C Spire Launching iPhone on November 11th, 'Unlimited' Non-Streaming Data and 500 Minutes for $50

Rhalliwell1 said:

£10 get me £30 worth of credit.
£5/month for 5000 text bundle, £2/week for 500mb data and the rest is on minutes at 10p/minute.

Damn you guys over the pond get bad deals. I see why so many of you hate these large corporations.

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That sounds unnecessarily convoluted... Why not just redefine what £1 is worth, so that £10 buys you £10 worth of credit (d'uh!), and then:

£1.60/month (or thereabouts) for 5000 text bundle, 60p/week for 500 mb data, and the rest is on minutes at 3p/minute?

"Unlimited" streaming is available ...

It seems that this is likely the way cellular data (and maybe even home internet) will wind up: "unlimited" regular data (assuming they can actually tell the difference between download Lion and watching a Netflix movie ;-), and streaming as an add-on for a fee.

In many ways, I think it's a reasonable approach Streaming is much more network intensive than say, up and downloading photos. So pricing it as such is not evil per se. Once could complain that the price is too high ($30/mo for a total "unlimited" plan at $130/mo), but at least you can access the resource.

guzhogi said:

Also, why does this regional service get it before T-Mobile, which a lot bigger?

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Because C Spire is not a carrier. (People will try to argue that because they own a few towers, they are a carrier.)

The majority of their customers are getting service off of Verizon's network.

This is just an extension of Verizon's network.

Personally, I would not miss the streaming capability on my phone. I seldom stream audio or video and on the few occasions that I do, I'm usually at home on WiFi. I would certainly 'downgrade' to a non-streaming plan if AT&T offered it and it meant reducing my data fee.

The prices worldwide for 3G or 4G network access are still a symbol for the distance we have between us and the "always online society".

samsandy said:

I wish i lived in the US that isnt fair our most expensive plan is $150NZD ($120USD) and we only get 1000 MIN 2500Texts and 500MB of data

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nah u can do better

i pay 35$ for unlimited data, text & calls

This is interesting but just raises a lot of questions. How in the world do they define and detect "streaming?"

I mean, I could see them easily enough monitoring resources coming from YouTube or the Netflix app. But if I go to a website and they have an auto-play video ad does that use up a few MBs of my streaming? What if I click a video link that isn't coming from a streaming server but just plays directly in my browser?

Also, do they allow you to block streaming info rather than exceed your limit and be charged out the wazzoo?

And finally, will they consider iTunes Match downloads "streaming" since Apple most definitely says they are not?? ;-)

goosnarrggh said:

That sounds unnecessarily convoluted... Why not just redefine what £1 is worth, so that £10 buys you £10 worth of credit (d'uh!), and then:

£1.60/month (or thereabouts) for 5000 text bundle, 60p/week for 500 mb data, and the rest is on minutes at 3p/minute?

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Well yeah, That's another way of looking at it!

imgonephishin said:

I mean, I could see them easily enough monitoring resources coming from YouTube or the Netflix app. But if I go to a website and they have an auto-play video ad does that use up a few MBs of my streaming? What if I click a video link that isn't coming from a streaming server but just plays directly in my browser?

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Then shoot the idiots making the website. There are people who pay lots for data, not just people on this "unlimited excluding streaming" package, and if the idiot web designer doesn't care about the cost the website creates for their visitors, they should be shot.

guzhogi said:

I don't know their internal decision making, but if I were to hazard a guess, I would say telcos use night/day minutes due to usage. Since most people would probably talk more during the night than the day, nights probably use more bandwidth. So telcos probably try to spread the call time evenly over the entire day rather than have huge spikes. That's my theory, feel free to (respectfully) correct me.

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but nights are free....so your theory is incorrect

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bushido said:

nah u can do better

i pay 35$ for unlimited data, text & calls

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but you live in Germany...

Tethering

Corrode said:

Streaming restrictions? Give me a break. Data should be data.

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Data isn't data. An hour of streaming is probably what many others use for data in a month. I think it's an interesting option.

And for some people, "as long as I don't stream, my plan is unlimited" that's no worries or anything.

