AT&T Working on Wireless Service Plan That Can Be Shared By Multiple Devices

AT&T Mobility's CEO says his company is working on wireless service plan that would allow a user to to get access with several devices, like a smartphone and a tablet. This is something many customers have been asking for, as they are complaining about the price of needing different plans for each device.

As it stands now, if an AT&T customer has both an iPhone and an iPad, he has to have a wireless voice and data plan for the smartphone and separate data plan for the tablet. Speaking at the All Things D conference today, this carrier's CEO Ralph de la Vega essentially promised that this is going to change.

He indicated that, in the future, a user will be able to subscribe to a plan that will have a certain amount of minutes and data associated with it, and they will be able to draw from these "pools" with a number of devices, such as Wireless Data cards or handsets. AT&T uses SIM cards, so it would be relatively easy to give a user access to a single account with more than one type of mobile computer.

In his comments this afternoon, de la Vega  did not answer one of the most important questions: what will such a plan cost? In addition to more flexibility, the main reasons many subscribers want shared plans is they are hoping to pay less for wireless service when using several devices. The AT&T also did not say when this new plan will be available.

It's possible AT&T isn't the only wireless carrier considering shared voice/data plans. And when it offers one, its rivals may feel obligated to come out with ones of their own.

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