AT&T has launched a new wireless plan that allows customers to choose exactly what goes into their plan and change it every month depending on what they need. The entry price starts at $15 a month, which the carrier says is lower than the competition offers. Here's what it includes.
Build-A-Plan that's right for you
AT&T’s new Build-A-Plan tier is now live on the carrier’s official website. It allows you to decide what goes into your wireless plan rather than be forced to choose from preset options. Usually, wireless plans would offer basic, mid, and premium tiers each with a fixed set of features bundled together at a set price.
Customers want plans that fit their lives. Other carriers offer structured, one-size-fits-all plans bundled with extra services that customers aren’t asking for while calling it ‘savings’,” “By giving our customers the freedom to tailor their wireless service month to month, we are giving them an affordable way to connect to America’s largest wireless network and still control their budget. It is a win-win.”
Jenifer Robertson, Executive Vice President, AT&T Consumer.
If you want one feature from the premium tier, you pay the full premium price and get everything else that comes with it whether you use it or not. Build-A-Plan ensures that you're as selective as you need to be with your monthly bill reflecting actual use. Starting price is $15 per month, before taxes and fees.
There's no penalty for changing the plan monthly, so you don't need to make a commitment to keeping any added service beyond the month you added it.
Here's what's included in the new plan
Build-A-Plan includes AT&T ActiveArmor on every tier at no extra cost. International Day Pass and Turbo add-ons are not available on the plan yet. ActiveArmor is a built-in security feature that runs at the network level.
It offers automatic fraud call blocking that identifies and flags suspected spam or scam calls in real time, and network-level security that monitors your connection for suspicious activity around the clock.
There’s a companion app that lets you manage call blocking preferences, review a threat history, and adjust your security settings. The basic version is free and included on every Build-A-Plan tier, although there might be a paid tier called ActiveArmor Advanced that adds identity monitoring and a mobile VPN.
The $15 base price gets you unlimited talk and text plus 1GB of high-speed data. Speed drops to a maximum of 128 Kbps for the rest of the month if it finishes. Unless you purchase a high-definition streaming tier, AT&T will throttle your videos to standard definition, which is capped at 2 Mbps for 5G-compatible devices, and 1.5 Mbps for everyone else.
Mobile hotspot is not included, but you can upgrade your data tier to 5GB, 15GB, or unlimited, starting at $5. If you run low at the middle of the month, AT&T offers a one-time 5GB top-up for $8, which is valid for five days. You should know that when you purchase a higher data tier, it replaces your existing tier rather than stacking on top of it.
Worse, unused data does not roll over and you're limited to one line per account. The plan renews monthly on your start date. Any changes to your base data tier will take effect at the next renewal, and not immediately.
There are no refunds or prorations for partial months or unused data. AutoPay is how the carrier will handle billing. Since the service is limited to customers in the USA, you can't access it outside the country.
