As most Apple followers know, AT&T offered unlimited data plans at $30/month when the iPhone first came out. However they quickly removed this option, making users either pay for a certain amount of data (200 MB, 2GB, or 4GB), or pay-per-use. So, until Sprint decided to offer unlimited data plans for the iPhone 4S, users had to settle with this option.
Now, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has expressed regrets about offering unlimited data. “My only regret was how we introduced pricing in the beginning, because how did we introduce pricing? Thirty dollars and you get all you can eat,” he said in the on-stage interview at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference on Wednesday. “And it’s a variable cost model. Every additional megabyte you use in this network, I have to invest capital," he said at a recent conference. He also said he didn't like Skype and iMessage, because AT&T doesn't generate as much revenue from them. However, AT&T has remained the most prominent iPhone carrier, with 60% of current iPhone users using AT&T. They had $29 billion in sales last quarter.
Interestingly, Sprint has not expressed any concerns about their "everything" plan, which includes unlimited data. In fact, they recently stated that they would continue to offer this plan for the iPhone even when it got 4G abilities.
