It's policies like this that made me leave AT&T. I switched from an iPhone 3g (over a year out of contract) to a Palm Pixi Plus on Page Plus wireless (a VZW MVNO). They don't have good data offerings, the most their monthly plans offer is only 100 MB and their standard plan costs $0.99/MB-down from $1.29/MB, but the price for minutes and texts is much better than the major networks and I feel better not supporting a large corporation directly.
I wish their were some way for data pricing to better reflect actual costs to these companies and not just be a way for them to pad their pockets with more money. There are a lot of problems that keep this from happening from contracts/early termination fee, incompatible networks (seemingly by design), and unwillingness of companies to build out towers and backhaul to support the data traffic people would like to have on their mobile devices.
Of course, that spectrum that ATT wants from TMobile is the only way I can get 3G in this country on my N900. So after the merger I'm going to be left with basically no devices that satisfy my needs (hardware keyboard, real Linux distribution.)
Also I tend to use ~350MB/month on TMobile, which costs me $40, with minutes. On ATT that'll be more like $70, for much worse service.
Can you imagine if we had a single provider that actually stuck to the terms of the contract it signed with you? Oh wait, we do - it's called T-Mobile, and AT&T is trying to destroy it.
You seems to be misinformed, Verizon has not changed my contract, in fact even if I upgrade my phone and get a new contract I will not lose my unlimited Data Plan. they didn't want to punish me the loyal customer they want to profit from the poor slobs who defect from AT&T and soon to be T-Mobile.
And another thing, I started on Alltel and they were bought out by Verizon. Verizon didn't change my plan, in fact they retained some of the best parts of my Alltel Plan when I upgraded.
I don't get all the complaints - this will be better for most users. If 3% of the users are taking up a disproportional amount of bandwidth, then why should those users not be throttled? I'd rather be able to be able to get data when I need it, rather than cater to the few data hogs.
... They just need to make the conditions clear. I have a feeling that the conditions probably need to be localized to whatever hardware they have in any given location.
Exactly. Although i am not from US and never used a US network before, but all the fundamentals of mobile networks are the same around the world. Let those 5% complaint, and let them go. The rest of the 95% users can enjoy a MUCH better network.
It seems these days everyone expect things to be free.
This isn't for everyone. This is only for those with unlimited plans. They are already paying a premium to get the service those "data hogs" want. This is double dipping on these customers. They are paying more up front and them being penalized when they utilize the service they paid extra money for.
I have unlimited and I don't pay anything more than the 2GB people.... I'm simply grandfathered in. I think I only use between 250-500MB anyway. I know that using Splashtop a lot tends to jack up my data use.
So what are you using on your phone that is taking so much data on your plan? Are you tethering? If so doesn't AT&T already charge more for that in which case why would they throttle you if you are paying for it? If not then what? I find it hard to use more than 1GB of data in a month at AT&T's 3G speeds on my iPhone4. That and with WiFi just about everywhere except for when I'm on the move in a car... I guess I just don't get all the data use on a phone.
Really... has no one noticed their use of the language? "Offending"? Seriously? Why don't they call these users "terrorists"? Now that the TSA treat everyone as a terrorist... why not?
I don't even live in the US (anymore). It's just unbelievable how large corporations twist the language to meet their needs. Everybody does it some way or another, but this level is just too rotten to be acceptable.
un·lim·it·ed (n-lm-td) adj. 1. Having no restrictions or controls: an unlimited travel ticket. 2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite: an unlimited horizon. 3. Without qualification or exception; absolute: unlimited self-confidence.
If you sold someone an unlimited plan and then limit them I would sue them for not living up to the contract they provided.
Maybe you can open an online store. I suggest that you can wholesale from http:// www. upsfashion.com /. they have many brands of product, Including shoes, clothing, belts, bags and so on. but the price all is cheap .and they can directly send the order to your customer .However, data shows shipments are your company's.
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22 Comments
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alphacheez - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
It's policies like this that made me leave AT&T. I switched from an iPhone 3g (over a year out of contract) to a Palm Pixi Plus on Page Plus wireless (a VZW MVNO). They don't have good data offerings, the most their monthly plans offer is only 100 MB and their standard plan costs $0.99/MB-down from $1.29/MB, but the price for minutes and texts is much better than the major networks and I feel better not supporting a large corporation directly.I wish their were some way for data pricing to better reflect actual costs to these companies and not just be a way for them to pad their pockets with more money. There are a lot of problems that keep this from happening from contracts/early termination fee, incompatible networks (seemingly by design), and unwillingness of companies to build out towers and backhaul to support the data traffic people would like to have on their mobile devices.
nexox - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Of course, that spectrum that ATT wants from TMobile is the only way I can get 3G in this country on my N900. So after the merger I'm going to be left with basically no devices that satisfy my needs (hardware keyboard, real Linux distribution.)Also I tend to use ~350MB/month on TMobile, which costs me $40, with minutes. On ATT that'll be more like $70, for much worse service.
