Were you looking to get your iPad or iPhone into AT&T’s unlimited data plan, to turn it from a smartphone or simple toy into a real data-eating personal computer?  Well, too late.  AT&T has unveiled new plans for their data that are designed to put the kibosh on the data-heavy user and open up the very lowest end of the market for the average consumer.

The old plan, $30 for all-you-could-eat bandwidth, is gone.  As soon as the current contracts run out, that plan is getting eliminated.  What has AT&T replaced them with?

Well, AT&T says 65 percent of smartphone users use less than 200MB of data per month, so their new lower plan is $15 for 200MB or less of data use per month.  The remaining 33 percent of smartphone users use less than 2GB of data, so the second tier for users is 2GB for $25 dollars.  As for serious bandwidth users, that 2percent who apparently use 40 percent of all the available network space?  Well, every gigabyte over 2 will cost you $10/GB.  For an additional $20, there’s also a tethering plan that allows you to split your data between your smartphone and your tethered device (whatever that may be).

If the new caps seem pretty restrictive (and they are), AT&T is soothing the irritated by throwing in free WiFi service at any of AT&T’s hot spots, and plans on sending users warning texts when they consume 65, 90, and 100 percent of their allotted data.  They’re hoping the cheaper plan will lure the cost-conscious consumer onto a smartphone-friendly plan.  I’m not quite sure how offering significantly less for basically the same amount of money is supposed to accomplish this, but I’m not a marketing guru.