I think this is a GREAT plan, if you live in the area and don't have a family plan.

I don't see anything about tethering though?!?

Gary

ConAim said:

Available 11.11.11??? wtf

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Add them up and you get Six. The number of man. The original Apple I was $666.66. Coincidence? I think NOT! There is a conspiracy here and I know it!

Corrode said:

Streaming restrictions? Give me a break. Data should be data.

And while we're on the same topic, minutes should be minutes. None of this daytime/evenings at 6pm garbage. These cell phone companies will do so many dumb things to make an extra buck.

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Time-based actually makes sense, charge less during times your network has excess capacity, charge more when it doesn't. Electric companies do this, too. It helps balance load by having some people shift their usage from peak hours to non-peak hours.

But yeah, data is data. Shouldn't charge based on what KIND of data. Anyone who is in this company's service territory should bug their lawmakers to push for "net neutrality", which would force them to treat all data the same.

SAD*FACED*CLOWN said:

but nights are free....so your theory is incorrect

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but you live in Germany...

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and you in texas so whats your point?

840quadra said:

I hope this "non streaming" definition doesn't spread to other service providers. I am really getting sick of the telco / cable companies working new angles to milk their customers.

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AT&T originally had a very similar restriction, in their 2007 TOS which was in effect at the time the iPhone originally came on the market:

EXCEPT FOR CONTENT FORMATTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH AT&T’S WIRELESS CONTENT STANDARDS, UNLIMITED PLANS CANNOT BE USED FOR UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING OR STREAMING OF VIDEO CONTENT (E.G. MOVIES, TV), MUSIC OR GAMES.

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Items acquired through the iTunes Media and App stores (within the 20 MB download limit) had AT&T's official blessing via their partnership with Apple. Streaming data -- that was not so easy to be sure about...

(Remember, AT&T didn't exercise control over the formatting of any 3rd party streaming sources, so the consumer could not know, in advance, whether or not any particular 3rd party streaming service would operate in conformance with AT&T's content standards. In effect, the only safe conclusion was to avoid 3rd-party streaming altogether... Apple initially participated in this restriction indirectly by exercising editorial control over approval of Apps in their App Store.)

The most glaring difference between AT&T of 2007 and C Spire of today is: back then AT&T didn't even offer any alternative add-on which allowed you to add arbitrary streaming capabilities.

Now, would AT&T have gone out of their way to enforce that point in their TOS? That was another question entirely.

AT&T's policy has since been revised several times until it reached its current state -- where unlimited plans effectively do not exist at all anymore (for new customers). You simply have a bucket of up to 2GB, and you can use up that bucket as quickly or as slowly as you like - including for streaming services and VoIP. Once you've used up the bucket, you can either go out of your way to avoid using any more data for the rest of the month, or else you can pay extra for additional buckets.

Whenever I see someone type that "Well, I don't do this so nobody else should" in terms of any topic with the iPhone, I want to ask that poster if they are that stupid to believe that everyone has the exact same needs as them.

I mean, some here don't need or want streaming so this plan is for them. That's fine and perfectly reasonable.

For me? The time I need streaming is when I am not on my Wifi as I travel a good bit and need to stream things while on the go. And no, Wifi is not at probably half of the places that I travel to.

I understand that streaming takes up more data but with Hulu, Netflix, HBO and others continue to expand their app presence, it frankly shouldn't surprise people that data usage is increasing tremendously.

With these laughably low data caps given to most (or everyone right now)....this idea that everyone should not be using video because of the caps? Just absurd.

The ISP's put the 2gb cap in to make money off those wanting to use more...oh, the same data that the ISP's promote daily on TV.

Ridiculous

More and more with these laughable low caps we seem

Apple went from AT&T exclusively to this. Everybody's getting the iPhone now. I can just see it, the next to offer the iPhone 4S: "Joe's Phone Company"

C Spire is a MVNO Operator

FYI - C Spire (Previous Cellular South, Inc) is a MVNO operator, not a true carrier. (They do own some AWS Spectrum).

