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AT&T Offers You An 'A-List'
Telco offers unlimited calling to 5-10 most called numbers

On the heels of this morning's 7.2 Mbps expansion announcement, AT&T also says they're introducing a Friends & Family (or myFaves)-esque feature dubbed the AT&T "A-List." According to AT&T, the "A-List" will allow AT&T Wireless customers unlimited mobile calling to and from their most frequently called friends, family members, or stalking victims, regardless of their carrier. The catch? You'll need to be on an individual plan paying $59.99 per month (with 900+ minutes) to get five such numbers, or a FamilyTalk plan of $89.99 or higher (1,400+ minutes) to get access to ten A-list numbers. According to the A-List website (where you can manage your numbers), the functionality goes live September 20.

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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL

kapil

Member

Pfft

AT&T and Verizon own enough network elements and bandwidth that they truly could make wireless unlimited at a reasonable price...but wireless is a big cash cow for both and wireline is dying, so they won't out of greed!

Both AT&T and Verizon have so many wireless and wireline customers that the bulk of the calls probably stay on their own network.

NOCTech75
Premium Member
join:2009-06-29
Marietta, GA

2 recommendations

NOCTech75

Premium Member

Re: Pfft

Maybe you could start your own company where it's sole purpose is to lose money, buck the makin money trend.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Pfft

VZW reseller (PagePlus) aready does this on VZW's network. Unlimited voice calling for $39.99 per month.

If they can do it why NOT ATT or VZ themselves? Hell, Sprint does it on both of their networks; CDMA: Virgin Mobile and iDEN: Boost Mobile.

Caddyroger
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11
To the west

Caddyroger to kapil

Premium Member

to kapil
If that the case then return 50% of your pay back to your employer

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

wifi4milez

Member

Re: Pfft

said by Caddyroger:

If that the case then return 50% of your pay back to your employer
Dear Leader has "enlightened" me by allowing me to give back almost 50% of my income to the government, and I LOVE IT! Its not like I had a need for that money anyway.......

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Pfft

said by wifi4milez:

said by Caddyroger:

If that the case then return 50% of your pay back to your employer
Dear Leader has "enlightened" me by allowing me to give back almost 50% of my income to the government, and I LOVE IT! Its not like I had a need for that money anyway.......
If 50% of your income is going to the Feds, you need to fire your CPA for stealing from you ... or hire one.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984 to kapil

Premium Member

to kapil
said by kapil:

AT&T and Verizon own enough network elements and bandwidth that they truly could make wireless unlimited at a reasonable price...but wireless is a big cash cow for both and wireline is dying, so they won't out of greed!

Both AT&T and Verizon have so many wireless and wireline customers that the bulk of the calls probably stay on their own network.
Not when people call scammy Iowa conference call numbers and ATT and Verizon get billed $.06 a minute.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Pfft

said by r81984:

Not when people call scammy Iowa conference call numbers and ATT and Verizon get billed $.06 a minute.
Right, that's the problem! Everyone needs to stop using FreeConferenceCall and we'll all get lower cell phones bills!

Of course, AT&T charges you $0.10 a minute for the same service, but that's ok, right? »businessesales.att.com/p ··· ng.jhtml

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: Pfft

said by Matt3:
said by r81984:

Not when people call scammy Iowa conference call numbers and ATT and Verizon get billed $.06 a minute.
Right, that's the problem! Everyone needs to stop using FreeConferenceCall and we'll all get lower cell phones bills!

Of course, AT&T charges you $0.10 a minute for the same service, but that's ok, right? »businessesales.att.com/p ··· ng.jhtml
What is wrong with charging the user anything???
With the scammy Iowa conference numbers instead of the user getting charged the phone company does. Why should the phone company pay for your conference calls???

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Pfft

said by r81984:

said by Matt3:
said by r81984:

Not when people call scammy Iowa conference call numbers and ATT and Verizon get billed $.06 a minute.
Right, that's the problem! Everyone needs to stop using FreeConferenceCall and we'll all get lower cell phones bills!

Of course, AT&T charges you $0.10 a minute for the same service, but that's ok, right? »businessesales.att.com/p ··· ng.jhtml
What is wrong with charging the user anything???
With the scammy Iowa conference numbers instead of the user getting charged the phone company does. Why should the phone company pay for your conference calls???
And the charges are passed along in the form of some bogus fee I'm sure. I'm sorry, I'm not going to cry a river for an ILEC ... especially not over $0.06 a minute.
Matt3

Matt3

Premium Member

Nice Feature

This will be a nice way for us to drop our monthly plan to save some money.

rahlquist
Redeye
join:2001-10-30
Villa Rica, GA

rahlquist

Member

Re: Nice Feature

Yes, you will save money by piling up all those unused minutes you paid for with the plan you already had and your shinny new 2 year commitment with large contract full of reasons why they can force you back onto another plan if you overuse it.

Make sure you read the TOS folks.

skj
Welcome to the far side of reality
Mod
join:2002-04-04
Gone South

skj

Mod

Same thing as Verizon

Verizon already has this same feature called "Family and Friends".

