AT&T May Offer Less Expensive iPhone Plans

AT&T is reportedly considering letting customers reduce the monthly cost of using their iPhone, but there's a catch: less money will get less service.

The iPhone 3G starts at $200, and the purchase price is only the beginning. AT&T requires all its customers with this device to also have an unlimited data plan, which costs $30 a month.

This could change in the near future: the carrier may let users drop down to a $20 a month data plan, but this will no longer allow unlimited data transfers. Exactly what the new limit will be is not yet known.

A voice plan will still be required as well, and these start at $40 a month.

Unlimited In Not Actually Unlimited
One thing to keep in mind when considering this change is that AT&T's "Nation Unlimited" plan actually has a limit. Users can transfer 5 GB of data each month. Above that, there's small fee for each kilobyte transferred.

Still, there are many people who primarily use their iPhone as a phone, and come nowhere near the 5 GB cap.

The reduced cost of ownership should bring new customers to the iPhone, already a very popular device.

Source: BusinessWeek