Unlimited Wireless Plans Coming 206
An anonymous reader tells us about a BusinessWeek story claiming that in a few years most wireless plans will be unlimited. And pretty costly: unlimited cell calling, SMS, and data for on the order of $115 - $150 a month. Sprint is conducting a trial of such an offering in San Francisco, with the intent of rolling it out nationwide, and other carriers are said to be sure to follow suit. An interesting claim in the article is that in 5 years time, 40% of the US population will be untethered from landlines and using their cell numbers exclusively (vs. 15% now).
and how many people will wreck their finances this (Score:5, Insightful)
Amazing, just a few years ago most people didn't think they had to have a cell phone, let alone use it all the time. Yet these days I know some families that have gone over the top with them.
Sorry, but having a $50 to $100+ new monthy expense is not my idea of progress. What is truly amazing is that the Cell providers marketing worked so well. Pay by the minute? I guess unlimited coming so expensive makes sense because people will convince themselves they are getting a deal.
We have unlimited local calling on some plans in the Atlanta area and a few give you unlimited national calling too. These plans are regularly less than $50 a month but the only hang up is limited local coverage even though they piggy back on another network.
Now unlimited high speed data "might" be worth it. Might be because for the most part people don't need it. Businesses and self employed might need it. Say going to a client and making a presentation and you need stuff from outside at the last minute. Regular people? What, watch YouTube on my phone? I guess some will.
$100+ a month for voice - not for me, I can put that $100 to far better use. Kill yourself with monthlies and keep moaning about how you don't get paid enough - I won't
Ok, but what about... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I wondered when this might happen (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ok, but what about... (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's talk about tethers (Score:5, Insightful)
Tethers need not be visible. In this case people will simply be exchanging a small one for a big, thick, heavy one. Anyone remember ye good ole days, when you had to purchase phone hardware exclusively from Ma Bell? We went through that crap once before the government stepped in and forced them to allow us options. Now we're going through the same thing again with the cellular industry - except its worse. We've got phones that should be capable of doing all sorts of fantastic things, but can't (or won't) unless we buy our software from the carrier, pay the bandwidth fees to them to transfer it (because we can't just plug our phone into our PC and transfer software that way), then continue paying subscription and bandwidth fees if we want to continue using our software. We have to sign 2 year contracts just to get a phone at a reasonable price. They offer insurance that, after 6 months, isn't worthwhile because the cost of the phone has plummeted, and it's cheaper to buy a phone from a 3rd party than pay just the deductible.
Right now I think we're entering a phase in which carriers are not really trying to compete with one another. Have you ever noticed how you can go into a town and every gas station's prices are within a couple cents of one another, and go down the road a few miles and all those stations prices are 5% cheaper? That's because they aren't competing - they're consorting together (indirectly) in their micro-market to set the prices they want. Well, that's what's going on with cell market. You shouldn't have to pay $100 a month network fees for a single cell phone just for decent service, and unfortunately that's where we stand today. Enough people have been bit by an over-minute cell phone bill, with obscene per-minute rates, that the carriers can now extort people to pay a much higher flat monthly fee simply to avoid the risk.
Dan East
Re:and how many people will wreck their finances t (Score:2, Insightful)
For some people, accumulating wealth isn't their reason for existence.
Re:Ok, but what about... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Yawn... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Let's talk about tethers (Score:2, Insightful)
Furthermore, I'm not sure, but can't you buy Palm and WindowsCE devices that can connect to your carrier? Seems to me that you can install anything you want on that device.
Re:up the quality (Score:5, Insightful)
OK, I'm old, and when I was a kid I used to watch "Green Acres." One of the running gags was that by moving to the country this lawyer from New York had to go outside and climb a telephone pole to receive a call. I guess it seemed pretty outrageous at the time.
40 years later I see people standing outside of buildings all the time, in all kinds of weather, trying to improve their mobile phone reception.
Re:Let's talk about tethers (Score:3, Insightful)
But we do pay that, so they will charge it. [wikipedia.org]
It's wrong to compare the cellular industry to a monopoly. Think of where this industry was 15 or even 10 years ago...how far phones have come, how reliable and widespread the connectivity is. This industry has exploded due to competition, and will continue to do so. The only way to change things, if you are that offended, is to vote with your wallet and choose a competitors' plan that more closely fits your needs. If all of the carriers are pissing everyone off with no alternatives...well, sounds like a perfect time to get into the cellular service business.
Re:Yawn... (Score:3, Insightful)
This means limited exit points from the Matrix! (Score:3, Insightful)