AT&T Has "Not Made Any Decision to Implement Tiered Pricing"

AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega has told the Wall Street Journal that despite what he said back in October and earlier in December:

"We have not made any decision to implement tiered pricing."

Which is a weasel-wordy way of saying, contrary to previous statements that suggested they might do just that, AT&T isn't planning on charging customers by the byte -- yet. And they're still going to call their plans "unlimited" even as they try to get customers to use less 3G data via:

  • More WiFi hotspots
  • Microcells (femtocells) which re-route connections through your own broadband cable or DSL modem, effectively creating a mini cell tower in your home.
  • Incentives (though de la Vega declined to comment on what those might be exactly)

Thanks in large part to the iPhone, AT&T data volumes have shot up 5000% and, according to a lot of recent blog-spun controversy, they've seen profits increase as well while simultaneously investing less and less in the network meant to support that usage.

Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.