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Comment by mrhyperpenguin | Hacker News Reader

Can anyone think of any rational behind this? Why would they want to switch people to tiered data plans when there is no effective difference to them?

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Why?

> …You may also consider switching to a tiered data plan if speed is more important to you [...] Customers on tiered plans can pay for more data if they need it, and will not see reduced speeds. (from the blog post)

That's why. AT&T has shown that nearly every move they make is for the sole purpose of squeezing out all the money they can from their users.

They are a company and as such is in the business of making money. Of course they want to squeeze every last bit out.

In this case the problem is that they offered an unlimited plan and then did stick with their offer.

The problem is that they can get away with it. That is the cell phone market has very little competition.

There really needs to be a movement to address the collusion in the telecommunication industry. I priced out a business cell plan (with > 5 lines), and there was not even a single penny price difference between ATT and Verizon, and both refused to negotiate at all. No matter what options changed, the prices matched to the cent. Strong regulation needs to be introduced, the major players need to be broken up again, or their infrastructure needs to be nationalized. Working, efficient, non-crippled and inexpensive communications infrastructure is too economically important to leave it in the hands of these bozos.

It is unconscionable that wireless communication, which is fast becoming a necessity, amounts to a $100/month/person tax on the citizens of this country, payable to the corrupt interests of two or three companies. The government has laws to prevent this, they should be enforced.

It's unconscionable that _you_ pay 100$/person for cell service.

I pay for my and my SO's cell service. The combined bill is 55$/mo. That includes unlimited calls, unlimited txts, and for the time being 20k/s data bandwidth. Note that I did not pay extra for the data.

And yes, I'm within the US, using a division of T-Mo.

They didn't stick with the offer. I've been paying for unlimited data for years without throttling. They are changing the deal. They should be forced to give everyone that has been paying for unlimited substantial refunds for the last several years, where usage has been low. They are trying to force everyone away from unlimited data now that it is obvious that wireless data demand is going to increase at least an order of magnitude in the next decade.

While I certainly can't fault an organization for attempting to maximize revenue, I think there comes a point when they seem to be focusing solely on short term numbers to the extent that it may actually harm them in the longterm should customers decide they've had enough and start taking their business elsewhere.

Of course, customer switching is less likely for service providers where there are real barriers in place that effectively prevent users from actively doing so (e.g., coverage issues, other networks with similar policies, etc)

It's the whole "yeah, we're taking advantage of you, but it's not like you have any other real options here, so sit back and like it." thing that just makes me sad.

Tiered plans have overage charges, unlimited plans don't.

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