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A Comparison of US iPhone Data Plans

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iphone4s
With the introduction of new iPhone data plans from AT&T, here's a look at the data plans from the three providers that natively sell the iPhone in the United States.

AT&T:

- $20/month for 300MB data with a $20 charge for each additional 300MB
- $30/month for 3GB data with a $10 charge for each additional 1GB
- $50/month for 5GB data with mobile hotspot/tethering and a $10 charge for each additional 1GB

Verizon:

- $30/month for 2GB data
- $50/month for 5GB data
- $50/month for 4GB data with mobile hotspot/tethering
- $70/month for 7GB data with mobile hotspot/tethering
- $80/month for 10GB data
- $100/month for 12GB data with mobile hotspot/tethering

Overages on all Verizon plans are $10/GB

Sprint:

- $30/month for unlimited data

Sprint offers the best deal on data, though users of the Sprint version of the iPhone 4S have reported slower data speeds than the other networks.

Between AT&T and Verizon, AT&T's $30 plan offers 50% more data than Verizon, and also offers a $20 option for light-data users.

At the $50 price point, AT&T offers 5GB of data plus tethering, whereas Verizon charges $10 more for the same package.

Top Rated Comments

wordoflife Avatar
wordoflife
191 months ago
Carriers should be working for their customers.
1GB = $20 would be acceptable.

In all seriousness though, this is just getting more and more expensive. This is ridiculous.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
definitive Avatar
definitive
191 months ago
Carriers should be working for their customers.
1GB = $20 would be acceptable.

In all seriousness though, this is just getting more and more expensive. This is ridiculous.

How is anything besides unlimited acceptable? This is 2012, not 1995 where Dial-Up used to cost ~$5/hour. Even regular broadband internet doesn't cost this much. If the cellular carriers weren't so greedy, they'd charge unlimited fees per speed, not amount of usage.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
maattp
191 months ago


Glad I was able to lock-in unlimited data with Sprint. The speeds could be a little better but I can't complain when I only pay $90 a month with taxes for my iPhone.

I'm sure Sprint won't offer unlimited data forever so people should get it before its to late.

ONLY $90 a month? That's a complete rip off, I thought Canada was bad.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
booksacool1
191 months ago
In Australia you can get 1GB for ~$10.
We have much lower population density than the USA and any of the that data that comes from overseas travels in long undersea cables. So the cost of providing Data here could well be double the cost in USA.

I'm surprised you be happy to double what we pay.

edit: oh just to rub it in Tethering is included in most of our data plans.

Indeed I'm thinking the same thing. The other strange thing I notice is the long contract requirements.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MattInOz Avatar
MattInOz
191 months ago
Carriers should be working for their customers.
1GB = $20 would be acceptable.

In all seriousness though, this is just getting more and more expensive. This is ridiculous.
In Australia you can get 1GB for ~$10.
We have much lower population density than the USA and any of the that data that comes from overseas travels in long undersea cables. So the cost of providing Data here could well be double the cost in USA.

I'm surprised you be happy to double what we pay.

edit: oh just to rub it in Tethering is included in most of our data plans.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
rcappo
191 months ago
I could have summed it up as:
Sucks
Sucks
Sucks


People should be given phone numbers for life at birth like Social Security numbers. Then it wouldn't matter if you wanted to switch carriers, go a few months without service, get a prepaid sim card with minutes that don't expire, and there would be a few great tethering apps.

Wouldn't capitalism be great if it worked the way it was supposed to?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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