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FirstNet, AT&T’s dedicated first responder network, has been offering top-priority access to the AT&T cellular network since 2017. It ensures that first responders get priority access no matter what, including during disasters when standard cell plans would hit congestion and overloaded networks.
Essentially, a first responder can sign up for a FirstNet line, and then other lines on the account remain standard AT&T lines (for family lines).
We recently received info that AT&T is planning a refresh for their FirstNet lines and pricing to more align them with existing consumer plans.
An anonymous user sent us an image of AT&T’s new FirstNet plans that are slated to begin on May 28th. The new plans have slightly higher prices to the current FirstNet plans, but there are significant savings to be had when the new plans are part of a family plan.
Four New Plans
The new plans are more aligned with AT&T’s normal offerings. There are four to pick from: Value, Extra, Premium, and Elite. The primary difference between them is hotspot capability and international coverage.
What makes these new plans interesting is that the price of the FirstNet line goes down when you have more total lines on the account. For example, a single line of FirstNet Value is $45/mo, but when that line is part of a family of four account (so one FirstNet Value line and three standard AT&T lines), the cost of that FirstNet line drops to $27/mo.
These changes line up pretty much exactly with the consumer plan pricing.
Our contact suggests that most accounts with FirstNet lines have around four lines anyway, so these customers should be able to save some money with these new plans.
New Plans Detailed
FirstNet Value is the lowest tier of the new plans. It includes unlimited premium data in the US, Canada, and Mexico, but includes no hotspot data. From there, FirstNet Extra is identical, except that you get unlimited hotspot as well.
Then there’s FirstNet Premium, which adds 20 Latin America countries to the roaming coverage, and finally there’s Elite, which adds a further 20GB of data for all other countries.
Each plan also has varying discounts on tablets and wearables, which can be seen in the image below.
We’re also told that watch lines will be going up by $1, from $10 to $10.99, and tablets will be dropping by $2, from $23 to $20.99. These prices align with what the consumer side pays.
Comparing to the existing FirstNet Plans
These new plans vary quite a bit from the existing plans.
There are only two FirstNet plans available prior to these new plans launching: Unlimited and Unlimited Extra. As seen below, the only difference between them is included hotspot.
Now, the new plans align with AT&T’s existing consumer plans. Basically, the more lines you have on your account overall, the cheaper the FirstNet line will cost.
In addition, the new plan pricing requires autopay and paperless billing to get the prices shown. That’s a change from the two previous plans above, which were the same price regardless of autopay and paperless.
The new plans are set to go live on May 28th. Existing customers will have the option to move to one of the new plans or retain their existing FirstNet plan. New customers will be required to get one of the new plans moving forward, though.
