Not long ago TiPb reported AT&T forcing every iPhone user who is not using a iPhone data plan onto the correct plan and possibly hitting you with extra charges. Now it seems AT&T is finally making good on that promise as Erica Sudan, over at TUAW, is now reporting AT&T is planning on dumping iPhone GoPhone accounts. TiPb thinks this is AT&T finally flipping the switch on iPhone users subscribed to non-iPhone data plans and GoPhone accounts are also falling victims in all of this. The following text message is being sent to various AT&T customers:
AT&T Free MSG: A new software upgrade for iPhone will be available on 6/17. This upgrade may affect your data service. Please visit att.com/iphone or call 800-901-9878 for a representative. If you download the software and are not on an approved iPhone data plan, your data service will be interrupted.
So AT&T is using the 3.0 software as it’s excuse to flip the switch, but exactly how would they know what software you currently are on? The only way would be if iTunes reported back to Apple and then they give the information to AT&T. That scenario is highly unlikely.
Anyone not on a iPhone data plan and using an iPhone get this text message yet? Be warned fellow GoPhone and non-iPhone data plan users…
Last week AT&T created quite a ruckus for altering their ToS, but after the backlash they ultimately decided against it. Well, we may be looking at round 2 here.
This time a tipster has told TiPb that iPhone 3G owners in the Atlanta and Austin markets who are not currently provisioned with an iPhone 3G data plan will receive an SMS message advising them that an iPhone 3G rate plan will be added to their line of service. These customers will begin receiving SMS messages today and the plans will be provisioned on the evenings of April 8th and 9th. It appears that AT&T just tapped these two cities as a trial run, the rest of the country should start getting similar alerts on April 21st.
So what does all of this mean? There are a few possibilities, depending on your mobile situation:
- If you are using an iPhone 3G and you snuck in one of AT&T’s MediaNET data plans for $15 you will be forced on the $30 iPhone 3G data plan.
- For those of you who share SIM cards between an iPhone and Blackberry while using a Blackberry data plan, well it may be a bit more troublesome. Since your BlackBerry requires a BlackBerry plan to work, you’ll need to make extra-double-sure you don’t get an alert and if you do, you will want to call up AT&T right away and explain that you’re a SIM-swapper and to leave your plan set to your BB plan — which will hopefully continue to work fine on an iPhone.
- Lastly, with a PDA Unlimited data plan, expect minimal damage. It’s theoretically possible that MMS will not work since the iPhone currently does not support MMS, at least until AT&T flips the switch when iPhone OS 3.0 drops. So check that.
The upshot is this: if AT&T starts noticing that you’re using an iPhone 3G, they’re going to start enforcing their long-standing policy that you use an iPhone 3G plan. If you’re a regular SIM-swapper, you might be in for some hassles, depending on what your current plan is.
The thing that really rubs TiPb the wrong way is that the BlackBerry, PDA, and iPhone data plans all are $30. Why not allow us to change our devices as we see fit and keep it simple by one data plan to rule them all. BlackBerry users who try to switch their SIM to another device have long lived with the pain of not having a plan that easily works on non-BB phones. For now, iPhone plans do work fine on other devices.
So to all of the SIM swappers out there or for those of you who flew under the radar, how are you feeling about this? Isn’t part the point of having a GSM phone being able to swap the SIM with minimal hassle?
If you currently own a iPhone 3G and are lucky enough to be paying $15 for the MEdia Net Unlimited data plan, your luck is about to change. And not for the better. AT&T is currently on the hunt for you, and you will soon join the rest of us in coughing up another $15 a month of your hard earned money for the the $30 iPhone 3G data plan.
You chould be receiving the following email anytime now:
Our service records indicate that you are using an iPhone 3G with a data plan designed for other devices. To avoid unexpected data overage charges and enable Visual Voicemail, please contact your telecom manager, or an AT&T representative at 1-800-331-0500.
Thank you for choosing wireless from AT&T. We appreciate your business.
So there you have it folks, everyone will soon be on a level playing field. Have any of our loyal readers received the email above from AT&T yet?
(via The Boy Genius Report)
