T-Mobile kills the 1GB data cap, takes a more friendly approach

It looks like T-Mobile is listening folks -- and they appear to be responding. In a statement we've just received from the company, they tell us that they're killing the hard-line approach to data capping, saying instead they'll reserve the right to cap a "small fraction" of users who abuse the network. In their words:

"Our goal, when the T-Mobile G1 becomes available in October, is to provide affordable, high-speed data service allowing customers to experience the full data capabilities of the device and our 3G network. At the same time, we have a responsibility to provide the best network experience for all of our customers so we reserve the right to temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of our customers who have excessive or disproportionate usage that interferes with our network performance or our ability to provide quality service to all of our customers.

We removed the 1GB soft limit from our policy statement, and we are confident that T-Mobile G1 customers will enjoy the high speed of data access over our 3G network. The specific terms for our new data plans are still being reviewed and once they are final we will be certain to share this broadly with current customers and potential new customers."

[Martin @ Sep 24th 2008 6:58PM]

Well there you go. One less reason not to buy.

[Tim @ Sep 24th 2008 8:24PM]

Agreed.

[aemond @ Sep 24th 2008 8:06PM]

Happy US citizens! Here in Canada, I-phone is at 100$/month for 1Go/m, no kidding:
https://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=GCT&_nfls=true&setLanguage=en&template=wireless-products&sub_template=iphone_voice_data_packages

[jorvay @ Sep 24th 2008 9:04PM]

No kidding, aemond,
This one action by TMobile is classier than anything I've ever seen from any wireless provider in Canada. Hell, take very classy thing that Bell, Telus, Rogers, and Fido have ever done, put them together, and it's not this classy. Sadly, that says more for the state of the Canadian wireless industry than it does for TMobile.

[Nexx @ Sep 24th 2008 9:14PM]

This will change within the next 3 years.

I wouldn't commit to any long term contracts for much longer.

Change is coming :)

[trekkie604 @ Sep 24th 2008 9:26PM]

@aemond

There is a promo data plan at $30 for 6GB... Pretty good deal...

https://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-plans/iphone_adpacks

[enki @ Sep 25th 2008 12:43AM]

Yeah right. So basically the 1GB limit will only apply to certain people. IE: The people who go over 1GB.

[avester @ Sep 25th 2008 5:24AM]

Here in Finland you can get dual-sim 384k/384k with no caps for 15$/MO

One thing where we are lucky...

[bpm2000 @ Sep 24th 2008 7:02PM]

looks like the bullet extraction procedure from the foot went well.

[B Lightvoet @ Sep 24th 2008 7:01PM]

That's pretty cool that they've responded so quickly regarding their potential/existing customer's concerns - unfortunately the network is so weak to start with I wouldn't be persuaded by this. Now if only ATT would listen to their customers about their outrageous SMS charges, I'd be a happy guy...

[MBN @ Sep 24th 2008 7:04PM]

Power to the people! Gotta love a company that listens from time to time.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 24th 2008 7:06PM]

Your photo. I have that tablet. It is hands down the single worst computer I've ever been on. And I've been on many.

So. So. So. So. So bad.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 24th 2008 7:06PM]

I don't see what the fuss was over 1GB. The last thing I want is some super dork doing all sorts of lame unnecessary shit with their bandwith and choking it up for the rest of us who want to use it normally. It's like Comcast throttling super users. I'd rather they did that or charged according to use, that way I am not paying the same for hanging on Engadget as the guy down the street seeding 50 Torrents and choking up my speed.

Unless I am totally mistaken and people "overusing" the bandwith won't even have an effect on me. In that case, I don't care.

Wonder if I will get super low ranked for this... let's find out...

[Lowest Ranked @ Sep 24th 2008 7:08PM]

Hey, get off the net! I've got another 1w 14h 22m of seeding left!

[kyphros @ Sep 24th 2008 7:15PM]

If you get low-ranked, it's because you're borderline trolling. Bandwidth caps have their places, but not one as low as 1GB. Hell, just you "hanging on Engadget" could conceivably use up that cap in a month if you read new articles as they are posted. And as they said, they'll still be capping extreme users (although no mention of how much they consider that to be), so you'll still be safe from your evil neighbor downloading his torrents.

[wako @ Sep 24th 2008 7:16PM]

Sure Torrents use a lot of bandwidth and in all honesty, to SOME degree I agree with them, some people should be throttled a little.

