AT&T adds cheaper Mobile Share service, offers Lumia 520 for $99.99 - CNET

AT&T is addressing the needs of frugal wireless consumers with less expensive tiers for its Mobile Share plans and a new affordable Nokia smartphone for its prepaid GoPhone customers. AT&T is catering to more cost-sensitive consumers with two new lower cost tiers of service for its Mobile Share plans and a new low-cost smartphone for its prepaid service. Starting Friday July 26, AT&T will be adding two new tiers to its Mobile Share portfolio. The company also said it will begin offering the Nokia Lumia 520 for its prepaid GoPhone customers for $99.99 starting Friday. Related stories iOS continues to top Android in mobile Web traffic Canary aims to make home security simple and smart Verizon takes high ground in response to AT&T's 'reliable' ad Ubuntu Edge dual-boots Android, seeks $32 million on Indiegogo Aereo heads west -- but not too far west -- with Utah launch When it comes to the new Mobile Share tiers, now customers who don't need to share as much data will be able to subscribe to a $20 a month 300MB plan or a $50 a month 2GB plan. Previously, AT&T's least expensive and lowest amount of data offering was its 1GB plan, which costs $40 per month. Since there was no 2GB tier of service available, customers who needed more than the 1GB of data were forced to upgrade to a 4GB plan, which is priced at $70 per month. AT&T has added two new tiers of service to its Mobile Share service offering. (Credit: AT&T) AT&T said the new 300MB and 2GB are meant to provide more choice for customers. "Our customers are living mobile lives, and our new Mobile Share plans give them even more options to design a plan that meets their unique needs," Mark Collins, senior vice president voice and data products for AT&T Mobility, said in a statement. AT&T introduced its Mobile Share plans a year ago. The plans include unlimited voice and text messaging. The plans are differentiated based on how much data they offer. Subscribers are able to share the "bucket" of data with other family members on the same plan or with other Internet-enabled devices, such as tablets, Mi-Fis, or cameras. "We've seen an amazing response from customers since we first launched AT&T Mobile Share plans about one year ago, and that's why we're expanding our Mobile Share choices to fit more customers," Collins added. "As of the first quarter of this year, more than 10 million connections have discovered the benefits of sharing data and unlimited talk and text." Under these plans, subscribers are also charged extra for every device that is connected to the share plan. For example, with the new 300MB data tier, it will cost $50 a month to connect a smartphone, making the plan a total of $70 a month. Customers who sign up for the 1 GB or 2GB plan pay $45 on top of their Mobile Share plan for every smartphone on the plan. The price continues to decrease for each smartphone as the amount of data increases. Nokia Lumia 520 comes to AT&T for $99.99 The new tiers for the Mobile Share plan aren't the only thing AT&T is doing to lure in frugal consumers. The company also announced Monday that starting Friday it will offer the low-cost Nokia Lumia 520 for its prepaid GoPhone service. This device, which uses the Microsoft Windows Phone 8 operating system, is one of the best bargains in the smartphone market. It's essentially the same Lumia device that T-Mobile has been selling since the spring. On T-Mobile the phone has been selling out on an almost weekly basis. Nokia 520 (Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET) The Nokia Lumia 520 for AT&T GoPhone is available for $99.99. It's a lower end smartphone for sure, but it still packs in some decent functionality including a 5 megapixel camera with added software functions included, such as Cinemagraph, which adds motion to your pictures. You can also capture super-wide-angled pictures or the Smart Shoot feature that allows you to capture five sequential images and select different faces and portions of the photos to compile into one final group picture. The phone also comes loaded with several useful Nokia apps, such as Nokia's mapping and navigation apps, as well as its Nokia Music service. The device can also access Windows Phone apps. AT&T claims that the Lumia 520 is a 4G device, but don't be fooled. The phone does not support 4G LTE, the fastest flavor of 4G service. Instead it offers HSPA+ connectivity, which AT&T and T-Mobile call 4G service. But make no mistake, the service is not as fast as the 4G LTE network that AT&T offers. Also, this device is sold for AT&T's prepaid service only. So customers who want to use it with one of the Mobile Share plans won't be able to buy the phone for that purpose. They'll have to sign up for the GoPhone prepaid service. Nokia offers several Lumia devices that vary in size and specifications. (Credit: Josh Miller/CNET) Still, this is a great little phone for the price. And CNET's Reviews editors have given it high marks for the price. Digital Life expansion AT&T also announced that on Friday it will expand its Digital Life home monitoring and automation serviceto more markets, including Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, San Diego, San Jose and Tampa. The Digital Life service offers security monitoring, which can be accessed from Internet connected smartphones, tablets and PCs. Specifically, it allows customers to remotely control cameras, door locks, lights, thermostats, small appliances, and more. In addition to the six new cities AT&T has announced for Digital Life, the company also serves 33 other markets and it plans to introduce service in up to 50 markets by the end of 2013. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHJ882SAPO3A8GWkr_n5Dt3xHyhRQ&url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57594871-94/at-t-adds-cheaper-mobile-share-service-offers-lumia-520-for-$99.99/

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