Could first-gen iPhone owners benefit with a lowered data plan rate?

So the big Apple product announcements are over and by now you've already seen all of the details of the 3G iPhone that becomes available on July 11th. We're not going to rehash them here but we will be covering some of the features in terms of what they can do for you, how they compare to similar, non-Apple offerings, etc...

For now, I'm still stymied by no mention of the actual data plan cost for a 3G phone. Yup, it's possible that the same $20 a month you pay for EDGE service will get you HDSPA. I'm still a "doubting Thomas" on that one considering that the new iPhone prices are $199 and $299 for 8- and 16-GB of storage. In fairness, today's announcement are at a developer's conference which isn't the best platform for all the details of a consumer product.

Here's one last outrageous thought on the data pricing. If higher priced, EDGE-only iPhones won't be sold any longer, is it possible that first-gen iPhoners will get a break on their data plan, say: $10 a month going forward? That's one way to leave open a $20 3G plan. Plus we've paid enough, me thinks. ;)

Update: TechCrunch reports that data plans for the 3G iPhone are $30 a month for residential customers, so although you pay less for the iPhone, you're paying $240 more for the data over the contract life.

Comments

[Pam T.]

Excuse me if I get a wee bit annoyed...why do I have to pay nearly $40 for unlimited smartphone data and iPhone users get theirs cheaper?

[Daniel Seiden]

I wonder if they will be able to tell if an old EDGE user buys a new phone. The $20 per month is certainly a nice deal that I am sure most would like to keep if they upgrade to a 3G iPhone.

[Janet Tokerud]

Sorry if you get an extra blank post, I accidentally hit return. I was paying $30/month for my EDGE BlackBerry Pearl plan so $30/month for 3G looks reasonable. I'm in! Not so crazy about an extra 2 year commitment to AT&T but I'm enough of a fan that I can (just barely) swallow that.

[kevin white]

Pam T mentioned that smartphone data is 40 bucks, while the iphone plan is only 20 currently (30 for 3G).

I think it's a rip that they're doing the 30 for 3G. But, in any case, the 'unlimited medianet' plan is 20 dollars a month. It gives you unlimited internet, and even allows you to bypass the medianet proxy. However, I think you get a dynamic IP, which makes push exchange hard since I presume it needs an IP to push things to you.

I used the 20 dollar a month medianet plan with my 8525 for a year straight and had no problems with it. the rep on the phone didn't even say a peep about how I 'needed' the smartphone plan.

[Dee]

I'm considering getting an iPhone. With the new pricing, the only thing worrying me is the data plan pricing. Most of the places I go have free wifi. Would I be able to connect to the internet on an iPhone by just using wifi? I guess you guys can guess I'm not a cellphone person. So, no laughing at me, k? :-)