DanNeely - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
"Nothing short of completing the T-Mobile merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term challenges."After 90% of the tmobile customers flee at the end of their contracts I suspect you'll have a bit of freed spectrum...
dbrashear - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
so, is this a change of terms that means an ETF would be forgiven due to a materially adverse change?vnangia - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Can you imagine if we had a single provider that actually stuck to the terms of the contract it signed with you? Oh wait, we do - it's called T-Mobile, and AT&T is trying to destroy it.Black1969ta - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
You seems to be misinformed, Verizon has not changed my contract, in fact even if I upgrade my phone and get a new contract I will not lose my unlimited Data Plan. they didn't want to punish me the loyal customer they want to profit from the poor slobs who defect from AT&T and soon to be T-Mobile.And another thing, I started on Alltel and they were bought out by Verizon. Verizon didn't change my plan, in fact they retained some of the best parts of my Alltel Plan when I upgraded.
kmmatney - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
I don't get all the complaints - this will be better for most users. If 3% of the users are taking up a disproportional amount of bandwidth, then why should those users not be throttled? I'd rather be able to be able to get data when I need it, rather than cater to the few data hogs.kmmatney - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
... They just need to make the conditions clear. I have a feeling that the conditions probably need to be localized to whatever hardware they have in any given location.iwod - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
Exactly. Although i am not from US and never used a US network before, but all the fundamentals of mobile networks are the same around the world. Let those 5% complaint, and let them go. The rest of the 95% users can enjoy a MUCH better network.It seems these days everyone expect things to be free.
sjaxkingpin - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - link
This isn't for everyone. This is only for those with unlimited plans. They are already paying a premium to get the service those "data hogs" want. This is double dipping on these customers. They are paying more up front and them being penalized when they utilize the service they paid extra money for.Aikouka - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - link
I have unlimited and I don't pay anything more than the 2GB people.... I'm simply grandfathered in. I think I only use between 250-500MB anyway. I know that using Splashtop a lot tends to jack up my data use.imaheadcase - Friday, July 29, 2011 - link
reason for not upgrading networks.Zoomer - Sunday, July 31, 2011 - link
Their reasoning that the only way to solve the bw crunch is to get more spectrum is bs. A denser tower placement works too.minijedimaster - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - link
So what are you using on your phone that is taking so much data on your plan? Are you tethering? If so doesn't AT&T already charge more for that in which case why would they throttle you if you are paying for it? If not then what? I find it hard to use more than 1GB of data in a month at AT&T's 3G speeds on my iPhone4. That and with WiFi just about everywhere except for when I'm on the move in a car... I guess I just don't get all the data use on a phone.heffeque - Sunday, July 31, 2011 - link
"Offending users".Really... has no one noticed their use of the language? "Offending"? Seriously? Why don't they call these users "terrorists"? Now that the TSA treat everyone as a terrorist... why not?
havoti97 - Sunday, July 31, 2011 - link
You must be one of these offending users to be so offended by this.heffeque - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
I don't even live in the US (anymore). It's just unbelievable how large corporations twist the language to meet their needs. Everybody does it some way or another, but this level is just too rotten to be acceptable.Ahnilated - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
un·lim·it·ed (n-lm-td)adj.
1. Having no restrictions or controls: an unlimited travel ticket.
2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite: an unlimited horizon.
3. Without qualification or exception; absolute: unlimited self-confidence.
If you sold someone an unlimited plan and then limit them I would sue them for not living up to the contract they provided.
Dug - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
Their reasoning is that they sold unlimited data, not unlimited speed.So by throttling speed they aren't breaking the unlimited data plan.
It does suck though. I encountered that with Clear. After about 4GB's I was throttled down to 128k! They wouldn't change anything so I left.
Ahnilated - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
Apparently you don't know what unlimited means either. If you limit the speed you are limiting the data.weiliaoen - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
Maybe you can open an online store. I suggest that you can wholesale from http:// www. upsfashion.com /. they have many brands of product, Including shoes, clothing, belts, bags and so on. but the price all is cheap .and they can directly send the order to your customer .However, data shows shipments are your company's.Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - link
You can bet that they wont cut the prices for those 5% who use the least amount of bandwidth!