AT&T is looking to make its prepaid service a bit more competitive with the options from carriers like T-Mobile and various MVNOs. The new GoPhone plans include increased data caps and free WiFi tethering. The best part – current customers get the upgrade automatically with no increased charge.

Here are the plan alterations listed by AT&T.

  • Increased data from 2 to 2.5 GB for $60 a month + enabled Wi-Fi hotspot capability + unlimited talk
  • Increased data from 250 to 500MB for $40 a month + 500 minutes of talk
  • New plan (Wal-mart only) with 1GB of data for $45 a month + unlimited talk
  • WiFi hotspot included

There is also a new basic phone plan with unlimited data, talk, and text for $45 per month. The data for that one is 3G for the first 2GB, then 2G after that. AT&T's prepaid smartphone plans are still a bit more expensive than you'd get on T-Mobile, but the network coverage is more robust. You can't really argue with a free upgrade, either.

[AT&T]