Those of us who have smartphones have long been acclimated to having unlimited data and text plans to fuel our addiction to surfing the Web, streaming video/audio and using or buying applications, music and more. The phone companies don’t seem to be pleased with this development, and are looking to monetize this shift in use.
Gizmodo is already preparing the funeral for unlimited data plans, citing recent statements by Verizon and AT&T executives who have basically promised to begin adjusting the tiers of data plans for cell phone service.
Tiered data isn’t completely new; AOL used to charge by the minute when it first debuted, a model Sprint followed initially when they introduced their first cellular data plans with a tethering feature (and was equally pokey in speeds as by-the-minute-era AOL, I might add). But we’ve become accustomed to paying more based on speed.
We’re approaching an unusual split in the road. All the carriers have a 5 GB cap on Aircards over their current networks, probably because they’re fearful about how much data a laptop can slurp vs. a cell phone. But as iPhone users can attest, enough of a device can slow a network down, and it appears AT&T’s solution is to charge more, not just build out more capacity. Ironically, Clear, Sprint and the cable companies’ joint venture for a next-gen wireless data network, is offering unlimited data plans at the moment, so we could see a tightening of the belt on legacy networks just as new networks promise faster speeds and more generous data caps. This could get interesting, but it’ll likely just get more confusing. But given how easy to understand wireless service plans are now, a little confusion shouldn’t be much of a problem, should it?
SOURCE: Gizmodo