Boricua
Premium Member
join:2002-01-26
Sacramuerto

Boricua

Premium Member

Re: Same thing as Verizon

said by skj:

Verizon already has this same feature called "Family and Friends".
At the same price . I checked into it and essentially the same amount of minutes as well .
Zoder
join:2002-04-16
Miami, FL

Zoder

Member

Re: Same thing as Verizon

said by Boricua:

At the same price . I checked into it and essentially the same amount of minutes as well .
But don't call it collusion or price signaling

skj
Welcome to the far side of reality
Mod
join:2002-04-04
Gone South

skj

Mod

Re: Same thing as Verizon

It is purely a coincidence that the promotions are exactly the same.
kaila
join:2000-10-11
Lincolnshire, IL

kaila

Member

Don't qualify..........

I'm on the $40/450min iPhone plan, and this feature won't be worth the extra $20mo to change minute plans for me. I will be happy to voip as much as I want when I'm using wifi though......

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Don't qualify..........

Same here... I'm on the 550/$59.99 family plan , and don't qualify. To pay $30/month more, it would be the same as cutting my landline...which includes free calling to Canada. Not happening.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Don't qualify..........

said by en102:

Same here... I'm on the 550/$59.99 family plan , and don't qualify. To pay $30/month more, it would be the same as cutting my landline...which includes free calling to Canada. Not happening.
Oooh, I misread the article. Yeah, we won't be eligible for this as we're on an 800 minute plan (700 minute from AT&T directly) that is a little less than $69.99/month. Well that sucks ...

vahif
@208.89.242.x

vahif to en102

Anon

to en102
Hmm 16 percent for social and medicare, then another 25-33 on average for income adds up quite fast to near 50 percent. Sure not exactly 50, but sadly close enough.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Don't qualify..........

said by vahif :

Hmm 16 percent for social and medicare, then another 25-33 on average for income adds up quite fast to near 50 percent. Sure not exactly 50, but sadly close enough.
That's before deductions. I'm self-emplyed so I pay an additional 15% ON TOP of that, and I am able to get mine to about 18% after deductions ... and I don't even have kids.

Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI

Nightfall

MVM

Thats a lot of minutes

My wife and I both have a family talk plan with 450 minutes because thats all we use. Sure, we go over some months but a majority of months we are under and rollover covers us. I went to the AT&T website to check on this because I do have an Iphone and it might be a cool feature.

Thats when I read the qualifications....
quote:
If your individual plan is 900+ minutes ($59.99 or over) per month, or your FamilyTalk plan is 1400+ minutes ($89.99 or over) per month, you'll be ready to add your A-List on September 20!

So 1400 minutes? We spend over $90 a month because I have an Iphone and data plan, but we don't have 1400 minutes. That seems to be a little excessive. If you are getting the A-list, it means you talk a lot. Wouldn't putting 10 people on your A-list DECREASE your minute use? Which means you are talking with no minute usage if you call someone on the A-list or they call you. In the end, you have more minutes that go on your rollover and expire at the end of 12 months.

I don't know, but it just seems a little high to me.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Thats a lot of minutes

your right. these "deals" are not really deals.. unless you talk A LOT. a god awful amount. people get these "deals" when they don't do the math and take the salespersons word for it. or they just use an absorbent amount of minutes.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Thats a lot of minutes

With a 1400 plan and rollover, unless you're hitting 1400 minutes/month (not including m2m/n+w), you might as well be already considered unlimited. That's 23 hours of non-weekend, non-night time calling. Sure, if I was using my cellphone as a personal work phone, it might be worth it.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72 to ArrayList

Premium Member

to ArrayList
said by ArrayList:

your right. these "deals" are not really deals.. unless you talk A LOT. a god awful amount. people get these "deals" when they don't do the math and take the salespersons word for it. or they just use an absorbent amount of minutes.
T-Mobile offers myfaves for individual plans as low as 300 minutes and Family plans as low as 400 (not 1400) minutes.

These offers are not always bad deals. Chances are if they're from ATT or VZW, they are though.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Thats a lot of minutes

Tmobile doesn't make you have a contract either for that.

TM also wants $39.99 for the plan. At that rate just use a VZW reseller (see above) for a much better deal, or for $10 extra bucks use Virgin Mobile and have a better and larger network.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to tiger72

Premium Member

to tiger72
I have the 400minute plan on T-mobile with 2 G1's on it. I barely use 100minutes. I do however use the hell out of the data plan. I think i average around 300-400 megs that are not on wifi.

i wish oh i wish that I could get a plan with even fewer voice minutes.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: Thats a lot of minutes

they're discussing some alternative ideas over on howardforums. I believe that's the type of plan they offer in the UK and Germany.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to ArrayList

Member

to ArrayList
You can. On the SideKicks you can buy data only and just use a hand full of minutes that you'd use a top up card on.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Dislike these types of plans

I really dislike these types of cell phone plans. It needlessly complicates what should be simple: using a cell phone. Yes yes, I understand it 'adds value' ~violent shudder~ but the only plan that will get my attention is one that costs less overall, not these little games the big guys are playing.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: Dislike these types of plans

said by morbo:

I really dislike these types of cell phone plans. It needlessly complicates what should be simple: using a cell phone. Yes yes, I understand it 'adds value' ~violent shudder~ but the only plan that will get my attention is one that costs less overall, not these little games the big guys are playing.
Seriously?
They save you money by letting you drop to lower plans. May not be useful for business users that call many different people, but for residential lines, MyFaves and A-List/Friends&Family save people money on their monthly bills.

