AT&T opens up prepaid unlimited wireless service for $60/mo.

Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sat, Oct 10 2009 | 0 Comments

In a move that is meant to compete with other prepaid wireless plans, AT&T has announced that it will be starting a $60 a month unlimited talk and text plan for its GoPhone users. The service is meant to start on October 12th.

Sounds great to everyone, except those who actually have contracted service with AT&T. The people who have suffered through their contracts, had to go through a credit check, and face early termination fees if they drop their service, have found themselves in a strange loop where someone who doesn’t have to go through the process can get the SAME service for cheaper.

Let’s look at the facts:
An unlimited voice plan with the carrier costs $99 per month.

On top of that, an unlimited texting plan is an extra $20 per month.

So, GoPhone users are getting half off of what contracted users would have to get.

This is an obviously ridiculous way for AT&T to try to compete with other prepaid carriers. The problem is that many contracted users may find themselves heading over to the prepaid division. If I had to pay for service I would likely switch over to the prepaid service and save myself the extra money every month.

What I don’t know is if there is a way to add a data plan onto the prepaid plan. The regular priced data plan is $30 per month on contracted service so I would assume that one could get the prepaid plan for around the same price, or cheaper if they go by the pricing strategy used in the unlimited prepaid service.

The plan is cheaper and you will be getting the same service that others get, however, your choice of phones can be a bit limited and I don’t think that you can have an iPhone on the plan.

Related posts:
The Battle of the Prepaid cellular prices continues

Tags: extra money, prepaid service, strange loop