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Communications Transportation

AT&T, Audi Announce In-Car 4G LTE Plans, Starting At $99 For 6 Months 74

Posted by timothy from the speaking-of-data-monsters dept.
Lucas123 writes "Audi is set to became the first car company to offer native, in-vehicle broadband in its 2015 A3 models through AT&T and it has just listed pricing for the service. Audi and AT&T will offer two data plan options: a 5GB, 6-month plan for $99 and a 30GB, 30-month plan for $499. Audi and GM first announced the upcoming availability of in-car 4G LTE during the CES show this year. GM plans to roll out 4G LTE in vehicles later this year and will eventually have more than 30 models supporting it. Audi said it plans to expand 4G LTE capability across its entire lineup as new or refreshed models come to market."
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AT&T, Audi Announce In-Car 4G LTE Plans, Starting At $99 For 6 Months More

AT&T, Audi Announce In-Car 4G LTE Plans, Starting At $99 For 6 Months

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  • No chance I'd go for this, not in a pig's eye. When will they talk about rolling out reasonably priced plans?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      Never. AT&T is known for raping it's users.

      What I did was I bought a china double din Android 4.0 car stereo, then put a Kindle Sim in it's sim slot. 100% free internet in my car as long as I am not a moron and try to stream videos or music. but it makes Waze work perfectly as well as pulling current weather and other info.

      I already have a system that is 80X better than anything that Audi will ever sell in their cars, because it's 100% open android.

  • Who would pay for a 30 month contract at that price. This is going nowhere.

  • Double, triple, quadruple charging (Score:5, Informative)

    by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Tuesday March 11, 2014 @06:10PM (#46458557)
    I have a phone. It has a 4G LTE plan. It is always with me.

    I have a tablet. I cannot use it simultaneously with my phone (in the sense that I'm actively doing something that consumes data with one device).

    I have a laptop. I cannot use it simultaneously with my tablet and phone.

    I have a car. I cannot use it simultaneously with my laptop, tablet, and phone.

    Clearly the proper metric that used here is to charge for LTE data use per individual (or even per GB). Not per device. The "correct" solution here is to get your cellular data plan with your phone, and have your phone operate as a hotspot to share that data with your tablet, laptop, and car. Attempts to charge for service on a per-device basis is just double-, triple-, or quadruple-dipping by the carriers. If service is being metered per GB, this shouldn't even be an issue. Pay a nominal fee for an LTE SIM card, link it to your phone account, and add the data it uses to your monthly usage. There is absolutely no need for the device to have its own separate plan.

    • Clearly the proper metric that used here is to charge for LTE data use per individual (or even per GB).

      No, the proper metric is to charge whatever ridiculous rates for whatever ridiculous service dipshits are willing to pay to achieve maximum profitability. That's Economics 101.

    • I have a car. I cannot use it simultaneously with my laptop, tablet, and phone.

      Ask me how I know you don't drive in the U.S. :-)

    • "Clearly the proper metric that used here is to charge for LTE data use per individual"

      AYFKM? Why would anyone, ever, charge you for one pool of data to purchase when they can charge you multiple times? Look, you could pay $50/mo for 2GB, and $10/GB after that, but where's the profit in it? You clearly have the money to purchase a phone, a tablet, a laptop, and a car - what's an extra $20-40/mo per device after you've spent 10-100-1000X that getting the hardware. It seems only "fair" that your internet pro

    • I guess a smart person would find a way to just tether the car to your existing internet connected device and go from there. The rest will overpay for a useless plan so their car can get 4G on top of everything else. The operators don't want you to figure out how to do that or be able to do that since it cuts out the money for them.

    • Clearly the proper metric that used here is to charge for LTE data use per individual (or even per GB).

      You get free tethering with tmobile's simple choice plan. For a family plan you can get tethering of 1G (recently upgraded from 500MB) data for free for each line, for $22/line (sans fees/taxes). I'm doing exactly that - it's quite good.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by don.g ( 6394 )

      The carrier "2 degrees mobile" in New Zealand does this. They call it "shared data".

      http://www.2degreesmobile.co.n... [2degreesmobile.co.nz]

      It's only available on a pay-per-month plan (which you can get without a term contract). So I can have a phone on a plan, and share with other SIMs/devices that are on prepay, which is $0/month if you don't make calls, or send SMSes.

    • I have a tablet. I cannot use it simultaneously with my phone (in the sense that I'm actively doing something that consumes data with one device).

      The tablet's operating system can download updated versions of applications while you are using your phone. Or another member of your family can be using your tablet while you are using your phone.

