AT&T on Sunday will reduce the price of their 2 GB "Mobile Share Value" plan from $80 to $65 per month, with one smartphone and no annual contract. Two smartphones cost $90, down from $105.
The 2 GB plan includes unlimited talk and text, 50 GB of cloud storage using AT&T's Locker service, and unlimited international messaging. AT&T (coverage map here) is directing customers who need more than two lines to its 10 GB Mobile Share Value plan, which starts at $145 for three phones.
AT&T already had a price edge over competitor Verizon, whose 2 GB More Everything plan costs $90 for one phone and $130 for two (unless you participate in Verizon's "Edge" upgrade program, which makes you eligible for discounts). The news comes on the heels of T-Mobile's recent improvements to its Simple Choice plan, which keeps prices pretty much where they are but increases data allowances. Sprint's pushing their Framily Plan, which scales its savings depending on how many people sign up with you - at two lines, it's $100 a month, with 1 GB of data for each phone.
It used to be that U.S. carriers had the upper hand with their customers by offering select smartphones that everyone wanted. With smartphone use in the U.S. slowly edging towards ubiquity and with carrier exclusive phone models losing their punch, carriers find themselves in the position of actually having to compete on price and features.
I'd argue that T-Mobile's been the disruptive force in the U.S. carrier market that's been driving much of this effort. Regardless if that's true, we smartphone users are beneficiaries of the increased competition, and I think we're seeing only the opening volleys of a very long battle to win our hearts and minds.
AT&T Offers Its Best-Ever Pricing for Individual and Two Line Accounts On Nation’s Most Reliable 4G LTE Network
Plus, Customers Can Sign Up for 50GB of Cloud Storage at No Additional Charge
DALLAS, MARCH 8, 2014 — Last month, AT&T2 (NYSE:T) announced its best-ever pricing plans for families and small businesses and great international offers. Beginning Sunday, AT&T will extend savings to customers with one and two lines with the introduction of a new lower priced 2GB Mobile Share Value plan starting at $65 a month, which is $15 off the current 2GB plan for one smartphone with no annual service contract.
New and existing AT&T consumer and business customers will see great value in this plan, which includes unlimited talk and text, unlimited international messaging from the U.S. to the world3– all on AT&T’s award-winning 4G LTE network. AT&T customers may also sign up for 50GB of cloud storage at no additional charge.4
Here’s how it works
Additionally, AT&T recently added unlimited international messaging (text, picture and video) to all Mobile Share Value plans for no additional cost. Unlimited international messaging includes messages sent from the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands to more than 190 countries for text messages and 120 countries for picture & video messages.
With Mobile Share Value plans, customers can choose to purchase a phone with AT&T NextSM (no annual service contract and get a new device every year for $0 down6), bring their own device or purchase a phone at full retail price. Customers may also choose from a larger amount of data if needed.
“We’re continuing the trend of offering more value to our new and existing customers. Not only are families and small businesses able to save more on their monthly data plans, we’re now delivering that same great value to individual customers on the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network 7,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility. “We’re delivering more savings for customers across the board - backed by award-winning customer service - with AT&T the value keeps getting better.”
With 50GB of cloud storage from AT&T Locker, customers can keep more than 30,000 photos8 safe and secure in the network and access them across multiple connected devices. With AT&T Locker’s cloud storage, customers can store photos, videos, music and documents.
And, for a limited time, all new and existing AT&T customers receive a $100 bill credit for each new qualified line of service added – whether a smartphone, tablet, feature phone, mobile hotspot or AT&T Wireless Home Phone.9
To complement these great new plans, AT&T offers customers award-winning customer service. The company recently outperformed competitors for the second time in a row in studies measuring customer service and the wireless purchase experience. J.D. Power awarded AT&T the “Highest Ranked Customer Service Performance Among Full-Service Wireless Providers” and “Highest Satisfaction with the Purchase Experience among Full-Service Wireless Providers” in their 2014, Volume 1 studies.10
