The Old AT&T was about transmitting Morse code and making phone calls. Today, the Data's a little more complex. And it shows.(Thanks Alice for the cert.)

About a week ago, AT&T unveiled some new data plans in advance of the WWDC iPhone 4 announcement. Rather than paying $30 for unlimited data, users would now have something of a choice: $15 for 200mb of data over 3G (dubbed DataPlus) OR $25 for 10x that much, or 2gb of data over 3G (dubbed DataPro).

There has been uproar. There’s been some serious evangelizing about how wonderful it is. We’ll see. What we know for sure, is that it looks like  AT&T’s missed an opportunity here to generate gobbs and gobbs of revenue from data-hungry subscribers, while also missing a chance making  some real waves in the industry on the customer service side, the kinds of waves that would likely siphon off yet more clients from the likes of Verizon.

But before we get into that, it’s time to drop some facts:

1. Who? – If you already had an iPhone before these changes were made by AT&T, your plan will remain the same, regardless of whether you upgrade or not.
2. iPad users?  - If you have an iPad w/ 3G capabilities, it doesn’t matter when you got it because there’s no contract with this device, only the ability to re-up with whatever 3G services they’re offering when your 30 days runs out.
3. Differences? – These plans (200mb and 2gb) are much less than those data plans advertised by Steve Jobs back on 27 January 2010 when he mentioned the ‘revolutionary new data plans’ from AT&T. Those data plans were 250mb for $14.99 and 5gb for $29.99 respectively. The current plans are 1/5th less for the same money in the case of the DataPlus and 3/5th less– less than half of the data for the same money when it comes to the DataPro.
4. Real Life Usage – This leaves many AT&T users upset but— fact no. 4 is that ~200mb a month is about what the average person with an iPhone uses on AT&T’s 3G network, so many new users won’t really feel the sting of these new plans with their average usage. Even John Gruber only uses 500mb a month. So in this case, he’s saving $5/mo.
5. Tethering – the ability to use your phone as a 3G modem for your computer (Windows pr OS X) will cost $20 /mo in addition to the DataPro and DataPlus plans… but that’s just for access to the tethering software. Users will NOT get access to any more data for that price. So while you may be able to get away with a $15 plan for your phone, if you move to $35/mo to use tethering and go over your 200mb limit, you’ll be charged $15 for every additional 200mb you use…so that’s at least $55 if you go over by as much as 1mb. If you’re gonna tether, get yourself on the DataPro plan!
6. iPad tethering? Not in the cards people. Unlike Android’s WiFi tethering capabilities, Apple and AT&T have left you in the stone age with wired, USB tethering– the same stuff that Blackberries and Treos have been able to do for cycle upon tech cycle now. This means that you need to plug your iPhone into a laptop to get that machine online over 3G. Currently, the iPad does not have a connector that supports direct connections to the iPhone. If you want to get your WiFi only iPad online in the absence of a good WiFi connexion, you’re going to have to either hack your iPhone to pull off wifi, OR, you’re gonna have to get yourself another device, like a MyFy, or an Android phone.

Now all these changes were likely made after looking intensely at the real world stats on how much people use, and how to give bandwidth hogs disinscentives to be, well, bandwith hogs. Theoretically, such actions would clear up the network and give each user access to more consistent data bandwidth and maybe even less dropped calls. The problem is that it’s all hogwash. Here’s why:

iPhone OS 4.0 or iOS4 allows for multitasking in a big way. It’s not TRUE multitasking, as some tech-heads would like it, but the fact is that it allows for things like Pandora and Rhapsody to play in the background, just as your iPod application would while you’re using the phone for something else which means that any user taking advantage of that data’s gonna use much more data without even knowing it.

The iPad…the 3G version just launched, and with it, NetFlix, ABC’s content App and even Wired’s multi-media interactive app. Unlike traditional Apple products, which focused on content creation, the iPad’s  focus is on media consumption. YouTube’s bigger and available in HD; the aforementioned applications all deliver streaming video, whether you’re in an airport or enjoying a drink at a charming street-side wifi-less cafe. The future is video people, and with 200 megabytes equating to about 20 minutes of standard quality video consumption…per month. And that doesn’t at all include emailing updated versions of Keynote or PowerPoint presentations to work, or blogging, or checking into 4Square or, well, anything else. The DataPro plan is limited to 200 minutes of standard quality video a month which leaves on with a film off of NetFlix along with a couple of TV shows from ABC’s streaming service. Again, forget email Twitter, or any other use for your 3G.

SO what do we take away from this? The first thing we take away is that WIFI IS YOUR FRIEND. The video looks better because the connection is faster, and AT&T has tens of thousands of  hotspots all around the country– mostly in the city. Starbucks cards give you at least twofree hours of fairly speedy wifi in their seemingly endless locations and feel free to be a little pushy and pester your friends for their WPA keys when you’re visiting their humble abodes. Use WiFi wherever possible and you should actually be fine.

Still, having to rely on Wifi does not leave the average consumer settled. Apple promised the world and AT&T took it away. Perhaps it’s because they’re just plain mean– but I don’t think so. They need to protect their 3G network while they build their 4G/LTE data distribution system or else their reputation will be so bad, no consumers will stick around to use it (iPhone or not). The missed opportunity here for AT&T was to charge $60 for a real unlimited data plan– even if it was only, in reality, 4GB. They’d have the money’d data hogs over there in a jiff, gathering data on their demographics, and the types of activities they do on their phones (at least), which would allow them to refine the data packages even more carefully, for near perfect price discrimination.

AT&T could have also taken care of their customers by auto-tiering the new DataPro and DataPlus plans. Switching a 200mb user to 2gb automatically should they go over and charging them $15 is much better than charing them $15 for 200 more measly megabytes. In the same vein, users of the 2gb plan who use less than 200mb should find a nice surprise on their bill when they realise that their usage left them with a $15 charge at the end of the month rather than $25. Such action would encourage lower usage.

Still, there seems room for a third tier of data. Yet AT&T offers no option for it. It seems that without offering a third, unlimited tier, that perhaps AT&T is showing their hand where their 3G network is concerned– the network simply cannot afford to care for new unlimited data subscribers at any reasonable price. And that means that in some way or another, these drastic steps are justified.