U.S. Cellular is the latest operator to jump on the data-sharing bandwagon, with the introduction of its new “Byte-Sized Shared Data Plans.”
Like AT&T and Verizon, the plans are available to purchase for both standard and business accounts, entitling all registered customers access to one large pool of data, which is divided amongst users on the same account.
If you’re struggling to stay within your smartphone data plan each month, then maybe one of AT&T’s new shared data plans might be better for you. The company is now offering 30GB, 40GB, and 50GB tiers starting at just $300 per month. That’s right, per month. That’s with unlimited calls and texts included. Bargain, right?
It’s no secret that many of us aren’t fans of the new shared data plans being offered by Verizon and AT&T. Worse are the tactics these carriers are using to all but force us into the new plans. Consumers aren’t the only one’s disappointed, as Sprint and T-Mobile both discourage the practice and prefer to stick with the assumption that users enjoy having unlimited data with no fear of overages. Why should anyone have to pay a premium to see their data capped and divvied up between their data hungry family?
AT&T announced last month that it would be launching shared plans for pooling monthly data allotments between up to 10 devices per account. Instead of paying for a separate data plan for each smartphone, subscribers would be able to use a 1-20GB shared plan across multiple devices, including tablets and desktop computers. Verizon announced a similar strategy in June.
Today AT&T has confirmed that its shared data plans will be available to new and existing subscribers on Thursday, August 23rd.
We’ve known about Verizon’s plan to introduce family shared data plans for quite some time now and have been patiently awaiting their release. It now appears we may see them soon as new images have popped up suggesting Verizon is in the end stages of development. PhoneArena managed to get their hands on a screenshot showing what appears to be Verizon’s future Family Data Usage Calculator. If it looks familiar to you it’s because it follows closely with Verizon’s current Data Usage Calculator which helps customers figure out which plan would best fit their data usage needs.
