Time to admit another carrier to the shared data club. U.S. Cellular today introduced its new Shared Data plans for both consumers and small businesses, which offer unlimited minutes and messaging as well as varying amounts of data allotments.
The new Shared Data plans start out at 300MB of data at a rate of $40 per month. From there, subscribers can choose from data buckets that include 1GB of usage for $50 per month, 2GB for $60, 4GB for $70, 6GB for $80, 8GB for $90 and 10GB for $100 per month. The top-end rate plan for consumers is a 75GB option that's priced at $560 per month, while business customers have the option of stepping up to a 100GB plan for $750 per month.
Once a customer is signed up for one of the new Shared Data plans, he or she can add up to 10 devices that can draw from the same bucket of data. Business customers can add up to 25 devices per plan. Each type of device features a different monthly connection charge: smartphones cost $40, basic phones are $30, hotspots are $20 and tablets round out the list at $10 per month. U.S. Cellular has also announced that, for a limited time, customers that add a tablet or hotspot to their Shared Data plan will get the monthly connection charge waived through the end of 2013.
In addition to the standard Shared Data plans, U.S. Cellular will offer some specialized rate plans for specific customer needs. Data-only plans for tablets and hotspots will be available that start out at 1GB of data for $10 per month.
Customers that don't need any data can sign up for a Text and Talk Only Plan, which will be offered to individuals at a rate of $50 for 450 minutes and unlimited messaging. A family Text and Talk Only Plan will also be available with 1000 minutes and unlimited messages for $100 per month for the first two lines and $20 for each additional line.
Via U.S. Cellular: Shared Data plans
