Combination of iPad 4G LTE & data caps characterized as a 'speed trap'
Apple's new 4G LTE-capable iPad offers high-speed connectivity that's great for streaming video, but the data caps implemented by carriers have been found by some to be too restrictive, as users can burn through their monthly allotment in mere hours.
The data cap issue with Apple's 4G LTE iPad was characterized in a piece by The Wall Street Journal as a "speed trap" that can catch users off-guard. The story featured one user who streamed just two hours of March Madness college basketball before he burned through his entire two-gigabyte monthly data allotment.
The Verizon customer's $30-per-month data plan with his new iPad offered great video quality over the high-speed 4G LTE network. But that higher video quality also led to him reaching his data cap faster than expected, requiring him to pay $10 for every extra gigabyte he uses over the montly limit.
"It has been only five days since users of Apple Inc.'s newest iPad first took the device out of the box," author Anton Troianovski wrote. "Some are now finding just how quickly the promise of superfast wireless connections collides with what the reality of those services cost."
In the U.S., mobile data plans are capped at the two largest carriers: Verizon and AT&T. Those are the same two carriers with 4G LTE networks compatible with Apple's new iPad.
AT&T began capping iPhone and iPad data plans in 2010, while Verizon followed suit last year. Sprint is the only major carrier in the U.S. without a data cap, but it does not offer a 4G LTE network, and Apple does not sell a version of its new iPad compatible with Sprint's network.
The combination of data caps and high-speed LTE devices was characterized as a "quandary for wireless carriers" by the Journal, which noted that carriers are "banking on mobile video" to push users to 4G-capable tablets, smartphones and other devices.
"The carriers, suffering from a decline in voice-calling revenues, hope that LTE boosts monthly bills for wireless service, and they charge by the amount of data consumed," the report said.
But streaming a high-definition video over 4G LTE to a new, Retina display-equipped iPad uses about 2 gigabytes of data per hour, Verizon said. Verizon's entry-level data plan offers two gigabytes for $30 per month.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Hopefully this pops the data plan bubble.
Wireless spectrum and bandwidth resources are finite. It's only going to get worse. This has been a known problem for several years that's starting to rear it's head now. Unlimited plans are not coming back, as much as I wish they would.
Wireless spectrum and bandwidth resources are finite. It's only going to get worse. This has been a known problem for several years that's starting to rear it's head now. Unlimited plans are not coming back, as much as I wish they would.
But why is this corporate greed only allowed in the US? Can't congress do something about this?
You'd think that they're an embarrassment to themselves, but apparently they're not.
Seriously, how do people that work in these organizations -- esp. the decision-makers -- get up and get to work every day without hanging their heads in shame? Have they absolutely no self-respect? When/how is this deeply entrenched, backward-looking, nickel-and-diming, innovation-choking industry going to change?!
Ugh.
This is my only complaint thus far about the new iPad, and it's not even an inherent iPad issue. I'm not even touching video yet, but just being able to surf more is causing me to use more data. Seeing as LTE networks are far more robust than 3G networks, you would think that they'd also increase typical data plans. It was really disappointing to see the plans stay in place as is. This needs to improve very, very soon or I will just stop using the feature. I love having the cellular connection as it can be a lifesaver in certain circumstances, but there's no way in hell that I'm about to spend $50-80 a month on another data plan that I'm not able to expense.
No doubt about it, LTE is blazingly fast and durable for video, but I disable it in Settings except for brief periods when I might need the speed. Even without LTE running, 4G is a very pleasant speed improvement over 3G when opening regular web pages.
This works out especially well for me for several reasons:
1. I have a car charger that I can use to charge my 4s on the go if need be
2. I normally only use about 300MB of my 2GB cap with my iPhone
3. I spent $130 less on the device up front
4. 5GB of space for less than it would have cost me to purchase an additional 2GB exclusively for my iPad
5. I use WiFi when I'm at home anyway, so that data is never capped and I can stream Hi Def all day and night without any issues.
Having a separate plan just didn't make sense in my case.
I think it time to consider dropping phone purchase subsidies and dropping cellular usage charges. The willingness of customers to pay full price for iPads indicates to me that customers would be willing to pay the full cost of iPhones for lowering prices and removing carrier lock-in in the process.
I wonder why this is a top story with the iPad when there were several Android devices with LTE last year. I assume they all consume more data than 3G devices.
Ther is quite a large gap between the iPad and Android devices when it comes to user base. No one really pays attention to Android because all Android tabltes combined are small potatoes in comparison to the iPad.
I wonder why this is a top story with the iPad when there were several Android devices with LTE last year. I assume they all consume more data than 3G devices.
Oh indeed they do, in some cases twice as much. And yes it was a huge story last year. It was only somewhat tempered by the fact that Verizon let you keep unlimited when upgrading if you already had it. But for new customers, lots of frustration. They have run double data deals to get 4GB instead of 2GB. Still expensive and still not great.
Well, no different than buying a tank of gas. I can drive fast all day and buy another tank right away or I can choose to walk/bike.
It would be more like buying a $100,000 car and discovering that you have $10,000 per month fuel bills if you drive a few hours (5? how many hours to burn through 5GB?).
Hey, our LTE is really fast! Did you actually want to use it like we show in commercials with HD movies streaming? OK, each movie will run you about $15 to watch like that - in addition to renting/buying it! Suddenly getting the 64GB and loading content you want on ahead of time sounds a whole lot more reasonable.
It would be more like buying a $100,000 car and discovering that you have $10,000 per month fuel bills if you drive a few hours (5? how many hours to burn through 5GB?).
Don't buy a boat then!