Ok, fair enough. Don't we hate tiered data, though? Are you sure you want T-Mobile to replace the unlimited option with a fixed amount just because you have a semantics issue with it?
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T-Mobile to Restrict Unlimited Customers Using Up to 2,000 GB of Data Per Month
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So you are saying that wireless networks are contrary to virtually every other commodity in that their infrastructure doesn't achieve better efficiency through scale? I can see no argument where that makes sense. Most of Finland is rural countryside much like any US state.
What I'm saying is that it seems like if you find a really great European plan (either in terms of the monthly rate, or plan perks, like "truly" unlimited date), it's likely that the plan only works in a relatively small geographic area.
Travel outside of that area and there seem to almost always be financial penalties that quickly make the plan as costly as a US one.
If European wireless networks are achieving better efficiently through scale, doesn't seem like a single one of them has setup a single network as large as the Big 4 in the US. Why is that?
I would think it's likely due to the complexity of building an international network. In the U.S. The laws dictating how the carriers can operate are largely standardized at the Federal level easing the path of doing business across state lines. That's not generally the case in Europe.
Now there might be government factors involved in these pricing levels, but prices seem to be pretty universally lower in Europe, yet with smaller markets, which indicates to me that there must be other factors at play.
What about people who don't use two terabytes of data. What about people who just want to use their phone normally month to month and do what the phones we pay for were already capable of before they started all of this BS. the phones are already capable when the companies wanted to limit the data usage for their own gain. I'm growing very uncomfortable with this "unlimited" propaganda and I'm glad I'm not in a contract because if they keep this up I'll be leaving very soon.
No kidding! It seems like there *should* be some way to be reasonable about the whole thing, and just prefer honest ads as well. Just give me a *reasonable* amount of data... tell me how much it costs... and tell me how much extra for each additional GB.
Heck, I'd be quite happy here (in Canada) to just have a reasonably priced plan (say $30-50) that included a GB or two and then like $5-10 for each additional GB. They would make plenty of profit, *most* customers would be thrilled, and those couple people who do use 2000 GB could hopefully afford the $10k-20k.
Why do we hate tiered data? A company, to provide such services, has to make a profit. I'm all for that. I just want honesty and reasonableness. Current cell phone plans are often neither.
Then you have nothing to worry about. Feel free to use 100GB on your smartphone, for example.
I think the point is, that rather than debating over this not-really-unlimited unlimited baloney, they should just create some better priced/equipped plans to serve the MAJORITY of their customers.
Unlimited smartphone data is unlimited smartphone data. This fits the majority of customers.
Not really... most only need a few GB but are paying insane prices for the plans.
I pay $30 a month for unlimited phone, text and 10GB of rollover data (which is the same as unlimited for my usage)
Also:
- unlimited music streaming
- service in Canada and Mexico
- great international options
- no upgrade fees
Seems very reasonable to me and not insane in the least.
That is actually a pretty good deal. We don't have anything like that here in Canada, and I'm wondering what the catch is wherever you are, as most people I know pay $60-$100+.
I'm assuming you own the phone. The cheapest plan I've found here for that is like $50/mo with less than 1GB of data, and fewer add-ons than you're talking about. A plan similar to what you're talking about here (if they even exist, I haven't seen one) would be between $80 and $100 with less data (more like 5 GB and no roll-over).
There is no catch. T-Mobile is kicking butt. This is through a family plan of 4 people, not an individual plan. The plan doesn't pool anything, each line is independent. The 10 gigs is for me and only me.
I own the phone and pay $27 a month on top of my bill to pay it off. My total monthly payment is $57, this includes my iPhone 6 payment. Once it's paid off, I pay $31 with tax included for my plan. Previously in the U.S., phones were subsidized by the carriers and when your contract expired, all you received was a phone upgrade. T-Mobile changed this. Now when you pay off your phone, your payments drop almost $30 a month (if you own an iPhone).
I don't know the Canadian carriers so I can't chime in, but things in the U.S. have dramatically improved since Johm Legere shook up the wireless industry in the states.
What I'm saying is the phones were capable... The service providers limited it to fit their needs and that's BS to me... I spent money for this phone and all of its capabilities... That's why people root their phones... Stop playing with the data I pay for and telling how I can and can't use it... What's the difference if I use 100gb data on my phone or if I tether it through MY phone.. If they can't handle unlimited then don't say it's unlimited... Sounds very limited to me.
the only explanation that I can think of, and I'm not in approval of it, is that those marketing "gurus" took the all you can eat scheme to the cellphone data plans when speeds were really slow and their crippled network was by no means threatened by the massive consumer adoption, therefore they created the mess and took any given chance to train consumers that data is expensive and bundle it into their smartphone marketing schemes. Uneducated consumers and consumers in markets where choices are limited unfortunately aid in the schemes to be a profit center without much competitors.
T-Mobile disruptive approach had been some
kind of success to both their Business plans and the consumers, until they have no other choice but follow the same gimmicks with data Caps as the other carriers do.
Yes. The data, including rollover data, can be used for Perosnal Hotspot on my iPhone to use on my other devices.
Soon T-Mobile will announce they will not count HBO and Netflix streaming against the data quota...interesting
They don't say unlimited data. They say unlimited data for your smartphone w/ 7GB of data for your other devices.
If they said unlimited data, I would understand your point. They don't. They're very transparent that they aren't allowing you to use their network as an ISP for all your devices.