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AT&T's Unlimited Plan Ending

By Bill Zeeble, KERA News

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-905669.mp3

Dallas, TX – At&T, the exclusive provider of wireless service for IPhone and IPad users, expects more customers now that it's ending it's unlimited service plan. Competitors disagree. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more.

Dallas based AT&T says its one size-fits-all,' $30 monthly smartphone plan no longer makes sense. So beginning Monday, all new customers will either choose a 15-dollar monthly plan, or a larger 25 dollar plan for what AT&T calls power users. It let's you download larger amounts of data.

At&T's Mark Siegel says most customers download less than 200 megabytes a month, which falls into the lower priced category. As a result, he says the company believes it will attract more clients.

Siegel: We could actually get more people using smarphones than before who might have been turned off by the $30 price point for data.

Competitor Sprint isn't so sure. It won't change its pricing policy. Sprint's Emmy Anderson says it will keep its $70 unlimited monthly plan.

Anderson: We feel like with the phones coming out, that data usage is only grow and grow for our customers and we don't want to limit that. We want them to be able to use what they want to use on their phone and not worry about usage at the end of the month.

At&T's other wireless competitors also say they will keep their pricing plans as they are. At least for now. And they also say they closely watch the competition's pricing policies.

Email Bill Zeeble