I have no problem with data caps, but I do have a problem with an unrealistic data cap. Typical of old school companies like the music and movie industry, they would rather strangle as much money as possible from the market before it grows.
Using LTE is a joke. I've seen speeds as high as 26mbps. At 20mbps throughput, you could blow through your 2GB one MONTH allowance in 17 MINUTES!!! How realistic is that allownace?
Why bother to provide such a big fast pipe if you're going to charge a gazillion dollars to use it?
Makes no sense. LTE is stillborn. Or at least it is not useful beyond 3G. No video calling. No video streaming. Yes you can receive email, just like on 3G or 1xRTT.
It's not collusion if they didn't communicate with each other in order to raise rates. AT&T has been on tiered for so long I don't think there's any doubt Verizon and AT&T aren't in cahoots with each other.
RIght. Free market where all the choices are the same...
Clearly AT&T should buy T-Mobile to enhance competition.
As a Canadian I used to be completely jealous of our American neighbors and the cell pricing but that's fading fast. We have it rough on voice plans but more and more that's offset by the data. I pay $30 a month for 6GB which includes tethering at no extra cost. Sickening when you look at how many thousand percent markup it is from the cost of data delivery to what they are charging.
I have the same plan, but it's grandfathered and you can't get it anymore. They are also actively working to get folks like us *off* that plan and replace it with tiered pricing.
I tried to renegotiate my contract last week because it's coming to an end, and they wouldn't change anything without a new three year contract and I could only keep the 6GB data for 30 bucks if I didn't change a *single* thing about the rest of the contract (and the rest of the contract is basically rape and theft).
Change one single thing and you will lose it. Keep paying the full contract (usually 70-80 a month), and you are being screwed. Not really that much better.
Plus in Canada, we all pay 30% more for the phone by reason of the fact that we pay the same price as the US but have to make a three year contract. Also patently unfair.
They better not cheat us on tethering, with tiered data, tethering should be free. I hope the source got something mixed up when it talked about tethering costing more. If I pay for data then I should be able to use it for what ever I want!
Well, that seals the deal, no iPhone for me. I'll just stick with my Virgin Mobile smart phone, pay $25 a month for plenty of voice AND unlimited data, and tether when I absolutely need my iPod online.
I hope this is misinformation. The data prices listed are awful. Currently Verizon offers unlimited data for 30. To make sense, tiered plans need to offer lower cost options for users with more modest data usage. Starting them at 30 is a slap in the face at best
AT&T starts with a 200 MB bracket, so there you have a lower cost option. Verizon will at all likelihood offer something similar.
In Europe, data brackets of 100 MB, 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB and unlimited* are common, though naturally not all carriers offer all steps. Unlimited meaning as usual 5 GB. And the carriers tend to move away from overage charges just cutting your speed drastically when you reach your limit or at least put limits on them (like at most $2 per day, eg, at utmost worst $60 per month).
And I have no problems to fit with some restraint into a roughly 200 MB envelope. Just don't do any streaming on 3G and download your podcasts and app updates via WiFi (or iTunes).
They better not cheat us on tethering, with tiered data, tethering should be free. I hope the source got something mixed up when it talked about tethering costing more. If I pay for data then I should be able to use it for what ever I want!
Verizon has fought countless times against Use of Spectrum rulings.
Tethering will NEVER be free, especially on Big red, or AT&T.
Haha, I'm sure glad that I bought a Wifi only iPad. These prices are such a ripoff. $30 for 2 gigs?
That's enough to watch about 1 movie on netflix or download a movie from somewhere. That would be a damn expensive movie. You'd be better off going to a real movie theatre and getting a popcorn and drink for your $30.
be realistic how many users watch movies over 3g?
To me the iPad wi-fi is useless without 3g...I am glad I got the 3g from At&t.
Sounds like you'd be better off just getting VZ Mifi with 5gb/$50 or 10gb/$80, and just WIFI your iphone to that. Do they make a case has an iphone in the front, and a mifi in the back?
Haha, I'm sure glad that I bought a Wifi only iPad. These prices are such a ripoff. $30 for 2 gigs?
That's enough to watch about 1 movie on netflix or download a movie from somewhere. That would be a damn expensive movie. You'd be better off going to a real movie theatre and getting a popcorn and drink for your $30.
And people wonder why the telco's have to implement data caps. If you really have to watch a TV show, or stream a movie on your phone using your carrier's data plan, who cares why performance for everyone else is impacted?
Ever hear of WiFi? Can't get WiFi poolside at some motel in the middle of hicktown USA? Load movies on your phone before your trip, or just read a regular, analog book will ya? Sheesh!
Our legacy data pricing structure was designed to address a somewhat different customer need profile than what we are seeing and can expect in the future.
Consider this. Data usage has more than doubled over the last three years. Consumers and business users alike are doing more and more with their mobile devices. The notion of ?send and end? has migrated to ?managing multiple aspects of one?s lifestyle through mobility.? Whether it?s social media (85%+ of Smartphone users), mobile internet (88%+ of Smartphone users), or email/applications (71%+ of Smartphone users), this usage has one thing in common?dramatically increased demand for data and media consumption.
As a result, we are evolving our approach around how we package our data solutions and pricing to our customers. Coming soon, Verizon Wireless will move from our existing pricing format to a structure designed to allow customers to choose the right data solution that best aligns with their needs.
That's just a piece of the article. It's just like saying the unlimited data was a great solution! For the customer! Here's the new one that allows us to rape them! If they try to stick me on this new tiered planning next year when the iPhone 6 or whatever comes out I'll simply take my business elsewhere! The hell with that! Glad I'm grandfathered on the unlimited plan with the iPhone 4 for now!
OK, I'm in a peculiar situation. My wife has a blackberry through work, so we didn't desperately need a smartphone "right this second" and never got around to getting one. At home we have a "feature" phone (some lame Samsung or another). But the thing is, we pay nothing to use the blackberry, and our private cell is on a legacy program through Verizon, for $29.95 a month - with taxes, that's a final cost of $38.00 give or take 30 cents (300 anytime minutes, 100 text messages). But, I always thought it would be nice to get an iPhone, or simply upgrade to another plan. So Sunday we went to a Verizon store and talked to two different associates. Tell you what - we had a lot of laughs. See, you can't get a plan as cheap as ours nowadays - with ANY phone, they advised us to stick to what we have because we are grandfathered in, and the plan doesn't exist otherwise. And the iPhone? Forget it! No way. Way, way too costly. Sticking with the free blackberry - sure it sucks, getting on the www. is poky, but you know what? It works, and it's free. I also have an iPod Touch 4G, and between that, my sh|tty Samsung feature phone and the blackberry, we're set. All for $38 a month, total.
My next move is to look at other options. What's the deal with Virgin? I heard good things. How's the coverage?
And people wonder why the telco's have to implement data caps. If you really have to watch a TV show, or stream a movie on your phone using your carrier's data plan, who cares why performance for everyone else is impacted?
Teleco's around the world: You have data caps..but at least we invested in the technology to control your data usage.
US telecos: We're about 6 or 7 years behind the world in tech and haven't bothered to invest in data controlling tech, but we're implementing data caps anyway.
Comments
Using LTE is a joke. I've seen speeds as high as 26mbps. At 20mbps throughput, you could blow through your 2GB one MONTH allowance in 17 MINUTES!!! How realistic is that allownace?
Why bother to provide such a big fast pipe if you're going to charge a gazillion dollars to use it?
Makes no sense. LTE is stillborn. Or at least it is not useful beyond 3G. No video calling. No video streaming. Yes you can receive email, just like on 3G or 1xRTT.
Seeing as Verizon's prices are more expensive that ATT. No I would not call it collusion.
Wonder what you'll say when AT&T ups their prices to match...
It's not collusion if they didn't communicate with each other in order to raise rates. AT&T has been on tiered for so long I don't think there's any doubt Verizon and AT&T aren't in cahoots with each other.
RIght. Free market where all the choices are the same...
Clearly AT&T should buy T-Mobile to enhance competition.
As a Canadian I used to be completely jealous of our American neighbors and the cell pricing but that's fading fast. We have it rough on voice plans but more and more that's offset by the data. I pay $30 a month for 6GB which includes tethering at no extra cost. Sickening when you look at how many thousand percent markup it is from the cost of data delivery to what they are charging.
I have the same plan, but it's grandfathered and you can't get it anymore. They are also actively working to get folks like us *off* that plan and replace it with tiered pricing.
I tried to renegotiate my contract last week because it's coming to an end, and they wouldn't change anything without a new three year contract and I could only keep the 6GB data for 30 bucks if I didn't change a *single* thing about the rest of the contract (and the rest of the contract is basically rape and theft).
Change one single thing and you will lose it. Keep paying the full contract (usually 70-80 a month), and you are being screwed. Not really that much better.