      I have a car. I cannot use it simultaneously with my laptop, tablet, and phone.

      You are using a map application on the car's infotainment system, which scrolls after passing through each intersection. Your wife is on the phone with someone at the destination. Your son is in the back seat doing something with the laptop. Your daughter is in the other back seat doing something with the tablet.

      • They are still using individual bits... from one device, if they are connected by WIFI to one hotspot.

        So whats the problem?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Moskit ( 32486 )

      > Clearly the proper metric that used here is to charge for LTE
      > data use per individual

      Change service provider, or probably country ;-)

      Some operators have not just "per device" but even "per family" plans. You purchase mobile subscription where the fee for data transfer can be shared between multiple devices belonging to multiple persons within family. You just pay small fee (~3$) for extra SIM cards. Limit is 4 cards.

      There are also various promotions, for example during the first 6 months LTE data i

  • I am not up to date on US broadband prices but wouldn't it be much cheaper to get a MiFi access point instead? But I guess if I had the money for a new Audi, I wouldn't care about 99$ a month for a overpriced broadband service. If it is all paid up for the price of the car hides the cost of the broadband.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by vux984 ( 928602 )

      I am not up to date on US broadband prices but wouldn't it be much cheaper to get a MiFi access point instead?

      Cheaper? Maybe, but probably not. (see below)

      More versatile? Definitely. It wouldn't be stuck to your car so you could use elsewhere.

      Less convenient to use, probably. You'd have to figure out how to pair your car to it, remember to bring it with you, and the car antenna installation is probably better than anything that fits in your pocket inside the car, so reception of the mifi won't likely be as

    • For that much data over that period of time, it's cheaper than a MiFi (For Verizon the cheapest plan is $30/month - for which you get 4GB/month, but then you are paying $180/six months).

      If you need a lot more data then it wouldn't be such a deal, but a car is going to use a subset of data - maps and music mostly, which should fit into the 1GB/month structure they are going for here.

      I was actually thinking to post, why can't I get a plan like that for a tablet...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      I have an mobile access point that I have used in the car. It costs more than $15 a month. For example Virgin has instituted data limits and is about $20 a month. $100 for six months is a good deal, especially for the crowd who thinks their SUV is their living room and the plan lets them stream netflix. In any case, this is hardly the first plan for a car. Mercedes has already expanded mbrace to include internet. It is $500 a year, but that includes lots of extras. Still very much more expensive, but

    • But I guess if I had the money for a new Audi, I wouldn't care about 99$ a month for a overpriced broadband service.

      It's $99 for 6 months which translates to $16.50/month.

  • so the small trip to Canada can cost more then the price of a new car very fast.

  • ....but it's the first to offer 4G LTE.

    My 2014 Jeep has Uconnect Access which uses Sprint, I believe. It's also too expensive....

  • Remember 2G? Many cars that predate it are still on the road.

    In a couple of years this will be as desirable as mid-90s in-car phones. Meanwhile you will pay higher sticker price.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Remember 2G? Many cars that predate it are still on the road.

      In a couple of years this will be as desirable as mid-90s in-car phones. Meanwhile you will pay higher sticker price.

      You say that like it's a bad thing.

      In a few years, you'll get a new loan for a new Audi. By then we'll be up to elevnety thousand G.

      Signed,
      VAG's planned obsolescence department.

  • Depending on what you're streaming (movies and games for the kids in the backseat of the Escalade?) , it would be plausible to use the data limit up fairly quickly.

    Unlikely as it may seem, there may be some outfits out there willing to gouge a bit for exceeding plan limitations.

  • Not the First (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This cannot be considered the first vehicle with native in-vehicle broadband. In fact, the Tesla Model S has offered this since 2012, or 2013. Furthermore, there is (currently) no charge for this service.

  • Just in time to be obsolete (Score:3)

    by erice ( 13380 ) on Tuesday March 11, 2014 @06:54PM (#46458921) Homepage

    It is LTE. LTE-Advanced (the real "4G") is supposed to start rolling out this year.

    The average vehicle life is 11.4 years. That means this car will have an obsolete wireless connection for nearly 11 years. At the rate that new standards come out and frequencies shuffle, you may not be able to get service at all in the last couple of years.

  • Could be useful for listening to internet radio or updating music libraries.
    At a 128kb/s stream (I think thing streams are kilobit rather than kilobyte), that's
    5,000,000,000 bytes.
    40000000000 bits
    / 128kb/s

    86 hours (312500 seconds). If that's 5GB/month, it's not too bad for radio... if that's 5GB/6mo it's a bit crappy.
    For syncing/downloading music, of course, it depends on the size of your library.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Could be useful for listening to internet radio or updating music libraries. At a 128kb/s stream (I think thing streams are kilobit rather than kilobyte),

      (Yes, music streams are traditionally measured in kilobits per second, but that's not the point.)

