We’ve got good news for all of those who are tired of constantly checking their data limit due to fear of overage charges. AT&T customers can now say goodbye to overage fees. Yesterday, the company unveiled its revised monthly service plans dubbed Mobile Share Advantage, set to launch on August 21 with prices starting at $30.
Industry experts believe the company’s decision to introduce the new service plan was largely driven from fears of its users switching to rivals in order to get rid of annoying charges when they go over their data limit. AT&T seems to be following in the footsteps of other wireless carriers such as Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, as all of them have already eliminated overage charges.
"In a competitive market, Verizon and AT&T cannot afford to ignore each other," Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner said. "If one does something, the other one has to follow suit."
Now, instead of charging consumers $15 for using another gigabyte of data, the wireless carrier claims that it will reduce the internet speed to 128kbps once consumers exceed their data limit. The move is aimed to protect users from unexpected bill shocks. The company is hopeful that this decision will help it in retaining existing consumers in addition to creating traction among those who have pledged their loyalty to its rivals.
As if this was not enough, AT&T is now offering data to users for less money. To be more specific, the company’s most popular data plan is the 15GB bucket that costs $100 per month, but users can now subscribe to the new 16GB Mobile Share Advantage plan for only $90 per month.
Over the past few months, AT&T and other industry players have battled to improve their bottom lines in the saturated US wireless market. For most consumers who use streaming services and play games such as Pokemon Go, overage charges have been the biggest problem.
AT&T’s new data plans have the same basic features such as unlimited talk and text to over 120 countries, rollover data and unlimited texting and calling from the US to either Canada or Mexico. Customers subscribed to 10GB and above data plans will be able to enjoy free roaming in Mexico.
