AT&T Increases Capacity and Price of Its Data Plans

AT&T is re-configuring its data plans for smartphone users. Next week, new customers will have to pay more for data service, but they'll also get more capacity.

Starting on Sunday, new subscribers will have to pay $20 a month for 300MB of data, or $30 a month for 3GB. Previously, its offerings were 200MB for $15 or 2GB for $25.

A 5GB data plan is going to cost $50 a month, replacing a '4GB for $45' plan. Beyond that, customers will pay $10 for every gigabyte they go over their monthly allotment.  

AT&T will not force its current subscribers to switch to these new plans, but they might consider doing so, as the cost/MB is lower.

The carrier stopped offering an unlimited data plan to new customers in 2010, although those who signed up for one years ago can still use it. AT&T does throttle the data speed of the top users on this plan.