Higher Data Caps with AT&T

HIGHER DATA CAPS WITH AT&T

Are you a heavy web surfer? Do you play interactive video games? Is your household likely to have multiple devices connected to the web at one time? Do you frequently download HD video? Do you use the internet for business? If any of this applies to you, you may benefit from upcoming changes in AT&T’s internet service plans.

AT&T said it will raise monthly data allotments for most of its cable or fiber internet plans. Starting on August 21, subscribers to its U-Verse internet service can increase their data caps to an entire 1 Terabyte per month. The current maximum is 300 gigabytes for customers with service running at 768 kilobytes per second to 6 megabits per second. Service tiers with 12 MB/S to 75 MB/S are limited to 600 GB of data per month, while tiers with 100 MB/S to 1 GB/S speed are allotted a full TB.

Customers who exceed the 1 TB limit will pay overage fees: $10.00 per “bucket” of 50 GB.

Meanwhile, subscribers to GigaPower, AT&T’s ultrafast 1 gigabit-per-second service, will see their existing data caps of 1 TB per month lifted completely. AT&T had been charging overage fees of $10.00 per 50 GB bucket for GigaPower customers, for a maximum of $30.00 per month.

Cheryl Choy, the telecom giant’s Vice President of Data and Voice Products, spoke about the changes in her company’s data plans. “For customers with internet speeds below 12 MB/S, this triples their current amount of data. For customers with internet speeds ranging from 12 MB/S to 75 MB/S, this nearly doubles their current allowance.”

AT&T offers special rates for its customers who bundle DirecTV or U-Verse TV with U-Verse Internet on a single bill. They will get unlimited internet data without having to pay higher fees.

AT&T’s DSL customers will not see higher data caps. They will be held to their current allotments: 150 GB per month.

AT&T has also created a dedicated web page for customers who want to monitor and control their data consumption.

For internet users wanting higher data caps, AT&T follows a few other providers experimenting with 1 TB limits, or eliminating limits entirely. Comcast is testing a plan with a 1 TB limit in several markets, and an unlimited data plan in Chicago. Google offers Fiber, with a 1 TB limit, in a few select markets. GCI, an Alaska telecom, raised the limit on its “Red” residential internet plan from 750 GB to 1 TB. CenturyLink has been testing usage-based billing in Yakima Washington.

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