AT&T CEO Believes 5G Phone Plans Could Be Tiered and Priced on Data Speed

[iReality85]

Explain to me how this works, because this statement leaves me confused and I've seen similar statements on here before. The reason that I'm confused is that a 5 gigabyte movie is still 5 gigabytes whether downloaded over 4G or 5G so why would 5G use up data quicker? It's going to download it faster obviously but you're still only downloading 5 gigabytes.

What am I missing here?

It comes down to user habit, and it's why data consumption steadily increases generations. For example, if your 5GB movie takes 2mins to download over 4G LTE, and it takes 30s over 5G LTE, then you're more likely to download more 5GB movies since it's now quicker to access them. In other words, speed = convenience, and we as humans love when things are convenient.

Since things download quicker, people use more and more data. People will chew through more data with 5G LTE than with 4G LTE, just as they did with 4G LTE vs 3G.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I believe that I will be angry in the future.

I believe I will be switching to T-Mobile as soon as they get coverage in my office building.
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I’m just realizing this is a great business opportunity for the old Blockbuster stores— if they set up wherever there’s known good 5G, then people could drive out to the store to pick up their Netflix download....

You just won the internet. As well as a free rental at The Last Blockbuster*.

*Note, I don't work there but I'm sure if you told them about your plan, they'd at least give you a box of candy.

 

[JBGoode]

It comes down to user habit, and it's why data consumption steadily increases generations. For example, if your 5GB movie takes 2mins to download over 4G LTE, and it takes 30s over 5G LTE, then you're more likely to download more 5GB movies since it's now quicker to access them. In other words, speed = convenience, and we as humans love when things are convenient.

Since things download quicker, people use more and more data. People will chew through more data with 5G LTE than with 4G LTE, just as they did with 4G LTE vs 3G.

Ahhh....well if it’s going to be a matter of self control, that’s their problem and I think most sensible people won’t have this issue. It’s not as if they can consume the data any faster.

 

[iReality85]

Ahhh....well if it’s going to be a matter of self control, that’s their problem and I think most sensible people won’t have this issue. It’s not as if they can consume the data any faster.

IMO, 5G LTE -- as a mobile broadband spectrum -- is going to be a "city thing" at least in the opening years. Those high GHz bands favor very short distances, and city infrastructure is perfect for putting 5G LTE antennas everywhere. The wide open spaces in rural areas is a different story. People in the 'burbs will have to make do with 4G LTE for awhile, which is fine for me.

 

[JBGoode]

IMO, 5G LTE -- as a mobile broadband spectrum -- is going to be a "city thing" at least in the opening years. Those high GHz bands favor very short distances, and city infrastructure is perfect for putting 5G LTE antennas everywhere. The wide open spaces in rural areas is a different story. People in the 'burbs will have to make do with 4G LTE for awhile, which is fine for me.

It’s fine with me too. My needs don’t require much speed. I’m currently capped at 8 mbps with Cricket and that works beautifully for anything including the minimal video streaming that I do. I’m mostly on WiFi all day anyway which is 50-100mbs depending on time of day and band I’m using. I definitely don’t require speeds beyond that.

 

[Alessiot]

Electricity is far lower on my cost per month than telecommunications. I obviously use electricity more than telecommunications, as many times I am heating stuff.

My utilities costs haves stayed far more consistent year to year than my ever expanding telecommunications budget.

Quite simply, there are no quotes from my utilities about how they plan to start charging for more services in the future, whereas each few weeks we see such quotes from telcos.

Also, my point originally was more about equality of access rather than simply a price concern.

I pay $150 a month on average for electricity my unlimited Verizon bill taxes included about $78

 

[Wowereit]

"I will be very surprised if, as we move into wireless, the pricing regime in wireless doesn't look something like the pricing regime you see in fixed line. If you can offer a gig speed, there are some customers that are willing to pay a premium for 500 meg to a gig speed, and so forth. So I expect that to be the case. We're two to three years away from seeing that play out."

Me and most people don't have a single use case where mobile devices would benefit from higher speeds.

For me it's all about coverage and maybe latency once a certain threshold is met.

I've already switched to a cheaper LTE contract which is limited to 50 Mbit/s. Didn't even notice.
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And 640k is enough memory for any computer.

Try capping your connection at 20 Mbit/s and using your usual apps, browser, streaming etc.

There is no difference. Most people don't have to rapidly download giant files on the go.

Of course current speeds won't be good enough for all time, but I can't see how the average person would need 1 Gbit/s on mobile in the next 10 years.

 

[Blackwell]

You know, I think it could get far more arbitrary…

Yea AngerDanger, best responder to anything. And quick!

 

[blacktape242]

am i surprised, oh hell no im not, its att

 

[Jamers99]

What about this stuff I'm reading on the internet about 5G millimeter wave technology seriously affecting peoples brains and health in general. Is there anything to that?

 

[Extoll]

I am okay with this. IF they kill data caps. Data caps are 100% scam. I have work in telecom networks for 15 years now or so. Never once when i built a pipe for a carrier has it had a data cap. Yes it have speed cap. I be okay going with a 50mb plan with no data caps...reality if you just using mobile data on phone or tablet no need for more speeds since it's not really needed right now. If using service as home isp also then increase it to 100mb and so on...Just for the love of god kill off the scam data caps.

 

[hagjohn]

Fine, I don't need more than 10mbit/s
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Good for connecting homes where cabling is difficult. Should in theory be enough to support both your phone and your home, which is nice

Many of those homes will be outside of the optimum 5G range.

