Is it safe to say we will never get more data per buck?

[Dwalls90]

Since tiered plans have gone into effect, we haven't seen any true decrease in price per Gb. Sure, AT&T graced us very slightly years ago from moving $25 for 2Gb to $30 to 3Gb, but on the whole the price have remained fixed.

The average cost of data has been masked by the move to shared data plans, which for most consumers actually increases data costs, and increasing data overages from $10 to $15 per Gb.

These facts considered, even with higher bandwidth networks and technology improving, do we think we will EVER see the return of unlimited data plans, or at least the cost per Gb decreasing in the near future?

 

[b166er]

I don't know I think it's possible things may swing back around but if so I bet it takes several years. Remember when we used to pay for the Internet by the hour? back in the America on Line days. Mobile Internet used to be crazy cheap and never tiered. Now I think the companies are realizing we don't need minutes or texts plans if we have a lot of data. So they proceed with the wallet rape.

Now I pay a flat rate for unlimited Internet at home with Verizon. I know Comcast has begun enforcing 250GB a month. It's widely believed that mobile Internet will soon be fast enough to replace home Internet for the average users. The first company to create a modern data plan with fair prices will get all the business and the others will follow suite.

 

[Dwalls90]

I don't know I think it's possible things may swing back around but if so I bet it takes several years. Remember when we used to pay for the Internet by the hour? back in the America on Line days. Mobile Internet used to be crazy cheap and never tiered. Now I think the companies are realizing we don't need minutes or texts plans if we have a lot of data. So they proceed with the wallet rape.

Now I pay a flat rate for unlimited Internet at home with Verizon. I know Comcast has begun enforcing 250GB a month. It's widely believed that mobile Internet will soon be fast enough to replace home Internet for the average users. The first company to create a modern data plan with fair prices will get all the business and the others will follow suite.

Good point. It's nice that we now have, more or less, "unlimited" (limits, but they're so high, it's a moot point) home internet.

As you mentioned, as mobile networks get faster and more widespread, hopefully we see their policies follow suit.

I'm hoping LTE will make this more realistic from carriers, or at least more pressure from Tmobile and Sprint.