AT&T Scraps Unlimited Wireless Data Plans -- What's Next?

But it also may cost you more, depending on what type of user you are.

AT&T this week said it will deep-six its unlimited wireless data plans, which offer Apple iPhone and Apple iPad users, along with many other AT&T smartphone users, unlimited data access for $29.99. In their places, the nation's second largest wireless carrier has launched two new wireless data plans, the DataPlus plan gives users 200 MB per month for $15, while the DataPro plan gives users 2 GB per month for $25.

Users who go over the 2 GB in a month can buy another 1 GB of data for $10, while users who go over the 200 MB per month will pay $15 for each 200 MB they go over. That means if a 2 GB plan user uses 5 GB of data, that will cost $55 and if a 200 MB plan users uses 600 MB of data it will cost $45.

So who is really affected? Yes, your average customers who use their smartphones and Apple iPads to send email, get directions, play games and causally surf the Web shouldn't see much of an impact and could even save anywhere from $5 to $15 per month.

But heavy users that download and use bandwidth-intensive applications – which have been both AT&T's bread and butter and the bane of its existence since the Apple iPhone and iTunes App Store have become ubiquitous – run the risk of spending a small fortune on top of their already exorbitant wireless bills.

And putting applications aside for a minute: Users who watch streaming video like YouTube or leverage any streaming music sites or services like Pandora from their devices also run the risk of ticking up their wireless fees like the meter in a runaway taxi. Users who frequently surf the Web; download music, video or other content; use Google Maps and other navigation services frequently; and live on their social media networks could also get an eyeful when the wireless bill arrives.

It's clear why AT&T made the decision to ax unlimited wireless data plans: It was losing money. A chart from Business Insiderthat AT&T customers are spending less money on voice service, but wireless data consumption is on the rise. Despite the increase, AT&T's data revenue is not increasing at a rate fast enough to cancel out the massive decline in voice revenue. AT&T is turning to wireless data caps in hopes to offset revenue it's losing elsewhere and regain ground with data plans.

And while the reaction has been critical of AT&T's latest attempt to make a wireless data cash-grab, industry watchers are more nervous about what impact the move could have on the wireless market as a whole and what would happen if rival wireless carriers follow suit, despite many of them trumpeting their unlimited plans over the past two years. Industry watchers fear AT&T's limiting of data sets a dangerous president.

The data plan caps also raise the question of what happens in the future. AT&T claims that 90 percent of its wireless users use less than 2 GB of wireless data per month. That may be true now, but we have yet to see what comes next by way of mobile applications and mobile capabilities that will leverage wireless networks. And with Apple reinventing its iPhone annually and making its App Store more robust, AT&T could stand to make a pretty penny off of data overages.

AT&T is also hoping to band-aid the fallout by revealing tethering plans, which let customers use their Apple iPhone, or any AT&T smartphone, as a modem for laptops and netbooks using the wireless data network. To use tethering, AT&T customers must have a $25 DataPro plan, plus pay a $20 per month tethering fee.

For its part, AT&T said it plans to keep users in the know about how much data they've consumed. The carrier has vowed to offer text notifications on data usage when users approach the monthly limit. Users will also be able to check their data usage by phone or on the Web.

And before AT&T customers stage a mass exodus and run toward AT&T's rivals, it should be noted that AT&T also recently upped its early termination fees. As of June 1, AT&T raised its early termination fee for smartphone users to $325 who end their contracts early, an 86 percent jump from the current $175 fee. The early termination fee boost is seen as a move by AT&T to keep iPhone users in the event the iconic smartphone hits a rival network in the near future.

So, for the time being, it looks like users upset over the wireless data plan changes have to stay put, or risk another $325 whack.