 

[euvnairb]

I'm on wifi about 75% of the day and when I'm not, the coverage in my area is abysmal (regardless of carrier). My ATT service is mainly a back-up to my wifi with the exception of when I'm traveling. I don't think I could justify an increase in price for 5G when I can't even utilize LTE with current coverage.

 

[Xenomorph]

They don't even have reliable LTE or even 3G coverage over the entire US, yet.

I'd love to have a decent connection when I visit in-laws without having to stand outside.

T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint are no better (worse, in my experience). All the carriers focus 100% of efforts on 90% of people, and they feel that the remaining 10% of people can go jump in a lake.

Carriers finished their 2G rollout to the more-populated areas, and those in remote areas asked "when do we get service?"

Carriers then tout the new, faster 3G and roll it out to the same more-populated areas that already had full 2G coverage. Those in remote areas ask "when do we get service?"

Carriers then accepted money from the government to support people in remote areas...

Carriers then boast about their new, faster 4G/LTE, roll it out to the those that already had full coverage, and then begin shutting down their 2G networks before some people ever got the 2G upgrade. What happened to supporting those in remote areas? What happened to the money from the government? People in remote areas are still asking "when do we get service?"

And now carriers are promoting and advertising and bragging about their amazing "5G" service. And where will it be deployed? You guessed it: in the same exact areas that already have blazing-fast LTE. Those in remote areas that with with barely getting a few Kbps, if any coverage at all, are still being overlooked.

People living an hour outside of cities should NOT have to rely on awful satellite service to get anything done.

 

[busyscott]

It’s sucks when What should be considered a utility is being treated with “some people will be willing to pay more for the full experience”.

This quote from att shows exactly why this idea that private companies will provide the best experience to the largest number of users for something which is effectively necessary to function in society is incredibly misguided.

Stop throwing around this false notion that the internet, and more specifically the highest tier 5G, is a utility. The government has no responsibility to subsidize your ability to “Netflix and Chill” in 4K.

 

[alexnyc8]

That phrase sometimes fits, but not here.

Even if you don’t appreciate why someone would want to watch a 4K video on their phone there are plenty of business use cases for 5G.

The fact that something is not useful to you doesn’t mean it’s not useful to anyone.

5G is going to be extremely useful for BigBrother and all other kinds of spooks as it will finally allow for universal high definition surveillance over everyone and everything (think high speed high resolution cameras "for your safety ofcourse" on every corner with enough capacity to accumulate and process and categorize all that data (look up Big Data capabilities of Azure and AWS clouds, who are btw, are firmly in bed with Big Brother).

And then there are health issues of constantly being bombarded by high frequency microwaves (Key word here is constantly).
https://www.google.com/search?sourc........0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131.SQ0418Y1_EI

 

[NufSaid]

What about this stuff I'm reading on the internet about 5G millimeter wave technology seriously affecting peoples brains and health in general. Is there anything to that?

Nope....I will gladly get the flu shot as well on my way to pick up my new 5G iPhone the fall it comes out.

 

[ddtmm]

I can't believe the 5G craze. 4G is already so fast, how much data do people need on the go? Half the time it's just people screwing around on social media in public. 4G is faster than most Wi-Fi 10 years ago, I don't know why it's not enough.

And let the chip makers take their time. If something like this is rushed it will suck and be available almost nowhere.

I agree completely. I don't know what the big deal is with 5G. As mentioned earlier, 5G is a solution looking for a problem. It's not like it's some miracle tech that will completely replace wired communications, or bring affordable broadband to rural areas. As usual, the public has no idea how much they're being brainwashed.

 

[redneckitengineer]

And this is why I'm in no hurry to get a 5G phone.. My LTE is doing just fine.

 

[millerlite]

Good news! AT&T has found new ways to **** us over!!

 

[jlc1978]

It’s sucks when What should be considered a utility is being treated with “some people will be willing to pay more for the full experience”.

He could also have said "we will discount the price for people who don't need the highest possible speed."

Personally, if I can replace my ISP with 5G a high speed, non-capped plan would be worth a premium.

This quote from att shows exactly why this idea that private companies will provide the best experience to the largest number of users for something which is effectively necessary to function in society is incredibly misguided.

I'd like to see more cities / co-ops/ etc. get in the broadband business to increase competition but unfortunately that is unlikely.

 

[woefi]

That's a US thing, right?
Here in the EU/Austria it's common to choose which LTE-speed cap you want to pay – e.g. 30/6, 50/10 or 150/50mbit down/up with unlimited data (that's t-mobile). Am I missing something?

 

[AppleMad98004]

It’s sucks when What should be considered a utility is being treated with “some people will be willing to pay more for the full experience”.

This quote from att shows exactly why this idea that private companies will provide the best experience to the largest number of users for something which is effectively necessary to function in society is incredibly misguided.

Totally different. Problem is a "utility" is usually one option for a provider. Think electricity, gas, telephone (hard-line). Most places you have one choice for this.

You can chose A&TT, Verizon, T-Mobile and any of the smaller re-sellers. Big difference.

One thing is 5G will be more expensive that 4G. No question, because the companies have to recover the expense of building the network.

 

[Nautilus007]

Telecom, Airlines & Pharma....they are here to rob you not make your life easier.

 

[wigby]

And how do you think that is going to work out in 2 years? Every phone will be 5G.

Every phone will support 5G but only 10% of them will utilize 5G bands. It will be a decade before you can safely assume that every phone utilizes 5G.
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5G is a solution in search of a problem...

The problems are all applications requiring low latency and/or high bandwidth. Those "problems" are not necessary but they are desired by consumers who are willing to pay for them.