AT&T drops price of 2GB no-contract plan by $15, T-Mobile doubles down on 'Simple Choice'

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  • Reply 21 of 87
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    This is still
    TOO HIGH
    net 10 $50 second smart phone 45$
    2gb unlimited text and talk

    I have an old ATT plan too good to give up
    My daughter 12 has no text plan
    Between iMessage (95%) of her friends
    Textnow
    Whatsapp
    Don't need a text plan saved $$$$$

    This ATT stuff is bogus
    Some compeitition in cellular but govt controls the bandwidth
    No competition in cable comcast TW merger will devastate consumer choice
    And kill off our ability to get alacart programming or reasonable un throttled streaming

    Govt created the environment for these monopolies consumers don't have the $$$$ to payoff politicians that make the laws
    NSA loves this access
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  • Reply 22 of 87
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,413member
    mstone wrote: »
    I am basing my comments on a few insider information sources. One is a close friend who has a business that does nothing but do simulations for cell carriers to show visual representations of what a tower might look like in a given location to assist in negotiations with land owners to allow the construction. And another source of information is another friend who owns some property in San Diego County where AT&T is paying him more than $20,000 a month to locate a tower on his land. The arguments may be old but you can look on various web sites to see where the towers are and try to figure out where more towers can be placed. In California the towers have to be disguised as palm trees or pine trees and it is not at all simple to get them approved. Argue all you want about other parts of the US but I know what I'm talking about in SoCal.

    And you think cell towers get installed for free in Europe?
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  • Reply 23 of 87
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,413member
    fithian wrote: »
    I am not sure what is considered high speed cellular with T-Mobile in other countries. As a US customer now traveling in Argentina, my cellular data rate is about 0.1 Mbps both up and down. Agreed it is free, but is this high speed. It only works at all with one carrier here, Claro and is listed as 3G. I tried to pay for higher speed for 500mb of data, but they wouldn't take my money. I have used sim cards in Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium with my iPhone and the data rate was about 3 Mbps. Still confused. It is torture trying to send a photo at these speeds.

    Moreover, my 5-star hotel (Four Seasons Buenos Aires) charges $20/day for Premium Internet Wifi, which amounts to 1.4Mbps up and down. I would hate to think what the standard internet wifi speed would be.

    I dunno. I'd rather compare myself to Helsinki or Seoul than Buenos Aires.
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  • Reply 24 of 87
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    aaronj wrote: »
    There are definitely places, though, where there are fewer trees than people.  Heck, I lived in one of those places for a year: Tempe, AZ.  There were probably more people in my dorm* than there were trees in all of Tempe.

    * = my dorm had 15 floors, btw.

    Are you including palm trees as trees or grass because I recall there are plenty at Palm Walk alone. The internet says 111.
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  • Reply 25 of 87
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    And you think cell towers get installed for free in Europe?

    Not for free, but costs might not be the same. Even in the US costs and difficultly vary wildly from city to city.
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  • Reply 26 of 87
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,413member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    And you think cell towers get installed for free in Europe?

    Not for free, but costs might not be the same. Even in the US costs and difficultly vary wildly from city to city.

    Perhaps but afaik, real estate is more expensive in Europe, labor is more expensive in Europe, and equipment is more expensive in Europe.
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  • Reply 27 of 87
    dick applebaumdick applebaum Posts: 12,527member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    aaronj wrote: »
    There are definitely places, though, where there are fewer trees than people.  Heck, I lived in one of those places for a year: Tempe, AZ.  There were probably more people in my dorm* than there were trees in all of Tempe.

    * = my dorm had 15 floors, btw.

    Are you including palm trees as trees or grass because I recall there are plenty at Palm Walk alone. The internet says 111.

    Aha… Are you outing yourself as a Sundevil?

    We used to live in Wildcat country… And there are lots of Mesquite bosques in the area!
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  • Reply 28 of 87
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Perhaps but afaik, real estate is more expensive in Europe, labor is more expensive in Europe, and equipment is more expensive in Europe.

    I agree with that but you also need to consider average population densities which can lower the average cost per subscriber as well laws that allow placements to be easier and cheaper for MNOs.

    It seems to me that cell phone usage was a bit slow to gain traction in nations that had a better landline setup. Wouldn't those that didn't see cellphones as an opportunity and therefore might get better supported by the government? This is just speculation on my part but I remember being Eastern Europe a decade ago and not see too many landlines but cellphone coverage was surprisingly good compared to the US.
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  • Reply 29 of 87
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    mstone wrote: »
    More BS.

    In the US there are approximately 247 billion trees. The  population of  the US is 314 million 

    You must live in New Jersey.

    First, I jokingly made that up, and second, I didn't mean the entire country I meant rural areas.
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  • Reply 30 of 87
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member

    Aha… Are you outing yourself as a Sundevil?

    We used to live in Wildcat country… And there are lots of Mesquite bosques in the area!

    I wouldn't go that far, but I've been to AZ and the PHX area plenty of times. I even spent about 4 months there back in 2011. While I am a big fan of the spartan landscape there is absolutely no way I could stand the heat dying the Summer, and most of the Spring and Fall.
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  • Reply 31 of 87
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post





    Perhaps but afaik, real estate is more expensive in Europe, labor is more expensive in Europe, and equipment is more expensive in Europe.

     

    And I hear they take the month of August off... OFF!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORV9PNfl4K0

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  • Reply 32 of 87
    solipsismx wrote: »

    Aha… Are you outing yourself as a Sundevil?

