NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - New AT&T Inc customerswill soon only be able to buy Mobile Share plans, which involvehigher data fees, but allow subscribers to share data allowancesamong multiple devices.
The No. 2 U.S. mobile operator said on Friday theelimination of older plans for new customers would take effecton Oct 25. It said it was streamlining its offerings because thedata-share plans are its most popular.
AT&T added that existing customers could keep their currentplans, even when they are upgrading to a new device, unlike itsbiggest rival Verizon Wireless . Both companiesintroduced shared-data service plans in 2012.
Investors say these plans could help operators such as AT&Tand Verizon retain customers at a time when competition isramping up in the U.S. wireless industry.
In particular, AT&T is facing increasingly aggressivecompetition from No. 4 U.S. operator T-Mobile US Inc,which compares itself directly to AT&T in its marketing.
The idea of is that customers subscribing to shared-dataplans might be less inclined to switch to another carrier iftheir cellular service for several devices, includingsmartphones and tablet computers, is attached a single plan.
Carriers also see the plans as a way to encouragesubscribers to add more devices and increase how much they spendon cellphone service.