      SDHC card slot: $0.99
      32GB SDHC card: $8.99
      Subscription charges: $0.00/year
      Dependencies on third-party music streaming services: None.
      Number of bits of network bandwidth consumed: 0 kbit/year
      Signal strength in underground tunnel is the same as it is in E

  • I just can't see why you would need this ? If the car needs an Internet connection to, say, update street maps then just give it your home WiFi password.

    The driver should not have much need since he is supposed to have his eyes on the road, I suppose streaming music might be nice - but the radio/cd-player does me fine. Passengers: if they want the net then they just fire up their 'phone/tablet/...

    So why ? Or am I incredibly unimaginative ?

    • Traffic data. There's been times where I would totally pay $5 for 30 minutes worth of good data rate to figure out the traffic. Unfortunately, the reason for that was because ATT network is terrible. I would get full-bars but no data would come through. So this partnership does nothing really because the ATT network can't handle the data they have right now.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I was wondering how we were going to pay for making sure that we are no longer free to move about the country. Now I know!
  • Basically what Audi is doing by instituting this plan is announcing to the world that they are building their cars to be obsolete in two years. If Audi was building quality cars they would have announced that they have entered a partnership with AT&T to put an adapter in their car that will be compatible with cellphones on the AT&T network for the next 10 years (or more). As it is, they have indicated that they are building fancy pieces of junk that you won't want two years from now.

  • So I can go "semi-annually" for $16.50/mo, or I can "lock in" a rate of $16.63/mo for 2.5 years. On a service which has been falling in price (i.e. - metered mobile data).

    Unless you happen to live in that magical land where you use between 5.2 and 6GB in 6 months, you may as well get the 6 month plan and take your chance on a better plan in the future. Like adding your car to your existing mobile plan for $10 and using your existing data pool.

  • ... you rich tech geeks need to resist this crap. Do not buy these services. I want to see them die before they ever get off the ground. If I ever have to pay a subscription fee to use a car, I swear to god I will drive a 2002 Honda Accord for the rest of my life, and I will love it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pspahn ( 1175617 )
      Try as I might, I am still looking for a brand-new 1988 Toyota pickup. I've bought two pairs of the same shoes at the same time before fearing they would cease to exist. I've been hoping some guy did the same thing with a few hundred trucks.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AvitarX ( 172628 )

      It's not the tech geeks that will do this, we'll be happy to have a phone charger and a headphone jack. Or a tablet mounted to the dash, that shares phone data, something that will have a better interface (if sync is any indication, the rental I had with that was like they tried to make the interface suck, 3 layers deep of menu, 2 different areas with the same caption, just to get my bluetooth music to play, oh, and every start, it reset to voice only from bluetooth).

      This will be sold so rich non-geeks can

  • [insert android head unit joke here]

    When China started pumping out Android 4.0 (and higher) devices in car stereo form-factors with "standard" cabling and 25-50 watts per channel on the audio output, I started to ponder what sort of service my car needed. These devices all had WiFi, and a few could take an add-on USB cellular device, but nothing that worked for me.

    I wanted maps, streaming XM, maybe some Pandora, and the occasional Google Now based search.

    It was vastly easier to order a Hotspot device with

  • http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html

  • Soon to be mandatory to use data features? (Score:3)

    by swb ( 14022 ) on Tuesday March 11, 2014 @10:13PM (#46460399)

    How long until it is mandatory to have a data plan for your car to use any of the infotainment features, ie, their is a built-in incompatibility or missing feature to pair your car with whatever mobile data device you already own (phone tethering, MiFi-type device, existing municipal wifi, etc)?

    Car maker makes data usage exclusive to one carrier, earns spiff for every subscription, carrier just ups data plan cost to cover spiff.

    Total ripoff.

  • This is genius! When their owners crash their cars from fiddling with data-related bullshit while driving, they'll buy another one. The best planned obsolescence I've ever heard.
  • No doubt this is in response to Tesla., who has had cell communications in all of their cars for the last couple of years.

  • I'm curious what happens when you drive into another country. For instance I drive from the US to Canada about once a year. Would I receive some obscene roaming data charges just for driving into another country? I have to turn off my cell phone data in Canada to avoid sticker shock on my next bill. Don't really want to have to do that for my car too.

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