AT&T GoPhone

GoPhone is the name of AT&T Mobility's prepaid mobile phone service. The GoPhone name was originally conceived and used by the pre-2004 AT&T Wireless. After the merger of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, the original GoPhone service was discontinued and Cingular's prepaid services were renamed GoPhone. The GoPhone brand name is still in use today after Cingular changed their name to AT&T Mobility.

Pick Your Plan

Pick Your Plan was a monthly plan with no credit required because it was paid directly every month with a credit card or checking account. Plans were available with the option to add messaging and data plans.^[1] The Pick Your Plan service option was discontinued and new Pick Your Plan service can no longer be activated, but existing Pick Your Plan service accounts are still being supported.

Pay As You Go

The GoPhone Pay As You Go plan allows you to refill your airtime at your own leisure by purchasing prepaid cards, or one of several airtime packages available through their refill site. Data service on GoPhone is throttled to a maximum of 1Mbps, even if you are in an area with high speed HSPA coverage. 4G phones will not be data enabled even when in a GoPhone coverage area and the service is limited to 3G coverage as of October 2011. While data is throttled and limited, GoPhones have expanded texting services that are included with the base package with no extra fees. Texting is unlimited to the US, Canada, and over 100 countries while using the GoPhone service within the US. AT&T changed Pay As You Go GoPhone plans on October 3, 2010 to these plans: ^[1]

$2 Daily Unlimited Talk and Text

$2 fee only on days that you use your phone allows for unlimited calling & text to the US, Canada, and 100 countries. $.01/KB Pay Per Use for data flat rate or purchase separate data package.

Simple Plan

10¢ per minute flat rate. $.01/KB Pay Per Use for data flat rate or purchase separate data package.

$60 Unlimited Talk and Text

For a 30 day period, unlimited nationwide calling and text to the US, Canada, and 100 countries. $.01/KB Pay Per Use for data flat rate or purchase separate data package.

$75 Unlimited Talk and Text

30 days of unlimited talk and text to the US, Canada, and 100 countries + 200 MB of data

$50 Unlimited Talk, Text, and Web

30 days of unlimited talk, text to the US, Canada, and 100 countries, and data. Unlimited data only available on basic and feature phones, cost is extra for smart phones. Data packages listed below.

$25 Unlimited Text and 250 Minutes

30 days of unlimited text, with 250 minutes to use anytime during 30 days. The unlimited texting service includes MMS (Video, Picture, Audio, App Messaging), TXT (Text Messages), and IM (Instant Messaging) Services. You need a minimum of $25 on your account to use this service.

Data Packages

AT&T is offering the following data packages for smart phones (Android, Blackberry, and iPhone devices) and some unlocked phones, which are limited to 3G or 2G service, and is data throttled at a maximum of 1Mbps: $5 for 10MB, $15 for 100MB, or $25 for 500MB. Data unused from a previous 30 day period can rollover to the next 30 day period provided no lapse in payment for a new package occurs.

Included features

Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, Caller ID, and Three-Way Calling are included. When used, these features do trigger a daily fee or airtime usage. ^[2]

Voice Mail

GoPhone accounts include basic voice mail. Incoming calls to unreachable GoPhone phones are immediately automatically routed to voice mail; this cannot be disabled. Unanswered incoming calls are automatically routed to voice mail as well and this cannot be disabled either. These calls normally do not trigger a daily fee or airtime usage. (Exceptions: if the system has been reprogrammed to have unanswered calls forwarded to a different phone number from the default # for voice mail, or the phone is roaming.)^[3]

Limitations

Some GoPhone sim cards are locked to the single phone they are associated with and cannot be transferred to another phone.

See also

Other prepaid wireless service providers

• Boost Mobile by Sprint
• INpulse by Verizon Wireless
• T-Mobile To-Go
• TracFone Wireless
• Virgin Mobile USA
• Net10 Wireless

References

1. ^ ^{a b} AT&T GoPhone website
2. ^ http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-plans/pyg-cell-phone-plans.jsp
3. ^ http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/faq.jsp

Links

• AT&T Wireless