Bye, Bye Unlimited iPad Data PlanBye, Bye Unlimited iPad Data Plan

11:20 AM -- AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s sudden move to tiered wireless data plans today could potentially cause a run on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPads in the next few days. (See AT&T Intros Mobile Data Caps.)

From Monday, June 7, iPad buyers will no longer be able to get an iPad with the current unlimited data plan for $29.99. Instead they can buy a plan capped at 2GB for $25 and add another 1GB of data for $10 extra if they bust through that ceiling. The operator is also keeping its existing $14.99 plan for 250MB of data a month on the iPad.

AT&T says that 98 percent of its customers use less than 2GB of data a month. I suspect, however, that with video-rich apps like the recent 500MB download from Wired, iPad users will be some of the users most likely to be in that top 2 percent.

The operator says that existing users get to keep their unlimited plans if they want, while the new plans come into effect on June 7. I wonder if people will try to get on the unlimited plans before the new caps go into effect. If you do, just remember its a month-by-month contract, so AT&T can probably change it in the future anyway.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile