucker — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:04:00 +0000

I use Sprint and don’t have to deal with it……

By: Bradley White

Bradley White — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:03:00 +0000

Now we’re here in 2012 and there are no “real”
unlimited data plans, with even those that advertise such using Data
Throttling to keep their costs in check.

Are you serious? Am I the only one still watching ads? Have you not seen the Sprint ad’s touting the only carrier with truly unlimited data? I used 12GB last month, never slowed down once.

If you really care, switch to Sprint. Show the others that you want unlimited data!

By: La_reyna_loca_99

La_reyna_loca_99 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:03:00 +0000

awkward at&t tell me why do you guys run h2o wireless and offer unlimited data plans but not on at&t… gottcha!!! oh and if u have at&t you can switch you h20 wireless and all the features on your phone still work and way cheaper with unlimited data. and run by… at&t

By: La_reyna_loca_99

La_reyna_loca_99 — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:02:00 +0000

as do i. i have at&t and the funny thing is i can get h2o wireless and it is run by at&t so all my features would work… on at&t signal and towers but it has an unlimited data plan… hmmm

By: guest

guest — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Sprint has unlimited data I have no complaints and no extra charges ever! I’m completly happy.

By: Crguest

Crguest — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:00:00 +0000

This clown really gets paid millions to make stupid remarks about his glorious network. I purchased an AT&T IPhone
3GS when the model first came out and it took forever to get 3G service in our area, today it still is as slow as the old dial up days. Drop calls daily.

By: Daniel Ahn

Daniel Ahn — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:59:00 +0000

And ATT’s customers regret? going with ATT