AT&T announced today that it is changing the pricing and data allowances for customers on its grandfathered Mobile Share Value plans. Data caps will be doubled in most cases for a $5-10 price increase.
The Mobile Share Value plans were replaced way back in August 2016 with the Mobile Share Advantage family of plans. This plan change is very similar to what AT&T did in June 2018 with those newer Advantage plans.
Those currently on Mobile Share Value plan tiers with less than 30GB of data will get their data doubled. Those on tiers with 30GB or more of data will get an additional 30GB of data a month.
The price increases break-out as follows and mirror the increases made to the Mobile Share Advantage plans that were implemented last June:
- Plans with up to 8GB of data (now 16GB) will pay $5 more per month
- All other plans will pay $10 more per month
One unknown aspect of this change is how AT&T will handle those who took advantage of free double-data promotions. If any members have this old plan with double data, please let us know what your bill says when you get it!
So, should you switch because of these changes, which customers cannot opt out of?
It depends. The substantial data increase most of these plans are receiving may well worth the modest price increase. However, if you currently don't hit your data cap and don't need the extra data, then being charged more for something you won't use is definitely an unwelcome change.
Unfortunately, switching means customers would have to change to a currently-available AT&T plan. The current tiered-data plans, called Mobile Share Flex, rolled out in January 2018 are pretty underwhelming. You'll need to compare options to see what works best for you.
Mobile Internet Resource Center (dba Two Steps Beyond LLC) is founded by Chris & Cherie of