What just happened? AT&T prepaid and AT&T subsidiary Cricket Wireless on Friday announced the launch of more affordable mobile phone plans to help customers facing financial hardship as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. AT&T didn't say how long the plan would be in effect although presumably, it'll at least be for the duration of the crisis in the US.
The new plans includes unlimited talk and text plus 2GB of data (max download speeds of 8 Mbps (LTE)/ 4 Mbps (4G)) for a flat fee of $15 per month with no hidden fees or taxes.
The offer, a clear response to T-Mobile's recently announced Connect prepaid plan, will throttle speeds down to 128kbps once you exceed the monthly data allotment. While still usable (just barely), it's better than T-Mobile which cuts you off completely after your 2GB high-speed data allowance. Conversely, T-Mobile's plan affords 5G connectivity; AT&T and Cricket don't.
You also have the option to add additional buckets of data for an extra fee.
AT&T / Cricket's new plans are available to new and existing customers with no activation fee for a limited time.
The carrier is also automatically adding 10GB of data to capped plans each month for the next two months. Full details can be found on AT&T's and Cricket's respective websites.
Image credit: Helen89, Maria Savenko