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When will Data only plan for iPhone come out ?

D

DBZmusicboy01

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 30, 2011
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It's crazy how you are kinda forced to pay for things you don't really use. Not everyone is going to have the money for SIM free iPhone and I believe SIM free isn't available the first month of release.
Paying $60+ Month just for the carrier service plan is Crazy. Not everyone needs unlimited texts or Phone. Data is more important these days and I remember 5 years ago texting was optional service.
 
DBZmusicboy01 said:
It's crazy how you are kinda forced to pay for things you don't really use. Not everyone is going to have the money for SIM free iPhone and I believe SIM free isn't available the first month of release.
Paying $60+ Month just for the carrier service plan is Crazy. Not everyone needs unlimited texts or Phone. Data is more important these days and I remember 5 years ago texting was optional service.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why they do it though. The carriers started noticing that people are using less and less voice and more and more data, and so they starting bundling unlimited talk and text into their plans so consumers HAVE to pay for it, even though they're probably not really using all that much. It's all about getting more money out of the consumer for things they are using less of anyway, because that means more profit for the carrier.
 
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I still have an old style 550 minute plan (shared with husband) and no texting on AT&T. I do have to pay 20¢ per text (sent and received) but that usually only amounts to $2-3 a month.
 
In the US - not unless a new entrant to the market shows up. the current four have the game cornered neatly.
 
It's kind of in the name...iPHONE.

I don't believe something like what you're suggesting is something Jobs would have endorsed.

ETA: Not that what you're suggesting is tempting as I use way more data than minutes.
 
As much as I agree it would be tempting, it just doesn't make sense. At the end of the day it is still a PHONE and if people aren't using it then you might aswell give them more at no expense but them charge them for the number. Then, increase the price as you offer more of what people want; data!

4 years ago I bought my first contract and everything was based on minutes. 500mb data was optional with 1GB being the optional extra, if you wanted a higher end phone then you would pay for more minutes, e.g. I had to take 900 minutes with unlimited texts and 500mb data for a flagship Android. Now this year when I took my upgrade, every plan had unlimited minutes and texts and then you paid for data...

TLDR: If you only want data, they'll give you everything else free to make it seem premium and charge you a lot more for the things you want.
 
the best "nearest" data only plan right now is the walmart t-mobile plan. i am surprised no one has mentioned it. for $30 you get 5 gigs of data, unlimited texts messages, and 100 voice minutes. this is $20 cheaper then an ipad data plan. if you go over , your speeds are reduced. and you get unlimited music streaming and speed tests, just like the other t-mobile plans

so i guess the correct question would be is when will the other phone carriers catch up to T-Mobile's offerings ?
 
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i wrote ideas for randal about this. they should sell you 5 gigs of data for $50 or 18 gigs for $100 and not charge to connect the first device to it.

its like you pay $50 for 5 gigs on prepaid
but if you want 5 gigs for $50 on post paid, you have to pay $15 extra to connect your phone to that plan
 
You may not like paying for services you don't use, but if the carriers get the point where they offer data only plans they will figure out a way to jack up the cost so that you will never save anything.
 
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I'm amazed that small data plans are still the norm in the UK. Even 'upgrading' to 5GB is expensive. That's all I'm prepared to pay for and to be honest 5GB is ok for me, but 8- 10 would be nice. I've been on a 5GB plan for two contracts now and I had envisaged a jump last time around. Data use is obviously rising but contracts aren't moving with the times.

I have unlimited calls and SMS but like has been said previously, everyone wants data now so that's where the carriers are making their money. They aren't going to see their profits dwindle are they. Improving and maintaining networks costs an arm & a leg, not to mention the licence fee they have to pay to the government regulator just in order to be allowed to operate.
 
Data only phone ?

1 Unless you need 911

2 Unless you need to call for a tow

3 Reservations to a restraunt

4. or Late for work, stuck in traffic......Etc
 
ABC5S said:
Data only phone ?

