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AT&T announced a new set of calling plans available Sunday that offer unlimited landline and mobile phone calls to other AT&T subscribers. AT&T's new Unity plans start at $100 a month with unlimited nights and weekends and 900 anytime minutes for mobile as well as unlimited local and long distance for landline service. The 900 mobile minutes are for calls to non-AT&T subscribers. AT&T hopes the new plans will also appeal to SMBs.
AT&T Unity plans do not include Cingular's Rollover service, once a mainstay of the carrier's offerings. Rollover plans allow customers to roll their unused monthly minutes into the next month for up to 12 months. AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel explained: "With AT&T Unity, you don't get Rollover, but given the size of the calling circle (100 million Cingular Wireless and AT&T wireline customers) you really don't need Rollover." Analysts agree. Technology Business Research's John Byrne: "I never thought that Rollover was that big of a deal for most people, since they usually end up with a bucket of minutes that they're not going to need."
AT&T has already announced the gradual phasing out of the Cingular brand, and by the looks of this new Unity offering, I predict the end of Rollover in June. While AT&T would not confirm this speculation, taking away Rollover may prove to be an effective impetus for former Cingular subscribers to purchase a bundled Unity plan.
For more about AT&T's new Unity plan:
- check out this press release
More stories about AT&T
Comments
Posted by KGH | January 19, 2007 - 2:32pm
I think rollover is still a big selling point for Cingular. The new Unity plan requires users to sign up for T&T local and LD landline service in order to receive benefits. In many places around the country their offering is not competitive and with VoIP being offered by Cable Co's it forces current Cingular users in a corner that is not necessarily beneficial. I won't switch from my VoIP to AT&T Landline but I hope they don't change the terms of my existing plan with rollover automatically.
Posted by Bob | January 20, 2007 - 7:41pm
More a question. Wouldn't ending rollover before the subscribers contract expiration mean subscribers could leave their contracts without penalty? Looking for a free phone, if that is the case, get one now! Churn rate anyone?
Posted by Anonymous | January 21, 2007 - 12:02am
with their mergers in the past, here they go again, something different, competition will be eating their lunch, on wireless
Posted by Anonymous | January 22, 2007 - 4:32pm
If cingular did phase out rollover starting in june, they wouldn't violate their own contracts, they'd simply not allow new customers to have rollover benefits and phase out old customer's rollover balances over the length of their contracts. at the least...rollover will fully be done away with in 2 years from june.
Posted by Richard D. | February 2, 2007 - 9:55am
Cingular's rollover was mostly a gimmick anyway. It really means you picked the WRONG PLAN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
And with very spotty service to begin with, i predict people looking elsewhere INSTEAD of paying more for very inconistant service with HORRIBLE customer service. I think JD POWER had them in last place for overall customer stisfaction anong the big providers.
Posted by Eli Dickinson | February 2, 2007 - 10:08am
JD Power is a for-profit marketing firm. I wouldn't put too much weight in those surveys.
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