1:15 PM – AT&T and Verizon both moved towards shared data plans, and now other carriers are following their path. The newest carrier to join the pack is US Cellular (via Engadget).
US Cellular has officially announced that they are moving towards shared data plans and killing off unlimited data. Before proceeding further, what are shared data plans exactly? Shared data plans is where consumers can share data among up to 10 devices, while businesses can get up to 25 devices connected on their account.
US Cellular shared data plans bring up plenty of choices to choose from. Below, you will see a layout of what the plans have. It goes from 300 MB of data, all the way to 75 GB offering. The company has stated that current customers who have the grandfathered unlimited data plan will be able to keep them without being forced to move to new shared data plans.
The prices are even more interesting. As you can see above, the cheapest is $40 for 300 MB, and the most expensive is $560. Imagine paying $560 per month for your bill. All of the plans come with unlimited talk, text, and data tethering. Normally, data tethering is something that carriers charge extra for, so this is a bonus. Also, don’t forget that in addition to the data, users have to spend $40 a month to connect a smartphone, $30 for a basic phone, $20 for hotspots and wireless modems, and $10 for tablets.
Is this a good or bad move on US Cellular’s part? What do you think?