    We used to live in Wildcat country… And there are lots of Mesquite bosques in the area!

    I wouldn't go that far, but I've been to AZ and the PHX area plenty of times. I even spent about 4 months there back in 2011. While I am a big fan of the spartan landscape there is absolutely no way I could stand the heat dying the Summer, and most of the Spring and Fall.

    Yes… Phoenix is rather a conglomeration of heat islands! Tucson is higher desert and with much less concrete and has a much better climate. The worst season is mid April to mid June --- but, even then, your body acclimates to the dry heat -- and there are air conditioners, swamp coolers and misters everywhere you go. Monsoons in August and December moderate the climate substantially -- quite enjoyable.

    And, if you've never seen the desert in bloom after a rainy winter – you've really missed something!
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  • Reply 33 of 87
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    rot'napple wrote: »
    And I hear they take the month of August off... OFF!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORV9PNfl4K0

    I've heard that no BMWs are built in August.
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  • Reply 34 of 87
    This is Wrong:
    "Along with the bonus data, the telecom quietly raised the price of its unlimited 4G LTE data option to $30, up from $20 per month. Terms still include 5GB of tethered data use."

    1st off , right now its 2.5GB, its going UP TO 5GB on the 23rd.
    2nd, its still $70 a month, which is $20 more than the base plan (50 + 20 = 70).

    From T-Mobile.com : "Sign up today and double your 4G LTE tethering (Smartphone Mobile HotSpot). Beginning March 23, 2.5GB becomes 5GB, for the SAME PRICE." (Emphasis added)
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  • Reply 35 of 87
    solipsismx wrote: »
    Perhaps but afaik, real estate is more expensive in Europe, labor is more expensive in Europe, and equipment is more expensive in Europe.

    I agree with that but you also need to consider average population densities which can lower the average cost per subscriber as well laws that allow placements to be easier and cheaper for MNOs.

    It seems to me that cell phone usage was a bit slow to gain traction in nations that had a better landline setup. Wouldn't those that didn't see cellphones as an opportunity and therefore might get better supported by the government? This is just speculation on my part but I remember being Eastern Europe a decade ago and not see too many landlines but cellphone coverage was surprisingly good compared to the US.

    I am not sure that the population density in, say, the Paris - Geneva corridor is that different from the Boston - DC or LA - SF corridor.
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  • Reply 36 of 87
    fithian wrote: »
    I am not sure what is considered high speed cellular with T-Mobile in other countries. As a US customer now traveling in Argentina, my cellular data rate is about 0.1 Mbps both up and down. Agreed it is free, but is this high speed. It only works at all with one carrier here, Claro and is listed as 3G. I tried to pay for higher speed for 500mb of data, but they wouldn't take my money. I have used sim cards in Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium with my iPhone and the data rate was about 3 Mbps. Still confused. It is torture trying to send a photo at these speeds.

    Moreover, my 5-star hotel (Four Seasons Buenos Aires) charges $20/day for Premium Internet Wifi, which amounts to 1.4Mbps up and down. I would hate to think what the standard internet wifi speed would be.


    There's this:
    Mobile carriers are primarily concerned with maintaining, if not increasing, their average revenue per user (ARPU), and love charging you by MB of data consumed. So data prices are only going to drop if they can maintain this revenue, or there's a ton of competition and they keep undercutting each other in a race to the bottom. With this technology, it's conceivable that 5G wireless could displace both cable and DSL connections within a few years, as is claimed in the presentation. Historical trends like this exponential growth in Internet bandwidth [22] (Gilder's law, increasing by 50% every year) seem to be driving a drop in cost/bit, though prepaid data is still quite pricey around the world; I made a quick chart of mobile broadband prices, speed, and internet penetration around the world in Tabealu using data from the ITU, Akamai, and Wikipedia.

    http://akbars.net/how-steve-perlmans-revolutionary-wireless-technology-works-and-why-its-a-bigger-deal-than-anyone-realizes.html


    1000


    http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/mobilebroadbandcorrect/Sheet1#1
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  • Reply 37 of 87
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I am not sure that the population density in, say, the Paris - Geneva corridor is that different from the Boston - DC or LA - SF corridor.

    But it's not BT&T or B-Mobile servicing just the Boston area. Customers in Boston are also paying for the costs involved in covered much less densely populated areas, which includes the expensive highway travel in this country. But that's besides the point because without knowing all the factors at play, which again include laws, you can't make a simple 1:1 comparison to say that one nation should be just as easy to cover as another for the same price.
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  • Reply 38 of 87
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    And, if you've never seen the desert in bloom after a rainy winter – you've really missed something!

    I'm not sure I have seen that.
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  • Reply 39 of 87
    solipsismx wrote: »

    But it's not BT&T or B-Mobile servicing just the Boston area. Customers in Boston are also paying for the costs involved in covered much less densely populated areas, which includes the expensive highway travel in this country. But that's besides the point because without knowing all the factors at play, which again include laws, you can't make a simple 1:1 comparison to say that one nation should be just as easy to cover as another for the same price.

    I think you're totally missing the point. Taxes and cross-subsidies are much higher in Europe.

    Perhaps the truth is as simple as, we're not as good as we think we are. On a related point, see this: http://theweek.com/article/index/257404/why-is-american-internet-so-slow
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  • Reply 40 of 87
    Here's something from a promotional video. It shows someone at an event, streaming video to 26 simultaneous viewers -- presumably from an LTE cell phone in the wild:


    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/39392/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]


    Here's the full video -- the above is at about 1:50 in:


    [VIDEO]


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