Comon pitfalls when selecting a mobile data plan.
With the advent of 4G and smartphone technology taking off, Wireless data plan pricing is up in the air, currently in flux. As 4G is rolled out in bits and pieces across the nation, the issue of Net Neutrality is surfacing; the FCC has not only decided that wireless Internet is not regular Internet, but because of that ruling, wireless Internet and the companies that provide it are exempted from the Net neutrality rules now and forever in the future. This move by the FCC has not only engendered several lawsuits, but it will also test the FCC net neutrality regulations.
Consumer Data Demands
As the limits of technology are pushed back, how to price wireless data plans becomes extremely complicated. Customers are demanding more and more from their devices, and technology seems able to give customers what they want. The problem is trying to decide how much it should cost. By comparing prices for single user data plans, the issues involved in wireless data plan pricing become apparent. For example:
Sprint’s Everything Data Plan?
Sprint is offering deals for calls from the users’ cell phone to other cell phones. Their Everything Data Plan ? for a single user starts at $69.99 with 450 minutes that can be used anytime, including for calls that are not to cell phones. The unlimited calling for cell phones includes calls to and from the phone, so if the call is not from a cell phone it will eat into the minutes included with the phone. Another version of the plan offers 900 minutes of anytime calling for $89.99.
Nowhere in Sprint’s printed material does the company provide specific information about the data part of the plan. Specifically mentioned are email, a particular GPS service, and Sprint’s two channels for television and radio. In addition, the web site specifically mentions web surfing on their network, which begs that question about what is its network, and how much of the web can be accessed on that network. There is also no mention of what data speeds are available and if Verizon will use faster speeds for sponsored content. This leaves open the possibility of an additional fee for unlimited access that includes access outside of Sprint’s network.
Verizon’s Friends & Family Plan
Verizon offers a Friends and Family? plan with unlimited calling to five numbers, and those are not restricted to cell numbers. It also offers unlimited calling to other Verizon Wireless customers. Verizon’s plan offers 900 minutes for all other calls. This data plan makes no mention of web browsing, instead it only talks about specific content. For smartphones, there is an additional $29.99 fee for data use. The website also includes the helpful phrase “or higher” after the $29.99.
AT&T’s Internet Only Data Plan
AT&T offers a data plan for internet only. Again, the company talks about data on the AT&T network, and there are no specific limits mentioned. There is, however, an extra charge for Canadian and International Data. Additionally, adding data to a cell phone package will cost a user an extra $15 per month fee, and for some phones, there is a $25 a month fee for up to 2 GB of data usage.
What it All Means
All of these extra fees in wireless data plans include even more additional fees for data that may or may not be unlimited or unrestricted. Many of these plans seem short on details, as new phones are released and the 4G network is rolled out. Going over data limits incurs even more extra fees, international data can incur extra fees on top of the extra data fees, and adding data at all can incur fees for a total of added fees three to four times over the original “unlimited” plans.
There is still some confusion on how cell companies can restrict data, restrict data speed, and restrict content. There are lawsuits filed against several companies concerning these issues currently and all of this leaves data pricing in flux, probably taking at least until 2012 for prices to settle down. Until then, extra fees for everything associated with data is the norm.
mobile phone contract. Leading independent communications service provider Altech Autopage Cellular announced it has registered an impressive 80% of it’s customer base in terms of the Regulations of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communications Related Information Act (RICA).
Processing your request, Please wait....