Plus in Canada, we all pay 30% more for the phone by reason of the fact that we pay the same price as the US but have to make a three year contract. Also patently unfair.
I hope this is misinformation. The data prices listed are awful. Currently Verizon offers unlimited data for 30. To make sense, tiered plans need to offer lower cost options for users with more modest data usage. Starting them at 30 is a slap in the face at best
AT&T starts with a 200 MB bracket, so there you have a lower cost option. Verizon will at all likelihood offer something similar.
In Europe, data brackets of 100 MB, 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB and unlimited* are common, though naturally not all carriers offer all steps. Unlimited meaning as usual 5 GB. And the carriers tend to move away from overage charges just cutting your speed drastically when you reach your limit or at least put limits on them (like at most $2 per day, eg, at utmost worst $60 per month).
And I have no problems to fit with some restraint into a roughly 200 MB envelope. Just don't do any streaming on 3G and download your podcasts and app updates via WiFi (or iTunes).
They better not cheat us on tethering, with tiered data, tethering should be free. I hope the source got something mixed up when it talked about tethering costing more. If I pay for data then I should be able to use it for what ever I want!
Verizon has fought countless times against Use of Spectrum rulings.
Tethering will NEVER be free, especially on Big red, or AT&T.
Why bother to provide such a big fast pipe if you're going to charge a gazillion dollars to use it?
Makes no sense.
Makes lots of sense for the carriers, invest in LTE and earn a gazillion of dollars.
Why bother to provide such a big fast pipe if you're going to charge a gazillion dollars to use it?
Because people will pay it. Because people are stupid. The telecoms can squeeze a gazillion dollars out of each person.
Haha, I'm sure glad that I bought a Wifi only iPad. These prices are such a ripoff. $30 for 2 gigs?
That's enough to watch about 1 movie on netflix or download a movie from somewhere. That would be a damn expensive movie. You'd be better off going to a real movie theatre and getting a popcorn and drink for your $30.
be realistic how many users watch movies over 3g?
To me the iPad wi-fi is useless without 3g...I am glad I got the 3g from At&t.
To me the iPad wi-fi is useless without 3g...I am glad I got the 3g from At&t.
To me, 3G is useless as I have Wi-Fi anywhere I'd be able to use data.
So there's that.
Haha, I'm sure glad that I bought a Wifi only iPad. These prices are such a ripoff. $30 for 2 gigs?
That's enough to watch about 1 movie on netflix or download a movie from somewhere. That would be a damn expensive movie. You'd be better off going to a real movie theatre and getting a popcorn and drink for your $30.
And people wonder why the telco's have to implement data caps. If you really have to watch a TV show, or stream a movie on your phone using your carrier's data plan, who cares why performance for everyone else is impacted?
Ever hear of WiFi? Can't get WiFi poolside at some motel in the middle of hicktown USA? Load movies on your phone before your trip, or just read a regular, analog book will ya? Sheesh!
Consider this. Data usage has more than doubled over the last three years. Consumers and business users alike are doing more and more with their mobile devices. The notion of ?send and end? has migrated to ?managing multiple aspects of one?s lifestyle through mobility.? Whether it?s social media (85%+ of Smartphone users), mobile internet (88%+ of Smartphone users), or email/applications (71%+ of Smartphone users), this usage has one thing in common?dramatically increased demand for data and media consumption.
As a result, we are evolving our approach around how we package our data solutions and pricing to our customers. Coming soon, Verizon Wireless will move from our existing pricing format to a structure designed to allow customers to choose the right data solution that best aligns with their needs.
That's just a piece of the article. It's just like saying the unlimited data was a great solution! For the customer! Here's the new one that allows us to rape them! If they try to stick me on this new tiered planning next year when the iPhone 6 or whatever comes out I'll simply take my business elsewhere! The hell with that! Glad I'm grandfathered on the unlimited plan with the iPhone 4 for now!
My next move is to look at other options. What's the deal with Virgin? I heard good things. How's the coverage?
And people wonder why the telco's have to implement data caps. If you really have to watch a TV show, or stream a movie on your phone using your carrier's data plan, who cares why performance for everyone else is impacted?
Teleco's around the world: You have data caps..but at least we invested in the technology to control your data usage.
US telecos: We're about 6 or 7 years behind the world in tech and haven't bothered to invest in data controlling tech, but we're implementing data caps anyway.
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(ban me if you want, i don't care)
(if u really want to, delete this post, cause there is no reason to edit it)