I like to look at Australia which has a similarly exploitive model for mobile phone products. Currently Telstra (the most expensive carrier) charges $5 per month to share a phone plan with another device such as a tablet.
So to me it seems excessive that these companies are requesting $120 a year for a device which really has an negligible footprint on their network. The LTE Apple Watch does not have software which can excessively tax the mobile network and even if such software did come about, battery limitations inside the device put a hard ceiling on how much time the device can spend on LTE.
Simply put, these carriers are cashing in on people who can afford a wearable LTE product. Phone-plan dependent wearables should merely be a sweetener to choose one network over another, and not a significant form of new revenue. I think $10 a month is excessive, I think $5 a month is excessive - people aren't getting limited value for that money. it should be $1.50 to $2 per month at most.
For $5 they send you a SIM for the device and no activation fees.
Yes, surprised that the American experince makes Telstra look reasonable. I mean we are a small market in a vast country we are always going to be a bit abussed. What is Americas excuss?
While thats nice....I still think its pure BS for carriers to charge for a watch to be added to the plan. Its the same line, not a different phone number. For this reason alone I will not get an LTE Apple Watch. I already pay out the wazooo for my cell phone...I don't appreciate being nickel and dime'd by these greedy carriers.
It's a new line. You're just a greedy customer that thinks you deserve an entirely new node connected to a cellular network 24 hours a day with unlimited access free of charge. You haven't considered that having your iPhone's phone number (a logic number, not the physical access to the cellular network which is what makes it a line) jump between devices instead intelligently instead having you use two phone numbers which people need to guess which one to call you on. If that were the case I'm sure you'd be complaining about that inconvenience, but instead you complain that extra effort is made to make the experience seamless and you bizarrely want that for free because you feel taken advantage of for not getting a 2nd logic number. Fucking brilliant¡
This Soli guy must work for the carriers. He constantly belittles ANYONE that balks at the (rather) high price of adding an AW to their current phone plan. GIVE IT A REST DUDE, We hear that you prefer to support the Carriers!
While thats nice....I still think its pure BS for carriers to charge for a watch to be added to the plan. Its the same line, not a different phone number. For this reason alone I will not get an LTE Apple Watch. I already pay out the wazooo for my cell phone...I don't appreciate being nickel and dime'd by these greedy carriers.
Every device added to a network consumes resources. If one person has: (1) one phone, (2) one tablet, and (3) one watch... that's 3 device slots occupied for that one user. It has an impact on the network's ability to accommodate more users, thus impacting the carrier's profit potential. So it makes sense that the carrier charge a small fee for the additional devices.
Except a watch isn't going to take up any resources in the grand scheme of things. This is what the carriers want you to think. Don't fall into their trap.
It’s not going to be transferring as much data, but it will still continually ping the tower just as many times as other devices. The cell towers are already overloaded with traffic from devices just letting them know they are there -it’s not just about the amount of data that is transferred.
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Yes, surprised that the American experince makes Telstra look reasonable. I mean we are a small market in a vast country we are always going to be a bit abussed. What is Americas excuss?