However, some users like myself who like to listen to internet radio, watches TV through the net, etc would feel the FULL effects of such actions.

When the iPhone 3G came out, for that one month that I had the iPhone, i used a total of 5GB of bandwidth. Thats from just surfing the web, using youtube, and listening to internet radio! 1GB of bandwidth CERTAINLY is not enough the G1.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 24th 2008 8:39PM]

"If you get low-ranked, it's because you're borderline trolling."

Oh God, get the fuck out of here you luntaitc. "BORDERLINE TROLLING." For expressing my opinion on bandwith throttling, and that I think in some cases it does make sense? I guess if you don't agree, that's trolling, hm?

You'll notice the user beneath your reply, replying to me in a completely rational manner. Try it sometime.

[MikeH @ Sep 24th 2008 9:10PM]

Hey, I for one want to use the thing for low-bandwidth but rather consistent AAC+ streaming. According to Google's wonderous search engine calculator, if I were to listen to this shoutcast during my commute ONLY, I end up with:

((48 (kilobit / s)) * 3 hours) * 20 = 1.23596191 gigabytes. 3 hours commuting each weekday would put me over the top of their previous limit. And this is barring any other sort of activity I'd do from day to day like browsing, google maps etc.

Is 3 hours of low-bitrate traffic a day, spanning about 15-20 cellsites (I commute 17 miles each way by bus daily) "excessive?" I personally don't think so.

With my current Blackberry, even browsing a lot has made it use up 600 megabytes this month.

I am all for having reasonable limits, and policing those who abuse the service (leeching 700 meg linux cd isos for example, via aircard or data connection to the phone) but 1gb for a media/network centric device is too low. I praise T-Mobile for listening to the consumers and potential new customers of theirs. I'm on Sprint now, but October 22nd I'm porting my #, selling my Curve on eBay, and eating the termination fee. I just resigned for 2 more years in June when I got the Curve, but they can go the way of the bitbucket, considering the BB is too closed, WinMo BITES, and no other feature phone can come close with multitasking.

[Salsa Shark @ Sep 25th 2008 10:10AM]

"The last thing I want is some super dork doing all sorts of lame unnecessary shit with their bandwith and choking it up for the rest of us who want to use it normally."

Trolling, you maroon.

[TareX @ Sep 24th 2008 7:15PM]

That was fast. It was also necessary. A 1GB cap on a data-hungry phone "geared for mobile internet" was meaningless.

[TheAzureKnight @ Sep 24th 2008 7:18PM]

What's excessive use Engadget readers?

I'm being serious here. I hear that Verizon and AT&T are capping their data plans at 5G. Is that a lot or too small for the average user?

[YpoCaramel @ Sep 24th 2008 8:08PM]

I do a lot of web browsing (daily until I deplete my Tilt's battery life) and limited Skyping on my phone and my monthly usage is around 1GB. 5GB should be plenty for phone use, however if tethering is involved it won't be enough.

I won't be satisfied, however, until I see the final terms of the agreement.

[Fanfoot @ Sep 24th 2008 8:21PM]

1GB is too low. I want to browse the web, watch the typical low-rez youtube type videos, check email, look at pictures others send me, etc.

I suspect that 5GB will settle in as an acceptable level for the current generation of phones. If you use it as a tethered modem though this isn't going to be anywhere near enough. A single hour of hulu for example is probably 200MB by itself, and that's not the still coming "HD" video either. Even ignoring bittorrent etc.

[KazO @ Sep 24th 2008 7:22PM]

That sounds more like the TMo I've happily given money to all these years.

[Robert @ Sep 24th 2008 7:23PM]

T-mobile is obviously googling themselves and finding the 1GB cap complaints.

[iEye @ Sep 24th 2008 7:25PM]

Here come the Torrent Whores!

...and expect a tethering app to be one of the first 3 out the door...

[Robert @ Sep 24th 2008 7:28PM]

I'm pretty sure the winners of the developer's challenge would be there first, but I agree with your point.

[chefgon_ign @ Sep 24th 2008 7:26PM]

I saw that one coming. This is like the big fiasco with Chrome's EULA, they throw these disclaimers in there just in case, but then blogs catch the fine print and get everybody worked up about it until the company has to change their policy to prevent a major backlash.

Just one of the many ways that Engadget improves all of our lives.

