AT&T Data-Share Plans Start Aug. 28

By Joseph Palenchar On Aug 6 2012 - 6:52pm

Dallas - AT&T Mobile Share data-sharing plans will be available starting August 23, chief marketing officer David Christopher announced in a blog.

Consumers will be able to sign up for a Mobile Share plan at launch at any AT&T retail store or by calling AT&T. Online signup will be available soon after launch, the carrier said.

To help subscribers choose a Mobile Share plan, the carrier added a Mobile Share Planner tool at ATT.com/MobileShare. The tool lets users estimate current usage on their devices, automatically calculates total estimated usage, recommends the right Mobile Share plan from 1GB to 20GB, and shows the estimated costs for that plan.   

 On July 18, AT&T announced plans for a late-August launch of its shared-data plans following a June 28 launch by Verizon Wireless of its own shared-data plans. Both carriers tie their shared-data plans to unlimited talk and messaging plans, but AT&T's program differs from Verizon's in that AT&T gives new subscribers the choice of signing up for shared-data plans or AT&T's current plans. Both AT&T and Verizon, however, let existing subscribers keep their existing wireless plans without sacrificing their eligibility for device subsidies, although in the case of Verizon, that doesn't apply to grandfathered unlimited-data plans that have been dropped.