AT&T is requiring $20 in data during purchase for a "quick messaging" phone

There was a bit of trickling reports about AT&T going forward with certain phones requiring messaging/data plans yesterday. The latest tidbit of news confirms what was expected to come – handsets classified as Quick Messaging/Touch will need a $20 data requirement when being purchased in stores. So the affected current offerings on AT&T’s lineup are the Pantech Reveal, Pantech Impact, Motorola Karma, Samsung Flight, Samsung Impression, Samsung Magnet, Samsung Solstice, Samsung Mythic, Samsung Propel, LG Xenon, LG Neon, and the LG Vu. You can mix and match data features that total a minimum of $20 – such as getting a $5/month 200 text messaging plan and a $15/month unlimited data plan; both adding up to the $20 minimum requirement. AT&T sales reps won’t let you out the door with the subsidized price unless you have those minimum requirements on your contract at the time of purchase. As for family plans, it looks like the minimum data requirement will be $30. Call yourself lucky if you managed to purchase a phone in the last few weeks without having to go with the new policy. Aside from those “quick messaging” or touch devices, other “feature phones” (probably just your basic flip handset at this point) are not affected by this new implementation.  So if you’re eyeing that nice QWERTY handset, even if you don’t plan on texting ever, just be prepared to meet those stipulations in order to purchase it.

source: BGR