Today AT&T has announced two new data plans that will make BlackBerry users very happy as well as making RIM happy. Current users of the $30/month plan can stay on that plan or upgrade to one of the two new plans.
- DataPlus. Provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data - enough to send/receive 1,000 emails (no attachments), send/receive 150 emails with attachments, view 400 Web pages, post 50 photos on social media sites and 20 minutes of streaming video – for just $15 per month. This plan, which can save customers up to 20 percent off their wireless voice and data charges, is designed for people who primarily like to surf the web, send email and use social networking apps. If customers exceed 200 MB in a monthly billing cycle, they will receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for $15 for use in the month. Currently, 65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average.
- DataPro. Provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data - enough to send/receive 10,000 emails (no attachments), send/receive 1,500 emails with attachments, view 4,000 Web pages, post 500 photos to social media sites and watch 200 minutes of streaming video – for $25 per month. Should a customer exceed 2 GB during a billing cycle, they will receive an additional 1 GB of data for $10 for use in the month. Currently, 98 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 2 GB of data a month on average.
According to Consumer Reports BlackBerry consumers use about 54 MB of (compressed/optimized) data per month on average (compared to data usage averages that are 3-5 times higher for other brands), which suggests that the large majority of BlackBerry consumers will now qualify to use the $15/month data plan.
Plan PriceUnlimited Data $30 for unlimitedMessaging $20 for unlimitedTethering $10Plan Price Percent of current usersDataPlus $15 per 200MB 65% currently use less than 200MBDataPro $25 for 2GB, $10 per 1GB after 98% currently use less than 2GBMessaging $20 for unlimitedTethering $20PreviousPlanNew Plan
RIM is pretty excited about this news since these new pricing plans will translate to savings for BlackBerry customers due to the industry-leading efficiency of the BlackBerry platform. Thanks to RIM’s longstanding focus on wireless data efficiency and investment in related technologies and infrastructure, the BlackBerry platform is significantly more efficient than other mobile platforms and this leads to a major advantage for users with tiered pricing plans.
Here’s a quote from RIM’s Co-CEO about AT&T’s new pricing plans-
“AT&T’s strategic pricing move is great news for BlackBerry smartphone customers,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO, Research In Motion. “We envision a day when all mobile phones are smartphones and we believe AT&T’s new service plans, together with RIM’s leading portfolio of BlackBerry products and services, will help attract a much broader range of consumers.”
This is pretty big news for RIM, AT&T and AT&T customers. What I am curious to see is how many users actually make a jump to these new data plans.
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