AT&T’s latest smartphone plans offer new ways to limit 'unlimited' data

AT&T, the latest to retire old mostly-unlimited plans, did so only 20 months after the June 2018 introduction of its previous offers. The new ones – announced days before the Federal Trade Commission fined AT&T $60 million for not disclosing speed limits on plans sold five years ago as unlimited – require factoring in the same three variables as the other nationwide carriers’ unlimited-ish deals. First comes the threshold at which your data speeds may slow if the network gets congested – aka “deprioritization.” How much less priority? AT&T users have reported sub-3G speeds, down to 1 Mbps. That should be the most important factor, since it directly affects your ability to do much online on your phone – as in, it limits your use of “unlimited” data. Then there’s how much data you can share with nearby devices via your phone’s mobile-hotspot function. Last comes the top resolution of video streamed over the cellular connection. All four carriers limit that to a DVD’s 480p standard-definition resolution on cheaper plans, which you may not notice on a smaller screen.

Here’s what AT&T now touts, with prices reflecting automatic-payment and paperless-billing discounts:

• Unlimited Starter, from $65 for one line to $140 for four: no priority data, no mobile hotspot, SD streaming;
• Unlimited Extra, $75 for one line or $160 for four: 50 GB priority data, 15 GB mobile hotspot, SD streaming;
• Unlimited Elite, $85 for one line or $200 for four, available “in the coming weeks”: 100 GB priority data, 30 GB mobile hotspot, HD streaming, free HBO.