AT&T is joining Verizon on the shared data plan bandwagon. Today the wireless carrier announced that starting in August, customers would be able to share 1 bucket of gigabytes across multiple phones, tablets, or notebooks.
Here’s how it works. You can buy an AT&T Mobile Share plan with 1GB of data for $40 per month and add as many smartphones as you want for $45. Or you can pay more for additional data — and each phone will cost a little less.
| Mobile Share plan | 1GB/$40 | 4GB/$70 | 6GB/$90 | 10GB/$120 | 15GB/$160 | 20GB/$200 |
| Each smartphone | $45 | $40 | $35 | $30 | $30 | $30 |
Customers can also add tablets, laptops, and basic phones to plans at lower rates, and all plans include unlimited talk and text.
Tablets and gaming devices run $10 per month each, while laptops or USB modems run $20. Basic phones run $30 each.
Overall AT&T’s plans and pricing are a lot like Verizon’s. For some folks, I suspect it’s actually cheaper to just stick with an old fashioned data plan. For some mobile customers with multiple devices, the new plans could save a few bucks — and at the very least, it could result in simplified billing since you can put all of your family’s devices on one bill.
The company will continue to offer individual and family plans for customers that prefer them, even after the new share plans are available in August.
Damn they’re pricey. $40 for 1 gig? I used double that last week.
So much for free market competition. AT&T’s new rates are almost identical to Verison’s.