GoKawiilIn order to give customers more freedom over what they are and aren't paying for, today AT&T announced its new Build-A-Plan, which offers greater customizability regarding the specific features in people's cell service.
Available beginning on May 27, AT&T's Build-A-Plan will start at just $15 a month, which the company says is lower than any competing option from T-Mobile or Verizon. That said, while the base Build-A-Plan comes with unlimited talk and text, it only includes 1GB of data. If you want more, you can upgrade to 5GB of data for an extra $5 a month or 15GB of data for $10 a month. And if that's not enough, you can opt for unlimited data with SD video for $20 a month or unlimited data with UHD (4K) video for $35. It's a similar situation for hotspot support, as the base $15 a month plan doesn't include any tethered data by default. For those who might not need a ton, you can add 5GB of hotspot data for $5 a month or you can go up to as much as 50GB for $20.
In many ways, AT&T's Build-A-Plan is more similar to Google Fi's Flexible plan, which starts at $20 for one line and then charges you an extra $10 for every gigabyte of data you use. The main differences are that Google's most affordable service option reduces data speeds if you use more than 15GB a month per line, though you don't need to pay extra for hotspot support as that data simply gets counted against your overall monthly usage.
AT&T
However, there are some other important details that you should know about AT&T's latest low-cost cell service. The Build-A-Plan is a pre-paid offering, which means you need to pay for any data or extra features you want up front. Furthermore, any data you don't use will not roll over to the next month. Also, if you don't choose one of the unlimited data plans, steaming video speeds will cap out at 2Mbps on 5G or 1.5Mbps on 4G and below. The Build-A-Plan is also only available as a single-line and you can't sign up at retail locations, it's an online-only offer. Finally, while you can bring your own device when choosing this plan, you will need an unlocked smartphone that supports eSIMs.
In theory, AT&T's Build-A-Plan could be a good choice for anyone who relies more on Wi-Fi than cellular connectivity for their data. Furthermore, if you're good at planning ahead and you know you might need extra data for something like a vacation, this service could very well be cheaper than a traditional one-size-fits all option. Or maybe you just need a single line and can't take advantage of a family plan that comes with discounts when having multiple people on the same account. Regardless, if you've been trying cut costs and save money by reducing how much you're paying for cell service, AT&T's new DIY plan could be a solid option when it becomes available later this month.