When I called them up, they told me there was no way to keep my existing $30 plan and the only thing they offered was the standard $40 plan with a contract, take it or leave it. I left it.
There is absolutely no reason to think this surcharge has anything to do with ex-AT&T customers, and every reason to think that it's to get rid of AMPS and TDMA customers. As should be blindingly obvious, the large number of ex-AT&T customers with GSM plans won't be affected by this at all.
Even with the $5 surcharge, my current plan is a better deal than anything they offer now, but if T-Mobile has adequate coverage here, Cingular is history.
Regards,
John Levine, snipped-for-privacy@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be,