Having an unlimited data plan is not something that is out of the ordinary these days. In fact, with the kind of intense competition between various mobile carriers, it has become a kind of a selling point. AT&T plays catch up with the rest of the industry by offering a free HBO subscription as one of the perks which will accompany its high end Unlimited Plus plan. In other words, if you have been wondering whether you should make the jump to the Unlimited Plus plan, there is no better time than now. Or in the foreseeable future, too.
While there might be no such thing as a free lunch in this world, at least there is a free HBO subscription that you are now able to take advantage of! Those who, at this point in time, do not subscribe to an AT&T video service will be able to enjoy viewing via DirecTV Now or HBO Go, with the use of apps on numerous platforms such as Apple's iOS and Apple TV. Assuming that one already has DirecTV or U-verse, HBO will end up as a free service.
To sweeten the deal, AT&T has also decided to throw in a $25 monthly credit for its video services, which will happen after the initial three bills. The HBO credit will begin from the first two bills themselves. When one enables AutoPay and paperless billing, Unlimited Plus will cost $90 for a single line, but if you decide that one line is not enough, then it would be more affordable at $145 for a pair of lines. From there, subsequent lines will add another $20 to the monthly bill.
What about some of the other perks that will accompany these lines? There will be roaming in Canada and Mexico to boot, not to mention being able to have up to 10GB of hotspot data for each person each month. Assuming users pass the 22GB data mark within the billing month, there might be some temporary throttling of data.
How did AT&T makes this free HBO bundle a possibility? This is attributed to AT&T's $85 billion purchase of Time Warner. While that particular deal has not yet gained approval, but rather, has stared down opposition from politicians as well as others who are concerned about a possible monopoly in the media, it is certainly showing some “fruit”.
Over the past few months, the unlimited data plan war in the US have been heating up, where each particular mobile carrier intends to win over the rest with the kind of perks and advantages that they have decided to throw into the mix. In fact, this move by AT&T is seen to be a readjustment of its strategy, and you can be sure that there will be ripples in the industry that will also see other mobile carriers make their appropriate changes to woo new subscribers.
Is it going to descend into a price war in due time? We do not know for sure, but price wars have rarely ended up beneficial for everyone involved.
