AT&T expands LTE to more markets November 6, data plans stay the same old
AT&T will add Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Athens, Ga. to its Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio LTE cities on November 6.
This is the date when its first LTE smartphones - the HTC Vivid, and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket - are due to hit the stores. The HTC Vivid with 60fps 1080p HD video capture is $199.99 on a two-year contract, and Samsung's 1.5GHz monster will set you back $249.99
As for the data plan prices, surprisingly they stay the current ones, so if you already have data tacked onto your account, you needn't do anything:
LTE Data Plans
Customers can choose from tiered data plans starting as low as $15 per month. Existing smartphone customers do not have to make changes to their data plan. All plans include access to AT&T's national Wi-Fi network of more than 29,000 hotspots.
- DataPlus provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data for just $15 per month. An additional 200 MB of data usage is $15.
- DataPro provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data for $25 per month. An additional 1 GB of data is $10.
- Customers who want to use their device as a mobile hotspot can sign up for DataPro 4GB for $45 a month, which lets you tether or share your data connection across multiple devices.
Not a bad decision on AT&T's part until it is testing the fledgling network, so, unless you are on the cheapest plan, or consume more than 5GB per month, the prices for AT&T's LTE network are similar to Verizon's 5GB plan for $50. The advantage is you can always fall back on HSPA+, which offers faster speeds than Verizon's 3G. Disadvantages - why, coverage, of course.
source: AT&T
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