AT&T whips up international iPhone data plan, also adding iTunes radio?

We're not sure what took 'em so long -- reports of unhappy customers who traveled abroad with their surreptitiously email-checking iPhones returning home to bills totaling in the thousands of dollars -- have been de rigueur for AT&T since June's launch. Well, today that changes. Despite Apple's addition of an anti-data-roaming option in later firmware updates, the service side now has a new Data Global Plan, which, for $25 or $60 (extra) per month, gives iPhone users 20MB or 50MB of international data access -- but nothing more on the voice side -- in some 29 countries (including our neighbor to the north, and parts of Europe and Asia). Take that SIM unlockers who would rather just buy an overseas SIM and pay something reasonable for their data rates.

Update: AT&T's site also shows an interesting and possibly telling quote: "While using data on iPhone is free within the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, International data roaming can get expensive quickly. Consider that just 20 minutes of iTunes radio takes 20MB of data. That's why AT&T has created two iPhone International packages with more reasonable rates in 29 countries." (Emphasis ours.) So, iTunes radio, eh? Certainly AT&T isn't talking about downloading tracks over the iTunes WiFi store -- that's only possible via WiFi. Maybe we have something here. Thanks, Ryan.

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AT&T gives FREE Wi-Fi to Southern California

AT&T has decided to make a very generous offer to the Southern California region after wildfires swept through the terrain and destroyed homes and ruined lives in it’s path. The areas that AT&T has stated it will be offering Free T-Mobile Hot Spot Wi-Fi services are San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Orange and Ventura counties. There will be about 600 locations to get AT&T hot spot wi-fi at no charge.

The offering began on October 27th, 2007 at all of the listed locations. The AT&T Vice President stated, “We want to help residents in Southern California in any way that we can and by enabling free Wi-Fi at hundreds of AT&T hot spot locations, we’re hoping to provide families and friends with another way to stay connected - and to reconnect - throughout this difficult time.”

Anything that uses a Wi-Fi connection is fair game so all iPhones, PDAs, Laptops and other gizmos can be found buzzing at rates that are hard to beat throughout Southern California. The free access is expected to last at least 3 weeks.

CBS8 San DiegoThe first place to announce AT&T would be giving away free Wi-Fi was CBS8.com and released the information in their minute by minute updates of the San Diego Wildfires here. CBS8 was also the same station that did a story on their nightly news about AT&T being very short and rude with a customer that had lost their Dish receiver in the San Diego Wildfires. AT&T had asked the couple if they had a chance to grab their receiver when leaving their burning home. when the couple said they did not, AT&T simply stated they would be receiving a bill for $300 and that it needed to be paid immediately. The couple asked AT&T if they could postpone the bill until their home insurance made a settlement and AT&T said that they wouldn’t make any exceptions and the bill would be just like any other.

Not long after this story broke on the news, landed on YouTube and hit the frontpage of Digg AT&T back peddled to state that there was a misunderstanding. AT&T stated that their disaster policy was not understood by the customer service representative and that the $300 fee would waived.This was definitely a smart move by AT&T to try and reverse all the bad publicity they generated by generously giving away their Wi-Fi at the Hot Spots in Southern California. AT&T is trying to prove that corporations aren’t always evil and greedy. Kudos to AT&T.What do you think about AT&T giving away free Wi-Fi? Do you think it’s too late? Do you think this was done to just cover up all the bad press AT&T received for being uncompassionate to Southern California fire victims?

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AT&T Mobility Dumps Flat Early Termination Fees

AT&T announced today that it will no longer charge a flat early termination fee for customers who choose to end their phone contracts before they expire. It will now charge a prorated amount based on the time remaining in the contract. AT&T also noted that customers will be able to make changes to their services without extending the contract.



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"Deep red" iPhone in the works for AT&T?

With iPod shuffles and nanos available in a variety of shades, it only makes sense to bring the love to the iPhone too, right? AT&T's internal inventory sheet is apparently now showing iPhones in "deep red" (we probably would've gone with something a little more neutral like black for the first new color, but whatevs) though we don't have any information beyond that. No release date, no picture, nothing. The presence of a 4GB variant of the deep red iPhone here has a little skeptical, considering how its silver sib just got the ax, but who knows -- maybe Apple figures a dirt cheap model colored to match Festivus decorations will sell like gangbusters.



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New AT&T TOS: We'll cut off your internet service for criticizing us

AT&T has brought down new Terms of Service for its network customers. From now on, AT&T can terminate your connection for conduct that "tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries." So AT&T customers aren't allowed to write, podcast or blog critical things about AT&T, its billing-practices, or its cooperation with illegal NSA wiretapping, on pain of having their connections disconnected.

See here the discussion on AT&T announcement at Boing-Boing.

AT&T Terms of Service with latest update. Read carefully.

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