1 Unless you need 911

2 Unless you need to call for a tow

3 Reservations to a restraunt

4. or Late for work, stuck in traffic......Etc
Click to expand...

Not at all....even an ipad or ipod can have any number of "google voice" type/free IP voice apps. The data connection provides everything you need to make a phone call. As long as you have data, your phone will "ring"....it'll just use and app instead of the built-in phone "app".

I'm waiting for the day that a DUAL SIM (or programmable sim) iphone is released. That way, you can have TWO carriers. One with the best voice coverage (AT&T, VZ) and Another with the cheapest DATA plan (T-Mobile).

And good point, Rigormortis, the Tmobile Pre-Paid is definitely the cheapest thing out there if you own an unlocked device & can live on 5GB.
 
WarcraftWidow said:
I still have an old style 550 minute plan (shared with husband) and no texting on AT&T. I do have to pay 20¢ per text (sent and received) but that usually only amounts to $2-3 a month.
Click to expand...
I remember the days when I could get by with that 20¢/text plan. However once my kids got old enough where texting was starting to cost more than my plan, I finally had to make the switch to an unlimited texting plan. I got lucky with AT&T when I called in one day. I ended up getting transferred to their retentions dept. where a rep. gave me unlimited texting for $10/month. If your texting needs start going up, I would call in and see if they can add this to your plan as well.
 
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i was just looking at plans for a US trip and i couldnt believe there are no data sims u can just buy at the supermarket to use in any device
 
Eileen89 said:
I remember the days when I could get by with that 20¢/text plan. However once my kids got old enough where texting was starting to cost more than my plan, I finally had to make the switch to an unlimited texting plan. I got lucky with AT&T when I called in one day. I ended up getting transferred to their retentions dept. where a rep. gave me unlimited texting for $10/month. If your texting needs start going up, I would call in and see if they can add this to your plan as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Right now I have my 12 year old on a FreedomPop plan on a cheapo Android phone until she can prove she's responsible enough for something more expensive. FreedomPop (Sprint reseller) has these plans which have something like 300 minutes, 300 texts and 1GB data a month for free. Of course they want you to pay for more, but we're making her live within that limit. So far, so good especially since she has an original iPad mini she can use iMessage on to avoid using her SMS allotment.
 
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DBZmusicboy01 said:
It's crazy how you are kinda forced to pay for things you don't really use. Not everyone is going to have the money for SIM free iPhone and I believe SIM free isn't available the first month of release.
Paying $60+ Month just for the carrier service plan is Crazy. Not everyone needs unlimited texts or Phone. Data is more important these days and I remember 5 years ago texting was optional service.
Click to expand...

When it becomes profitable for carriers or when users start voting with their $$$. In other words, never.

If this is an issue for you, get an iPod Touch; they're much cheaper.
http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-ipod/ipod-touch
 
The good news: I think that as VoLTE becomes a lot more common, plans will come out that don't differentiate anymore between voice and data. Since technically, it's all packetized on LTE and to the network, there's not much of a difference.

The bad news: It's probably going to be just as expensive as current plans, if not a little bit more. Carriers want to keep their ARPU up. So OP will eventually get their wish, but not the resulted they intended.

Note there's historical context for this: back when cell networks had more voice traffic than data, text and voice minutes were offered in buckets, with higher usage meaning higher price points, while data was all-you-can-eat. When network traffic patterns shifted, so did the plans: unlimited text/voice, data ended up being bucketed and limited.
 
here's my issue with phone service, i use it *myself* almost nil (i'd be curious to learn if there are good alternatives for emergencies)... but more annoyingly, it gets used *frequently* by all the various scams operating right now. I get disrupted by calls at least once a day if not more.

Yes, I can chose not to answer, but it still boils down to being stuck paying for an antiquated technology that seems primarily of benefit to criminals anymore.
 
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