US Cellular has decided to offer shared data plans to its customers, bringing it in line with AT&T and Verizon. At the same time as allowing customers and small businesses to buy allowances of data that can be used on multiple devices, the carrier is also bringing to an end the availability of its unlimited data plans.
The new shared data plans provide unlimited minutes and messaging to all devices, with the subscription cost based on the devices added to the plan, as well as how much data is allocated to the plan each month. It costs $40 per smartphone, $30 per basic phone, $20 for each hotspot or wireless modem, and $10 per tablet, with domestic users able to add up to 10 devices, or up to 25 for businesses.
Data allowances for both customers and business start from $40 per month for 300MB, picking up to $50 for 1GB, $60 for 2GB, rising up to $100 for 10GB of shared data, with all plans also including tethering. Customers with more extreme data needs can pay up to $560 per month for 75GB, while businesses can shell out $750 per month for a shared 100GB bucket.
Though US Cellular has moved to capped data plans from unlimited, existing users with unlimited data on their accounts will continue to do so, unless they move to another price plan. The change to shared data allocations comes just a few months after the carrier altered its terms of service to require customers to sign a two-year commitment when initially signing up or upgrading a device.