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 7:29PM]

alright! arbitrary semi-unwritten throttling policy instead of hard cap FTW!

[Ryan Trevisol @ Sep 24th 2008 8:01PM]

You're really Ryan Block, aren't you?

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 8:08PM]

no, i finish my Wii Fit challenges thanks much

[Lowest Ranked @ Sep 24th 2008 8:11PM]

No one burns Ryan that bad, not even you Phan, how dare you. Shame on that spiked coffee.

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 8:17PM]

seriously, my coffee was laced with magic mushroom tea. oh well, a horde of downranking fucktards descended on that camera post anyway. it's not safe to go out anymore

[Unbiased @ Sep 24th 2008 9:43PM]

Dude, phanbouy, you need some serious help. You've posted 70 times today(and there are still a few hours left in the day)!

Here are all of your post times. I guess you got a nice 12 hour sleep last night, huh?

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[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 11:21PM]

unbiased

it takes about as much time to put up a comment as it does to realize that

a) you've repeated yourself verbatim in 2 different posts

b) you're a sorry enough of a sack to sift through my profile counting up the posts

[Jon Doe. @ Sep 24th 2008 11:47PM]

And yet its still true.

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 11:54PM]

didn't say it wasn't. congrats on the observation though

[Jon Doe. @ Sep 25th 2008 12:38AM]

And yet your still a douche.

[hdhanani @ Sep 25th 2008 3:33AM]

you are the man for having murray as your pick... FOTC is GREAT... cant wait for season 2

[phanbouy @ Sep 25th 2008 9:43AM]

that's the best you can come up with "you're a douche"? this coming from the resident prick-wad himself who never saw anything not worth losing his shit about? keep working on those anger management classes, fucktard

[Brian @ Sep 24th 2008 7:32PM]

Bravo, T-Mobile.

Excellent, albeit inadvertent, self publicity: Create a one gigabyte cap, watch people complain, remove bandwidth cap, watch people sing praises.

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 8:32PM]

such as the two posters right below you. too good, too good.

[DoC @ Sep 24th 2008 7:40PM]

At least they listen to people unlike at&crap!!! Limiting people is better than just setting a hard 1GB limit IMO. It is at least a step in the right direction.

[TheAscender @ Sep 24th 2008 8:03PM]

I dropped AT&T after 3 years due to horrific customer service, suffered through the 6 months my company forced me onto Sprint, and, despite their lack-luster phone selection (the G1 is a step in the right direction), have stuck with T-Mobile since simply because of their excellent customer service. I've found such responsiveness throughout my experience with them. Now, about the pricing...

;-)

[Alex Padilla @ Sep 24th 2008 7:45PM]

Mad props, T-Mobile, mad props.

[Eddie W @ Sep 24th 2008 8:00PM]

That's a relief, although there are still a lot of issues to consider here. On paper I look like I would be one of the first people to get this phone - my contract with Verizon is even recently up and their service in my area has been horrible (dropped calls - constant dropped calls!) So I'm planning on switching to another company. What's keeping me back? Other than not knowing if t-mob is much better in my area (and knowing I won't have 3G any time in the near future), the headphone jack is actually an issue. I can't believe they left that off given how much flak the iphone took for this. It might be the single reason I wait for the next Android phones to come out.

[Dahk @ Sep 24th 2008 8:25PM]

Eh on the ones currently in production, theyve stated that their going package the ExtUSB to 3.5mm with their phone. Won't be in the ones out on the first day though. Its in the update on the previous post lol.

[Jeff L @ Sep 24th 2008 8:38PM]

I was a Tmobile customer for years enjoyed there service then my work got deals at ATT and the iPhone came out... Well I've been really unhappy with ATT service, (love & hate my iphone, just like every abusive relationship you keep finding little things you can't let go of...) tempted to try out T-Mobile again. I'll be out of the country when T-mobile releases this phone so I hope to read all about it, and if it lives up to the hype I will pick one up in november-december.

[webon @ Sep 24th 2008 8:15PM]

wait how much more off of 1 GB??
it could be 1.5 GB, still no good

[Eric @ Sep 25th 2008 12:00AM]

The cap is designed for people that abuse the service, such as people that decide to get a tethering app and use the phone as a 3g modem. People that just use the phone regularly are not going to get capped, so there really isn't an issue. I will be a heavy user and I am not worried, been with t-mobile for 4 years and have yet to see any kind of actions like these.