AT&T eyes lower subsidies, shared data plans

AT&T is hoping to help its margins by lowering smartphone subsidies and the company also aims to boost revenue with a new offering that would allow consumers to share their data allowance between tablets and smartphones.

Now that growth is slowing for U.S. contract customer operators, including No. 2 U.S. mobile operator AT&T and its rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp are looking for new avenues for expansion, while they try to control costs. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc. AT&T has already said it would keep 2012 smartphone sales limited to 2011 levels to cut down on upgrade costs. Like its rivals, AT&T shoulders some of the cost of smartphones to offer discounts to customers who sign on for two years. Ralph de la Vega, the head of the company's mobile business, also suggested he would push to reduce subsidies for the phones it does sell. He declined to give a specific estimate for subsidy levels.