AT&T kills A-List unlimited calling feature

September 2, 2011 By Andrew Couts

AT&T has put to rest its A-List unlimited calling feature, which allowed customers to call up to 10 numbers of their choice, from any carrier, without using minutes.

As of today, AT&T customers will no longer be able to sign up for the A-List unlimited calling feature, reports Engadget. AT&T’s Mobile to Any Mobile option for customers with unlimited messaging plans will remain in place.

The discontinuation of A-List means that any new AT&T customers will not have the option to sign up for the service. Anyone who already has A-List as part of their plan will retain it; however, it’s possible that if a current customer with A-List switches from an individual plan to a family plan, AT&T will exclude A-List as a feature option, once the new plan takes effect.

A-List, which allowed AT&T customers to call their choice of either five or ten numbers (from any carrier) without using any minutes, was launched two years ago as a response to T-Mobile, Alltel and Verizon, which offer similar calling features.

News of A-List’s death came via an anonymous source, who provided Engadget with an internal AT&T memo, which laid out the details of the discontinuation of the feature. AT&T later confirmed with Engadget that A-List was, indeed, going the way of so many other money-saving wireless options.

“With automatic addition at no-cost of AT&T’s Mobile to Any Mobile offer for our wireless customers with an unlimited messaging plan, AT&T A-List is being discontinued for new users,” an AT&T spokesperson told Engadget. “Existing A-List users are not affected. We have seen a very enthusiastic response to the value of Mobile to Any Mobile which lets users with an unlimited messaging plan call any mobile number in America, regardless of the wireless provider.”

We have contacted AT&T to clarify whether they mean to say that new AT&T customers, who choose to sign up for unlimited messaging, will have the option to sign up for Mobile to Any Mobile, as an alternative to A-List. We will provide an update, once we have received a response.

Showing 3 comments

James Phillips at 5:38pm 2nd September 2011 I just got the unlimited tex and mobile/mobile deal for $20 and think it's great, now I can degrade to the 450 minute plan and save myself $15/month ($20 - the extra $5 over what I paid before for texts).
Micah Watkins at 4:54pm 2nd September 2011 I see why AT&T got rid of the A-list because they have unlimited mobile to any mobile calling when you buy unlimited text messaging. I give AT&T credit because they're trying to give more of what the customer wants.
Chris Johnson at 4:38pm 2nd September 2011 It’s funny, the features you get for free on a cell phone could almost be plotted on a bell-curve. At first, you paid for everything: calls, text, data, and long distance. As time went on, many of those features became free. Before you knew it we had unlimited mobile to mobile on the same carrier, unlimited data, things like “The A List”, etc. Now, it’s like we’re going down the opposite slope where unlimited data is gone, the “Al list” is gone, and who knows what else we might end up losing?Interesting to think about it.