AT&T Announces New Smartphone And Tablet Data Plans – Here’s What You Need to Know

AT&T has just announced new data plans for smartphone and tablet users with larger data limits effective from January 22nd.

Back in June 2010, AT&T killed their unlimited data plans and started offering their smartphone and iPad customers tiered data plans.

Here's a snippet from today's announcement:

Customers are using more mobile broadband data than ever before.

More content downloading, more video streaming, more apps. Connecting with family and friends 24-7. Mobile broadband has become part of our daily lives – and data usage has skyrocketed.

And as the AT&T network gets even faster with 4G LTE deployment – up to 10 times faster than 3G – and devices and applications become even more sophisticated, it’s clear that data usage will surge even more.

Taking all of this into account – and our ongoing commitment to deliver value to our customers – we’re launching new smartphone and tablet data plans on Sunday, Jan. 22.

Here's a comparison of the new data plans with the old plans for iPhone and iPad users:

New iPhone data plans:

• DataPlus 300MB: $20 for 300MB, additional 300MB for $20.
• DataPro 3GB: $30 for 3GB, additional 1GB for $10/each
• DataPro 5GB: $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot/tethering, additional 1GB for $10/each

Old iPhone data plans:

• DataPlus 200MB: $15 for 200MB, additional 200 MB for $15
• DataPro 2GB: $25 for 2GB, additional 1 GB for $10/each
• Tethering: Available for Data Pro customers for additional $20/month who get an additional 2GB of data

New iPad 3G data plans:

• $14.99 for 250MB
• DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
• DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB

Old iPad 3G data plans:

• $14.99 for 250MB
• DataConnect 2GB: $25 for 2GB

The Smartphone and tablet data plans also include access to AT&T’s 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide at no additional charge.

So basically, AT&T has increased the pricing of the data plans by $5 but offering additional 100MB for the low end plan and 1GB for the high end plans.

The new data plans will be available to new smartphone and tablet users from Sunday, January 22nd. Existing customers will be able to keep their current plans but can also choose from one of the new plans.

While the increase in data limits is generous, do you think the cost of monthly data plans are still too high? Let us know what you think about AT&T's new data plans in the comments and if you plan to switch to the new data plans.