AT&T has just announced its shared data plan options for its smartphone customers. Mobile Share, which will be an option for current or new subscribers in late August, will let you tap into a pool of shared data between your smartphone, tablets, cellular-connected notebooks, and dedicated mobile hotspots (up to 10 total devices per account). Like Verizon's Share Everything plan that was announced last month, the service requires that customers adopt an unlimited talk and texting plan, choose a base data amount, and then pay a flat monthly fee for each addition device they add to the plan. Adding smartphones to the plan on AT&T's side starts at $45 per phone but drops to $30 if you start with more data, and adding tablets only costs $10 per device on both AT&T and Verizon.
Both AT&T and Verizon charge $15/GB in overages, and Verizon gives you a once-a-month option of adding 2GB for $10 if you approach your limit. Verizon also bundles in mobile hotspot access for compatible devices for no additional charge, just like with its current iPad data plans.
The range of prices for data really differs between the AT&T and Verizon options, with AT&T offering a slightly cheaper 1GB/month option but more expensive plans with the larger data buckets. Here's how the networks' shared data plans compare:
AT&T
Verizon
Current AT&T subscribers will not be required to adopt Mobile Share in August, and grandfathering policies still are in effect for subscribers who are happy with their current data plans.
Do either AT&T or Verizon's shared data plans make sense for you? Is it something you would take into consideration when upgrading to your next smartphone or tablet? I'm on AT&T for my iPhone and Verizon for my iPad, but will definitely revisit these charts when looking at upgrading to a new phone later this year.