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Do you think tethering without a carrier tethering plan is immoral?
- Thread starter b24pgg
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I'm not so sure about that. Say the average customer on a 2GB/month plan uses 500MB/month. The telco set their prices based on how much infrastructure they needed to deliver these (million) people 500MB/month and give themselves a profit.
If they now allow free tethering (or let people do it without cutting them off) then their average customer might use 600MB/month or maybe 1GB/month if enough people tether. Suddenly they are delivering 20% or 100% more data at the same price. Their profits are reduced or maybe eliminated.
As the original poster said the pricing is based on what the average user consumes. If something changes (like tethering) then the average use may go up substantially.
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What was stolen? What are they out? If you say money that I would have spent on a tethering plan, you're wrong. I wouldn't spend one extra cent on a tethering plan.
It's not like AT&T sat down with me and we came to a contract with mutually agreed upon terms. They basically force their terms down our throats because they can, and we just have to accept it.
And they are clutching their greedy little hands and DEMAND that the marketing department come up with a way to charge people more and make it seem sensible.
Infrastructure is a capital expenditure and is not affected by minor fluctuations in demand. Kind of like a taxi ride - it costs the same whether there is one passenger or four. The extra person adds nothing significant to the costs of the taxi driver. Unless you want to move 30 people, in which case a regular cab will not do and you need to get a bus - a change in infrastructure.
Charging by GB usages is an arbitrary way to decide who's going to pay more and who - less. Buses typically charge a flat fee per person. An obese person might have a slightly higher marginal cost associated with their transportation than an anorexic skinny one, but buses still charge the same (because that additional cost is still nothing compared to their overall investment into the transportation infrastructure). An owner of a popular mall charges rent not just based on square footage, but also based on the revenue generated by each store.
There are all sorts of ways to slice that pie and I guess my point is that neither is any more "moral" than other.
I think you need to reevaluate this statement.
If you are paying for a set amount to data, and you use it on your iPhone or tether, what does it matter? You will be paying for overages if you're over, if not, it is data you have already paid for. Just because you're tethering doesn't mean you're getting away with more data, it is still metered.
AT&T didn't force anything on you. You knew the terms and you agreed to them. If you don't like the terms don't give them your business. Simple as that.
And go where? Every big company uses 1-sided terms. AT&T won't even let me cancel my data plan and use my iPhone WiFi-only.
As for not forcing me, it's not a good argument anymore. This day in age people need cell phones. When gas becomes too expensive, you're argument would be "well don't drive". That's not really feasible.
I agree with this.
For example, if you pay for 500 MB of data than you should be able to use this data any way you want. If, however, you have an unlimited dataplan, than you should pay for a seperate tethering plan or have approval from your carrier.
Do you pretty much need a cell phone these days? Yeah. Do you need a smartphone? No. Do you need to tether? Certainly not. That argument makes no sense. No one needs to tether, if they do their company will provide it.
Ofcourse not. The act is violating the TOS. You use bandwidth in a way the carrier prohibited in the TOS. But you still paid for the bandwidth. It's more like trespassing (and even that comparison doesn't hold).
Straight from my VZ T's & C's
"Unlimited Email & Web for Smartphones (personal email)
Get unlimited access to the Internet and your personal email accounts.
Check and send personal emails when you’re out and about.
Access up to 10 POP3 and IMAP email accounts.
Enjoy unlimited Internet access.
The Email and Web for BlackBerry and Email and Web for Smartphone Features are designed for personal, consumer use and are not compatible with some Internet email service offerings or with email applications utilizing Smartphone Enterprise Server, Smartphone Desktop Software, Wireless Sync or Wireless Sync Enterprise Server or Good™ Mobile Messaging. These features cannot be used to tether your device to laptops, personal computers or other devices for any purpose other than syncing of data; any other use is not permitted using these features. Service is only available in the National Enhanced Services and Extended National Enhanced Services Rate and Coverage Areas. See information on roaming in Canada and Mexico at www.verizonwireless.com/naroaming.
