AT&T Updates Postpaid Smartphone Plan Lineup, Increasing Prices and Mobile Hotspot Allotments

AT&T rolled out some changes to its postpaid consumer smartphone plans, including a small price increase and more mobile hotspot data for most plan tiers. The changes are currently live.

This is not a major plan revamp, and even the plan names largely remain the same.

Let's dig into the details.

AT&T Video Story

 

Plan Change Details

First, the plan names are changing slightly - with two letters appended to the end of the previous plan name, as shown below.

Secondly, all the unlimited plans increased in price by $0.99 per line.

Third, the amount of mobile hotspot and a few other terms have changed for some plan tiers:

• Unlimited Premium PL (Previously Unlimited Premium)
  • 60GB mobile hotspot - increased from 50GB
• Unlimited Extra EL (Previously Unlimited Extra)
  • 30GB mobile hotspot - increased from 15GB
  • 75GB priority data - increased from 50GB
• Unlimited Starter SL (Previously Unlimited Starter)
  • 5GB mobile hotspot - increased from 3GB
• Value Plus VL (Previously Value Plus)
  • No hotspot included (no change from the previous version)

And that's it. All other plan terms remain the same.

Comparison to Verizon and T-Mobile Plans

This change brings AT&T's offerings in line with what Verizon offers, particularly for mobile hotspot data. Both now offer 60GB of hotspot data on their top-tier plan and 30GB on the mid-tier plan. T-Mobile lags when it comes to mobile hotspot with 50GB and 15GB, respectively.

Even with the $0.99 price increase for AT&T, the single-line pricing is still less than both Verizon and T-Mobile. Multi-line pricing can get complicated as the carriers typically have promotions, so be sure to compare.

Those looking for hotspot data should consider business plans if eligible, as both AT&T and Verizon offer up to 200GB of mobile hotspot data, T-Mobile Business half that.  The requirements for getting a business account vary with each carrier, but for the most part you can do it even as an individual as long you set it up as a sole proprietor. On AT&T, this can be done with a Social Security Number for a small business account.

Here's our chart showing the consumer and business options for each carrier.

 
 

Concluding Thoughts

It seems clear AT&T made this iterative change in its plan lineup to sneak in a small price increase and bring its mobile hotspot terms in line with competitor Verizon.

For nomads in RVs, vans, and boats looking for mobile hotspot data on a smartphone plan, the small $0.99 price increase is well worth the extra mobile hotspot data. The Unlimited Premium plan was a Top Pick, and its replacement, the Unlimited Premium PL plan, is also a Top Pick with 10GB more mobile hotspot data for only another $0.99.

Those on the previous versions of these plans who hit their smartphone plan mobile hotspot data cap may want to consider upgrading to these newer versions, or consider jumping to business plans that have much bigger mobile hotspot allotments.

Bookmark