Terms Applicable to ATand T's Nation GSM Plans

These are the terms that are applicable AT&T's Nation GSM Plans. The whole terms and conditions are quite long so let me break it down to a series of posts. I mean it's over 7,000 words so if you are interested in their service you should read the terms and services carefully.

Credit approval required.

Subscriber must live and have a mailing address within AT&T's owned network coverage area . An early termination fee of $175 applies if service is terminated before the end of the contract term. If phone is returned within 3 days, activation fee will be refunded. If phone is returned within 30 days in like-new condition with all components, early termination fee will be waived. All other charges apply. Some dealers impose additional fees.

Minute Increment Billing and Usage:

Airtime and other measured usage are billed in full-minute increments, and actual airtime and usage are rounded up to the next full increment at the end of each call for billing purposes. AT&T charges a full-minute increment of usage for every fraction of the last minute used on each wireless call. Minutes will be depleted according to usage in the following order: Night and Weekend Minutes, Mobile to Mobile Minutes, Anytime Minutes and Rollover® Minutes . Calls placed on networks served by other carriers may take longer to be processed, and billing for these calls may be delayed. Those minutes will be applied against your Anytime monthly minutes in the month in which the calls appear on your bill. Unanswered outgoing calls of 30 seconds or longer incur airtime. You may obtain usage information by calling customer service or using one of our automated systems.

Pricing/Taxes/No Proration:

Final month's charges are not prorated. Prices are subject to change. Prices do not include taxes.

Activation Fees: $36

Activation Fee for each new line.

Nights and Weekends:

Nights are 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Weekends are 9:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 a.m. Monday (based on time of day at switch providing your service). Included long distance calls can be made from the 50 United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands to the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands. Roaming charges do not apply when roaming within the service area of land-based networks of the 50 United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. International long distance rates vary. Additional charges apply to services used outside the land borders of the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Unlimited Voice Services:

Unlimited voice services are provided solely for live dialog between two individuals. Unlimited voice services may not be used for conference calling, call forwarding, monitoring services, data transmissions, transmission of broadcasts, transmission of recorded material, or other connections that do not consist of uninterrupted live dialog between two individuals. If AT&T finds that you are using an unlimited voice service offering for other than live dialog between two individuals, AT&T may at its option terminate your service or change your plan to one with no unlimited usage components. AT&T will provide notice that it intends to take any of the above actions, and you may terminate the agreement.

Off-net Usage:

If your minutes of use (including unlimited services) on other carrier networks ("off-net usage") during any two consecutive months exceeds your off-net usage allowance, AT&T may at its option terminate your service, deny your continued use of other carriers' coverage, or change your plan to one imposing usage charges for off-net usage. Your off-net usage allowance is equal to the lesser of 750 minutes or 40% of the Anytime Minutes included with your plan. AT&T will provide notice that it intends to take any of the above actions, and you may terminate the agreement.

Caller ID Blocking:

Your billing name may be displayed along with your wireless number on outbound calls to other wireless and landline phones with Caller ID capability. Contact customer service for information on blocking the display of your name and number. You may be charged for both an incoming and an outgoing call when incoming calls are routed to voicemail, even if no message is left. See Wireless Service Agreement for additional conditions and restrictions.

Rollover® Minutes :

Rollover® Minutes accumulate and expire through 12 rolling bill periods. Bill Period 1 (activation) unused Anytime Minutes will not carry over. Bill Period 2 unused Anytime Minutes will begin to carry over. Rollover® Minutes accumulated starting with Bill Period 2 will expire each bill period as they reach a 12 bill period age. Rollover® Minutes will also expire immediately upon default or if customer changes to a non-Rollover® plan. If you change plans (including the formation of a FamilyTalk plan), or if an existing subscriber joins your existing FamilyTalk plan, any accumulated in excess of your new plan or the primary FamilyTalk line's included Anytime Minutes will expire. Rollover® Minutes are not redeemable for cash or credit and are not transferable.

Mobile to Mobile Minutes:

Mobile to Mobile Minutes may be used, subject to the above provisions governing unlimited usage, when directly dialing or receiving calls from any other AT&T wireless phone number from within your calling area. Mobile to Mobile Minutes may not be used for interconnection to other networks. Calls to AT&T Voicemail and return calls from Voicemail not included.


It's always a good idea to read a carrier's terms and conditons because they may greatly affect you. AT&T can for instance apparently disconnect a user's service for spreading negative messages through blog posts or other mediums. Take a look at this statement:

“AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes … tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.”

I know that reading a statement as long as AT&T's can test anyone's patience to it's limits. Nevertheless, it is still important that you as a customer will be able to get a firm grasp on what it's saying. I'll talk about the next part in my next post.