As if curtailing unlimited data plans wasn’t enough, more bad news has come down the pipeline from a U.S carrier. It appears, by way of trusted sources, that AT&T is going to stop offering discounted, on-contract tablets as of today.

They will still be selling off-contract tablets at full-price, however, but this may not be enough to stem a mass exodus to other carriers. At the very least, contracts in current subsidized tablets will stagnate and not be renewed. This, despite a move by the company to give them the option to add their device to a Mobile Share plan for a measly $10. Of course, they must fulfill the original contract.

Off-contract tablets always have the option to add DataConnect and Mobile Share plans, but why bother at this point? If customers want to buy full price for an unlocked tablet sans contract, there are a myriad of sites to do so. AT&T seems to be either:

•  confused about their audience

OR

• assuming that their venture into discounted tablets wasn’ t profitable

I find the latter hard to believe considering this news and this news. Mergers don’t usually take place unless the company is speculated to profit from an acquisition. In addition, the SGS3 sold like hotcakes and it’s almost in phablet territory.

Is AT&T, to borrow a line from the Samsung vs. Apple trial, “smoking crack?” Tell us in the comments below!

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