Responding to pressure from T-Mobile, AT&T in May announced Aio Wirelelss. The new wireless prepaid brand features data plans starting as low as $40 a month for 250MB and all the way up to $70 a month for seven gigabytes of high-speed data.
After having tested the service in Florida, Texas and Atlanta markets, AT&T said Friday that Aio Wireless will be available online to everyone beginning mid-September. And to raise awareness, AT&T is planning to give new customers their third month of service free.
More on that after the break…
If you activate your Aio (as in ‘All In One) account by September 29, 2014, AT&T will treat you to a free third month of service. This per-customer offer applies only to new customers who agree to purchase of two consecutive months of service on a qualifying rate plan.
This entails Aio’s Basic, Smart and Pro rate plans and excludes features or other services. Eligible customers will receive an account credit approximately five days prior to the payment due date for the third month of service.
AT&T on Friday confirmed that Aio is currently available in Florida, Texas and the Metro-Atlanta markets, via 200+ dealer-owned Aio stores and through the Aio website, with folks in the Chicago area currently able to activate the Aio service online.
Prepaid Aio plans include $40/$55/$70 tiers (pricing varies by market) with unlimited talk/text and 250MB/2GB/7GB of data. Customers can also activate a bunch of other options in between.
Aio offers a bunch of devices from Samsung, Nokia, ZTE and others. Like T-Mobile’s Uncarrier plans, you can also bring your own phone or even trade-in a qualifying device for a credit towards an upgraded phone or accessory.
Aio brand initially did not include access to AT&T’s fast LTE network in the United States – only 3G HSPA+ data was supported – but the company has changed its stance: the press release confirms Aio plans are available “with a pre-established amount of high-speed access, including 4G LTE”.
Curiously enough, Aio’s prices come in lower than AT&T’s existing GoPhone prepaid service that sets you back $65 a month for unlimited voice/text, though just a gigabyte of data.
By comparison, T-Mobile is offering unlimited voice/text and two and a half gigabytes of throttled LTE data for $60 a month. For those who don’t care about carrier minutes (hint: Skype), T-Mobile has an affordable $30 a month plan that comes with unlimited text, 100 voice minutes and five gigabytes of 4G LTE data – it’s a steal.
Earlier in the week, AT&T announced thirteen new LTE markets.
Although the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier continues to trail behind Verizon in terms of LTE coverage, its network appears faster in recent studies.
Are you sold on Aio yet?