AT&T's $3-a-day unlimited calling, Samsung a177 both go live
Today AT&T begins selling an interesting new GoPhone pay-as-you-go option, offering users unlimited domestic local and long distance for $3 a day, only on the days that you use it. If all you need is a sheer crapload of voice minutes, this actually stacks up really favorable against AT&T's postpaid offerings, which price unlimited service at $99.99 a month -- with this, you'll be paying between $84 and $93 a month, assuming you end up springing for service every single day. Of course, the tradeoff is that you're stuck bringing your own phone to the network or picking up one of AT&T's GoPhone devices -- which tend to dominate the low end of the spectrum -- but then again, if voice is really your thing, odds are you don't care about how many accelerometers your phone features.On a related note, Samsung's a177 (pictured) has gone live on AT&T's site, bringing a solid text messaging experience to the prepaid market. As you might expect of a $99.99 no-commitment phone, all you've got is a VGA cam -- but roughly $110 a month for unlimited contract-free voice and texting on a top-tier carrier might be enough to sway a few in the a177's direction, assuming value leaders like Boost, Cricket, and Virgin Mobile aren't picking everyone off.
Read - Samsung a177
Read - $3-a-day option























Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
N.Rosario @ May 11th 2009 12:20PM
again copy VZW, we had this like 3 months ago
kachra @ May 11th 2009 2:17PM
AT&T is known to be a copy cat. They dont invent anything they just follow what VZW does.
john @ May 11th 2009 3:28PM
Actually, Verizon copied one of the smaller carriers that had already done the same thing (cricket?).
Amar @ May 11th 2009 2:43PM
or just get boost mobile and pay 50 a month for unlimited everything
AwlAmericanDawg @ May 11th 2009 3:23PM
Actually, the one for AT&T is 3 dollars a day while Verizon's is $3.99 per day.
john @ May 11th 2009 3:40PM
Anyone know how/if this interoperates with the $19.99 unlimited nights and weekends for 30 days option?
I know: why would you need both? If you make lots of weekend calls, the N&W is cheaper (8-9 weekend days / month at $3/day is $24-$27 ... compared to $20 for the N&W bundle). If you get the N&W bundle, does the call count against N&W, if it's a weekend, or after 9pm? or is the N&W bundle essentially useless if you're on the $3/day plan?
If they had an Android phone (or maybe the G1 being brought to Rogers in Canada soon, so it'll have AT&T compatible 3G ... just have to get it unlocked), I might get the $3/day plan, with $20 unlimited txt and $20 for 100MB data. If I used the $3 every day, that'd still be comparable to what I pay on T-Mobile for unlimited voice/txt/data ... but I don't make calls every day, and I am usually light on the data (under 50MB/mo usually).
(why do I use an Android phone if I am light on data? I do use some specific Android apps, they just aren't heavy data apps, and a few of them don't have comparable alternatives on other phones)
dhaasgob @ May 11th 2009 7:22PM
N&W buckets aren't available for the $3/day option.