Select smartphone customers will soon be able to connect multiple devices from their smartphone – via Wi-Fi – with AT&T’s new Mobile Hotspot application. Starting Feb. 13, customers bundling the Hotspot application with the AT&T Data Pro plan will get up to 4GB of data for $45 per month.
Customers on AT&T’s $20 tethering plan, which permits access to AT&T’s wireless network on a laptop or other device through your phone, will get an additional 2GB of use at no charge to match the Mobile Hotspot offer.
AT&T Mobile Hotspot details include:
- Connectivity for multiple wireless devices to AT&T’s mobile broadband network
- 2 GB of data usage for $20 a month, bundled with AT&T’s Data Pro plan ($25/2GB)
- The combined AT&T Data Pro plus AT&T Mobile Hotspot will provide 4GB for $45 per month
- 4GB applies to collective use among all devices
- Customers will receive a text message from AT&T once the additional 2GB has been auto-added to their plan
- An overlimit fee of $10 per gigabyte applies
AT&T also announced a new trade-in program:
Beginning Feb. 13, AT&T/FlipSwap’s trade-in service will launch in all AT&T stores, allowing AT&T customers to turn in old wireless phones and receive an AT&T gift card reflective of the device’s trade-in value and condition, as determined by FlipSwap. Customers can use the card in AT&T stores towards the purchase of new phones, equipment, or services. All phones – regardless of manufacturer or date purchased – will be considered for trade-in.
AT&T also offers customers the option to donate old devices – or proceeds from their trade-in – to members of the military through the Cell Phones for Soldiers program. Donation boxes are set up across AT&T retail locations.
Kyle, an AT&T customer and Stop the Cap! reader noticed the changes, and wasn’t very impressed.
“They matched Verizon’s pricing, nothing more — nothing less,” Kyle writes. “What would be useful is free tethering tied to our existing data plan; there is no justification for charging extra just for the right to use your existing data plan on another device.”