•••
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to morbo

Premium Member

to morbo
said by morbo:

It needlessly complicates what should be simple: using a cell phone.
That's the point This is a mechanism to entice uneducated consumers to spend more than they really need. A lot of people look at "unlimited calls to/from 10 people" and buy it hook, line, and sinker. They don't understand, or ignore the fact, that they'll end up paying more for the increased service tier to get the "free" calling than if they had just stayed within their existing tier. I looked at VZW's Friends and Family offering and it didn't make financial sense given my family's usage pattern.
Chaldo
join:2008-03-18
West Bloomfield, MI

Chaldo

Member

I KNEW this was COMING

I was talking to a at&t rep and asked about this 2 freaking days ago, she said Well as you know these calls are recorded I can't say much but what you said has a possibility of coming to AT&T if they think it will work, and they have been discussing it.

•••
bigddybn
join:2000-10-18
Stuart, FL

bigddybn

Member

Why whine?

It's a perk. If you are on one of the eligible rate plans you're getting a nice freebie. If you aren't then you aren't losing anything.

Why b!#ch about it?

Steve B
Premium Member
join:2004-08-02
Auburn, WA

1 recommendation

Steve B

Premium Member

Re: Why whine?

Because, AT&T will market this everywhere in a way that will make consumers think its beneficial to all when its not. Sales reps will do the same thing. I understand AT&T is in this to make money. But damn, once in a while be nice to the group of people that help keep your ass in business. Meaning, let EVERYONE take advantage of this offer.
60127178 (banned)
K.U. Sweet 16
join:2001-02-15
Wichita, KS

60127178 (banned)

Member

Yeppers...

Total Rip-off...Tmobile (the originator) and Alltel both had this feature available for a long time with much less $$ involved. 3 line family plan on Alltel (soon VZW) with 1000 minutes and 1000 texts per line = 79.99 plus taxes and fees. 10 "My Circle" numbers included. Monthly use is around 600-650 minutes.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Yeppers...

You won't be paying that with VZ. But they'll be glad to give you a nice price increase.

ex_rolm_man
@bellsouth.net

ex_rolm_man

Anon

Re: Yeppers...

You are right about Verizon plans.The trick here to keep the old Alltel plan in effect by not upgrading to new equipment. Just buy a CMDA phone out right and have Verizon activate it. This way you keep more minutes for the dollar. Since Verizon merger, I get constant teasers to upgrade from Verizon.

FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA

FastiBook

Member

Um...

Not interested.

- A
dgoin
join:2003-03-10
Gate City, VA

dgoin

Member

friends and family

I would say this has more to do with the fact they bought 15 of the21 remaining alltel networks and this was the easy route to keep those customers on the same kind of plan they had with alltel.
slckusr
Premium Member
join:2003-03-17
Greenville, SC

slckusr

Premium Member

Re: friends and family

said by dgoin:

I would say this has more to do with the fact they bought 15 of the21 remaining alltel networks and this was the easy route to keep those customers on the same kind of plan they had with alltel.
funny verizon got friends and family too. If you need to update the backend to support the feature just give it to everyone.

The Beer
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Premium Member
join:2001-07-24
Lincoln, NE

The Beer

Premium Member

It's all a numbers game...

They did an analsys of people with those plans and found a majority don't use all their plan minutes anyway, this gives the percived value you get to call these people for free, when in fact you prob would not have used the min anyway.

Sprint has this too (you have to call and ask or beg) for Pick3 or Pick5, but once again they will not give it to you on a VALUE plan unless you call retentions.

I have the Pick5 and one is my google voice number for the WIN.

•••
gworkman
join:2005-10-18
Las Vegas, NV

gworkman

Member

Too much $

Crikes! I pay $59.99 for 850 minutes. But I also have two iPhones and two other phones and the bill totals $220/month. Like most others, I'm always rolling over on the minutes, so nothing much to get excited about anyway.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

higher per minute price, then add taxes & fees!

This is WHY you got postpaid account, to have a nicer phone... or a subsidized phone which your carrier sold you down the river for 2 years in-contract for... there are prepaid plans which are $40-50 for unlimited calling and have some calling features as well.. maybe even texting & data added in too.. depending upon the carrier.

The time has LONG PAST for the post-paid prices to come dOwN to reality. Will someone please send a MEMO to AT&T and VERIZON!!

ryder9
join:2003-01-09
here

ryder9

Member

5 on single versus 10 on family......

so If you have 4 #'s on a family plan, mom and dad gets 3 numbers and the kids get two? why don't they just give five per line???