AT&T wants you to sign up for its unlimited data plan, and it’s sweetening the pot by giving subscribers on its Unlimited Choice plan free access to HBO.
In April, the carrier threw in free HBO subscriptions for new and existing customers on Unlimited Plus, its $90-a-month unlimited talk, text, and data plan. And on Tuesday, September 12, it expanded that offer to folks on its $60-a-month Unlimited Choice tier.
Starting September 15, new and existing Unlimited Choice customers will be able to access HBO either through the HBO Go app or an existing DirecTV television subscription. If you already have an AT&T video account and aren’t paying for HBO, the channel will be added automatically to your account at no extra cost, and if you currently already pay for HBO, you’ll get it free of charge.
So now that both Unlimited Choice and Unlimited Plus include HBO, what’s the difference between these two AT&T’s unlimited plans? It mostly comes down to extras. Unlimited Choice customers get video at “DVD quality” (480p) while on AT&T’s wireless network, while Unlimited Plus subscribers get HD (1080p) when available, and Unlimited Plus customers also get 10GB of hot spot data at no extra charge.
AT&T and HBO seem to have a pretty good relationship. Just last month, AT&T began including a free year of HBO access to those who sign up for DirecTV Now. This new deal, however, seems a little better because you will apparently keep your HBO access as long as you stay on AT&T Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Choice, which could potentially be a lot longer than a year.
Before the promotion, access to HBO came with a $5-a-month price tag.
The news comes as AT&T is preparing to purchase HBO’s parent company, Time Warner, with a bid of approximately $85 billion.
U.S. carriers are engaged in quite the war over who can offer the best unlimited data plan. In early September, T-Mobile added a free Netflix subscription for customers with two or more lines on its T-Mobile One or One Plus unlimited plans, and in June, Sprint began giving unlimited customers six months of free music streaming from Tidal.
Zero-rating schemes and free video have been a big part of these offerings, and while HBO is currently unique to AT&T, we wouldn’t be surprised to see similar add-ons from other carriers in the near future.
Update: Added information about AT&T’s expanded HBO offer for Unlimited Choice customers.