MVNO stands for Mobile Virtual Network Operator. Basically, they're companies like TracFone which offer cell phone service on the big carrier networks under their own brand. The MVNO cuts a deal wholesale with Verizon/Sprint/AT&T/T-Mobile for traffic on their nets, then turns around and sells that capacity at retail to customers.

Usually MVNOs try to target people who aren't being served by big carriers, or who the MVNOs think aren't being served. For instance, there's Jitterbug, which is cheap, low-usage phones with large-print buttons and displays for the elderly (Is that still around?). Or there's TracFone and it's sub-unit Straight Talk, which do cheap pre-paid. Most MVNOs are, in fact, brands for pre-paid service.

Some other MVNOs have tried to target other demographics, even "high end" users. Like Amp'd Mobile, which was one of the first providers to offer an unlimited talk plan. (Now deceased.)

The upside of an MVNO is that they'll offer deals you don't get from the big carriers. The downside is twofold. One, you usually don't get any smartphone options. Two, they're not as reliable as the big boys. Take Amp'd for instance--they got started in 2005, and were out of business in 2007. So even if you find something which works for you, you might find out it doesn't last. The only way MVNOs can make their plans more attractive than the other carriers is by lowering their margins, which doesn't lead to great revenue numbers.

Today, the majority of US MVNOs run on the Sprint network, although T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T each have some. (And C-Spire is on Verizon.)

MrXiro said:

I would get this. Too bad I don't live in a service area.

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If you ordered the phone online and called them to activate, do you really have to live in their service area. They are regional after all, yet tout nationwide coverage thanks to partnering with a national carrier.

Anyone with a thought? I guess I can contact C-Spier direct.
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bushido said:

nah u can do better

i pay 35$ for unlimited data, text & calls

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NZ has some of the worst plans iPhone plans. US and Canada aren't great, Germany is slightly better, but Australia and UK are insanely good value. Read about it here:

http://greatestdeception.blogspot.com/2011/10/chpr-phn-plns-pls.html

edit: this was written about a month ago. Things might have changed in Germany, but in NZ the cost of an iPhone has actually gone up by NZD$200.

pika2000 said:

How do they differentiate between a streaming connection and regular downloads?

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They are probably running deep packet inspection and packet shaping on their back-end network. It actually isn't that hard.

johncrab said:

"Unlimited data" but in the same sentence they say they're going to limit data. How cheesy. So that bare bones plan ends up costing significantly more than my robust AT&T plan even after all of the taxes are added to my bill. Nice marketing, guys. Please step out in front of a bus any time you like.

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I have been on Cellular South/C Spire for about 6 years. I initially switched to them because I got fed up with Cingular and all the other carriers, and they had unlimited minutes and texting when nobody else did. I was worried when they announced the name change, and it appears my worries were well-founded. Now, they have become just like every other carrier. They pretend it's unlimited, but it's really capped. I'm grandfathered in on my old plan, which is $50/month for 500 minutes, unlimited text and data. Under their new structure, it would cost me $80/month.

I was thinking about getting the 4s, but now I'm reconsidering. They are also rolling out LTE shortly, along with some LTE capable phones, so I may just hold off until that happens. It's frustrating, though, because nobody at C Spire will tell me if I can keep my existing plan with LTE.

It's not bad at all.. Whoever is complaining, just go with a different carrier. That's why I love Capitalism... You have the CHOICE. Some may argue it's the illusion of having the choice, but not in this case at least. If it works for you, go for it..

gorbok said:

NZ has some of the worst plans iPhone plans. US and Canada aren't great, Germany is slightly better, but Australia and UK are insanely good value. Read about it here:

http://greatestdeception.blogspot.com/2011/10/chpr-phn-plns-pls.html

edit: this was written about a month ago. Things might have changed in Germany, but in NZ the cost of an iPhone has actually gone up by NZD$200.

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Wait till you see carriers in Singapore. Their cheapest plan with data (~US$32 a month) gives you 12GB (yes, GIGAbyte) of data AND tethering is included.

This company came up with a great tactic for themselves. Offer unlimited internet but don't allow features that will actually require the "unlimited" part. I doubt people on this "unlimited" plan will be racking up more than a 2-3GB (probably even less) if they're just checking emails and facebook.