Additional Terms & Conditions apply"
This is an out of date plan that I'm grandfathered on, so I'm sure it's not applicable to most. I still have no problem with tethering without paying the fee, for 2 reasons: 1. I am paying to download a bunch of 0's and 1's and 2. I am paying to download it over a slow 3g network. In other words, tethering on 3g sucks because it's painfully slow. And I can't tether my the New iPad to my 4s anyway.
"Unlimited Email & Web for Smartphones (personal email)
Get unlimited access to the Internet and your personal email accounts.
Check and send personal emails when you’re out and about.
Access up to 10 POP3 and IMAP email accounts.
Enjoy unlimited Internet access.
The Email and Web for BlackBerry and Email and Web for Smartphone Features are designed for personal, consumer use and are not compatible with some Internet email service offerings or with email applications utilizing Smartphone Enterprise Server, Smartphone Desktop Software, Wireless Sync or Wireless Sync Enterprise Server or Good™ Mobile Messaging. These features cannot be used to tether your device to laptops, personal computers or other devices for any purpose other than syncing of data; any other use is not permitted using these features. Service is only available in the National Enhanced Services and Extended National Enhanced Services Rate and Coverage Areas. See information on roaming in Canada and Mexico at www.verizonwireless.com/naroaming.
Additional Terms & Conditions apply"
This is an out of date plan that I'm grandfathered on, so I'm sure it's not applicable to most. I still have no problem with tethering without paying the fee, for 2 reasons: 1. I am paying to download a bunch of 0's and 1's and 2. I am paying to download it over a slow 3g network. In other words, tethering on 3g sucks because it's painfully slow. And I can't tether my the New iPad to my 4s anyway.
Tethering's included in Verizon's share plans.
Not sure why people feel so entitled. I don't agree with the notion that carriers seem to have either but their TOS is their TOS and entitlement != justification. If you want something, pay for it. If you can't pay for it then do without. Tethering isn't the right that people are trying to make it out to be.
Always consider the reciprocal situation. If you entered an agreement with another party and they broke the terms of the agreement would you just let it slide? If so, then what's the point of the agreement?
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I don't tether because it's too slow for web browsing on my MBP and I can't make a personal network with my iPad, end of story. Once a LTE iPhone comes out, it'll be a different story.
the data (internet) is still generating from that phone. Its not like you are putting that sim in another device.
True. But when they offered unlimited plans they based it on the phone using the data. Not tethering to a PC where you can hit it with torrents and other high data uses that a phone isn't capable of.
Yes and no. Phones are more than capable of hitting high data use sites like Netflix and others. Now I don't use my phone for torrents as I'd rather use a dedicated PC for such things but for AT&T to tell me I can't tether my wifi iPad to my basic 4s which is by no means a screamer in terms of pulling down data....ah...no. Come get me AT&T, I'm tethered right now.
In the end, the consumers pay for any use that is outside the terms of service. Usually in the form of raised rates & additional features pricing.
Looks like the FCC agrees. Verizon can no longer force you to pay $20/month to tether: http://www.gizmodo.com/5930610/verizon-officially-cant-force-you-to-pay-20-for-tethering-anymore
I find this basically akin to paying for every room you want to watch your DVR in. People are mostly ok with that though because there isn't a way around it, or at least not an easy one, sans building your own machine with tuner.
Charging for tethering is immoral when you are paying for a bucket of data. I tether to my iPad with AT&T, to hell with them double dipping me.
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That does not make it illegal.
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The very same contract that states that the carrier can change or break that contract at will, yet I'm supposed to abide by it.
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That does not make it illegal.
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The very same contract that states that the carrier can change or break that contract at will, yet I'm supposed to abide by it.
So, now that it is not illegal, and hence immoral, is there a tethering app available without jailbreaking my phone?
I don't believe so. FWIW this ruling was specifically for LTE phones. Something about the way Verizon acquired the 700mhz band. I am not certain, but I don't actually think it applies to any model of the iPhone based on that.