<div><div class="yn-story-content">
                <p>AT&amp;T has pulled the plug on unlimited data for its home DSL and Uverse customers. The move to capped data comes only nine months after AT&amp;T ended unlimited access for its mobile data plans, and <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes/40743841/SIG=135il1a9v/*http://www.pcworld.com/article/222039/atandts_uverse_and_dsl_data_caps_good_deal_bad_precedent.html">sets a concerning precedent</a>. For me, though, it just begs the question of why AT&amp;T can't bundle those things up for a better deal.</p>
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AT&amp;T residential customers have enjoyed unlimited data up to now, but--according to AT&amp;T--the vast majority of its customers only use about 18GB per month. AT&amp;T claims that only two percent of its customers will come close to exceeding the 150GB cap for DSL, or the 250GB cap on Uverse data. The AT&amp;T statistics are similar to the numbers <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes/40743841/SIG=1377iv3ee/*http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/197799/which_new_atandt_data_plan_is_right_for_you.html">AT&amp;T shared about mobile data consumption</a>--where supposedly only two percent of the AT&amp;T wireless customers need more than 2GB per month of data.</p>
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 I switched two of the three smartphones on my AT&amp;T family plan to the 200MB data plan when AT&amp;T switched things up. They weren't using that much anyway, so switching plans allowed me to save $15 a month on each device. After <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes/40743841/SIG=133uhrgmi/*http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/219036/keeping_track_of_your_iphone_data_usage.html">exceeding the 200MB cap</a> a couple times, I eventually upgraded one of the two to the 2GB plan--plenty of data and still $5 less than I was paying for unlimited.</p>
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But, now I am paying $30 for unlimited data on one phone, $25 for 2GB of data on the second, and $15 for 200MB of data on the third, plus $45 a month for 12Mbps data through Uverse which is now capped at 250GB. Assume for a minute that I changed my unlimited plan to the 2GB plan--I would be paying $110 per month for a combined total of 254.2GB of data. But, according to AT&amp;T, odds are good that I only really need less than 20GB between all of the devices combined.</p>
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Of course, I haven't yet taken into account that I am also paying an additional $30 a month for unlimited text messaging on the wireless family plan. A text message is just data--and, in fact, AT&amp;T reports text message usage within the data usage when viewing account data--so I am not really sure why I have to pay for it separate from the data I am already paying for. Add that in, and we're looking at $140 per month for massive data capacity that I am using only a fraction of.</p>
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Then, there are the additional fees for tethering. AT&amp;T is now offering a $45 data plan that includes the 2GB plan plus an additional 2GB for a <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes/40743841/SIG=13ddd3442/*http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/218551/atandt_announces_mobile_hotspot_expands_tethering.html">combined total of 4Gb of data capacity</a> that can be shared across <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/pcworld/tc_pcworld/storytext/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes/40743841/SIG=13jcib9gm/*http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/221347/activate_atandt_iphone_personal_hotspot_plan_on_the_fly.html">multiple devices using the Wi-Fi hotspot</a> functionality in phones like the iPhone 4. But, what if I don't need any additional data capacity? Why can't I just turn on the hotspot and share my base 2GB with other devices without paying more money?</p>
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I think AT&amp;T is on to something, though, with the rollover minutes it offers on the voice plans. I have a pool of minutes that are shared between all of my mobile phones, and the minutes we don't use carry over to the next month. So, AT&amp;T--when can we drop the pretense of treating residential and wireless data separately, or paying for each device individually, and get something similar for data plans?</p>
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How about a pooled data plan? Give me some tiered options--say 50GB, 150GB, and 250GB--and let me buy a combined data plan that is shared between my home and mobile devices, and let my unused megabytes rollover to the next month.</p>
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Oh, and stop pretending that a text message isn't just another form of data.</p>
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            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class="rssreadon" rel="external" title="AT&amp;T, Where's the Pooled Data Plan with Rollover Megabytes?   (PC World)" href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20110319/tc_pcworld/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes" target="_blank">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20110319/tc_pcworld/attwheresthepooleddataplanwithrollovermegabytes</a></p>