MacRumors.com

AT&T executive Ralph de la Vega confirmed earlier reports that the company is considering discounted monthly data plans for the iPhone.

The executive said it would be costly for AT&T to cut the price of its unlimited Web surfing service. The minimum plan for iPhone users is $70 a month, which includes unlimited Web surfing and a certain amount of voice calls.

The cheaper rates, however, would come with limits on the amount of data that can be transfered. The current iPhone plans provide unlimited bandwidth. While such a move may make some sense for the price conscious consumer, much of the iPhone's success as a mobile net device seems directly related to the unlimited nature of its data plan.

De la Vega dismissed the possibility of an iPhone with no data plan as AT&T makes the bulk of its income from selling these add-on services.