I generally choose not to write about the state of AT&T, Verizon, or any other carrier. There have been a couple of occasional rants (specifically, my post about Wireless Carriers and Fair Use comes to mind), but I tend to look at wireless carriers as a necessary evil if I choose to utilize the capabilities of current technology.
Today, however, marks a perfect illustration of why I have decided to leave AT&T after being with them since the initial iPhone.
I have an unlimited data plan with AT&T at the moment. This morning, I received the following message:
ATT Free Msg: Your data usage has reached 3GB this month. Using more than 3GB in future billing cycles will result in reduced speeds. You can use Wi-Fi to help avoid reduced speeds. Visit www.att.com/datainfo or call 866-344-7584 for more info.
While I realize that most carriers are trying to move everyone off of their unlimited data plans, this has simply reached a point of taking it too far. First, I cannot take advantage of the hotspot feature of my phone because I am on an unlimited plan, then it is announced that FaceTime will not be available over the cellular network because I have an unlimited plan, and now the unlimited plan doesn't even allot me the ability to go over 3GB of data usage (a first for me, actually) without penalties when AT&T sells bundles of data up to 10GB in size without such a penalty.
Goodbye AT&T. The last straw was the FaceTime deal. This just reaffirms that I'm making the right choice. Verizon may not be much better about the phasing out of unlimited data plans, but at least they're being up-front and honest about the way they are handling business. If I'm going to be forced off of my unlimited plan, I'm going to make sure my money goes to a company that openly states "it's your data, use it how you want."