Who woulda thunk it? A global recession leads to
belt tightening, and belt tightening leads to fewer mobile data card sales. According to a new report from
ComScore, that's exactly what happened at the tail end of last year, where WWAN card growth slowed to just 5 percent compared to 28 percent in Q4 2007. Still, carriers can't grumble too loudly -- after all, at least it grew. In fact, PC data card adoption rose 63 percent overall in 2008, and if any of these 4G services can see
rollouts of significance, we suspect 2009 will show equally positive numbers. The reality is that mobile data is still priced far too high for the average Joe or Jane to stomach; most mobile broadband plans run upwards of $50 per month and require a two-year contract to get a free or cheap card, and unless one is planning to be on the road an awful lot, buying in just doesn't make sense when times are tough. In other words, cut us a break on these mobile data rates, operators -- it's what Uncle Sam would want.
[Via
mocoNews]
posted Apr 14th 2009 10:02AM
This is the big rip off of this decade. Hopefully, there will be a ubiquitous WiMax in the near future with high speeds for all. I don't like to see anybody pay $50 a month for a crappy 5GB cap.
Agreed...
thirded
I agree. I thought about one of these plans but instead I got WMWifiRouter and now I can share out my $15/month unlimited 3G connection to my laptop or anyone's around me. The only downside is that I need to keep plugged in because using Wifi and EVDO radios at once will kill my battery in an hour or two. I apparently have a 5GB cap but I've never been called on it. I do my heavy downloading on my land data line and use my cell service for basic stuff like web browsing and online radio when I am not in a Wifi hotspot.
I'm not a huge wimax fan but some inexpensive WWAN coverage would be nice. I can even handle the 5GB cap, but I'm certainly not going to pay a premium for slow, capped service.
If my wireless provider could give me a plan that was capped but only cost $20/month, I'd grab one in a heartbeat and they would get an additional $240 out of me each year.
" most mobile broadband plans run upwards of $50 per month "------------Reduce this to $25 and people will stop canceling.
I think people see the money wasted in having both a netbook and cell phone data plan. It's not worth it.
It's called tethering...
You can get a flat with a 10GB soft-cap (GPRS speeds from the moment you hit the cap) for 20 Euros a month in Germany, albeit on a provider with relatively crappy infrastructure (O2)...
I don't think I'd hit the cap very often, what with WiFi on campus and not being able to give up DSL at home because I use a few apps that require low latencies... And to be honest, I don't think anyone else using the service for actual mobile browsing (and not as a home internet replacement) is going to hit the cap all too quickly.
These services aren't meant as replacements for traditional broadband - they're to be used when you don't have access to your home or workplace WiFi network, i.e. on the way back and forth or on a park bench or sitting in a cafe...
The carriers need to find a better way to package broadband. Take Verizon for instance since that is what I’m familiar with. $40-60 for mobile BB, $30 if you want it on your smartphone (another $30 if you want your wife on it to) and another $35 if you want DSL. That’s a lot of money to just have internet access when you want it. Just charge me $60-70 for broadband regardless of the device I use it on. Otherwise I’ll just stick to wi-fi at home or free wi-fi hotspots.
No disagreements here - I wish my home broadband provider (which also provides an HSDPA flatrate for 30 euros a month) would give me both for say, 45 or 50 Euros instead of trying to charge me 35 for home broadband and 30 for mobile... Fricken sucks.
AT&T has free wifi with their DSL service. Granted I have only found a few places to use it as it usually in coffee shops and mcdonalds, two places I don't frequent. However if you're on the road and you need to get online it does work and its included free with the dsl service.
The issue, at least for my organizations, had been the data cap - not the monthly rate.
Yes - the 5gb cap placed on Broadband Cards (and tethering) is sufficient for most users. However, many realize that if they bench that cap - they may pay thousands in fees for very little over-bandwidth. The media has expressed several cases where users had over the limit fees in the thousands of dollars - when their monthly cap was 5gb for less than $100.
If the providers would make caps and overages 'reasonable' - you would see more assimilation into the 'personal space' market.
(db)
the real market for mobile broadband is enterprise users. The carriers have to set the retail price at insanely high levels (about $60/month) so the corporations feel they're getting a deal when they get bulk rates at probably around $40/month per user.
This may be an out-of-place question, but does anyone know what kind of jeans that guy is wearing?
blue ones
Think so? That's all I wear but it wasn't obvious to me. Why do you say that?
The price AND the data cap need to come down. If I can surf on my Touch Pro for 5GB for $20 a month on Sprint, there's no way in hell a card should cost $60 a month. Even with tethering (legally) included, it's only $35 a month. Why $25 more a month for the expresscard? Do I have facts wrong here?
Buy unlocked phones, and tether. It's really a very simple solution.
I've been doing it with nokia phones for years.
Any jackass can set it up.
I know some companies charge for tethering if you use one of their locked phones, that's why i say to use unlocked.
"In other words, cut us a break on these mobile data rates, operators"
Or at least speed them up a bit. My neighbors stolen wifi is faster at 3 bars than 3G is at 100%.
Mobile cards are such a waste of money. Just about every place that you would work on a laptop has wifi. $50 a month is just a waste.
Yeah I had the service and its great to have an unlimited plan but the $60 a month pricetag is outrageous..... I dont even think they offer it anymore...... I agree with most of the comments make this a $25 to $30 plan and unlimited or REALLY HIGH cap and the market will flood..... Some carrier should come out of no where and take advantage of this growing and ready to jump forward market......
With the cost of data plans and caps on usage, it's obvious that cell phone companies don't want our money.
I believe there is a capacity issue with the data networks. They are not sized to allow for mass consumer use. If they were, then we could see $20 a month plans for millions of users instead of $60 for a limited number of users. If I could get a decent plan from a cell provider, I would get rid of the overpriced Comcast internet.
Indeed- mobile broadband will spike when prices drop.
My wireless contract is up in a couple of months. I was going to get a CrackBerry, but I don't think I want to shell out $150 a month for service.
Don't think it will get better unless people have more money in their pocket...
I think that the real issue is that most wireless companies do not yet have the infastructre in place to support a mass movement to 3g, as far as data and bandwidth care concerned. I agree that $60 for internet at a 5gb useage cap is bogus. Give it time and the price will come down, and I am willing to bet that the caps will go up as companies upgrade their networks (lets hope that they all intend on expanding).
The whole cost of internet is ridiculous. I still have dial up at home because AT&T has not run DSL or U-verse in my area, and Comcast would cost 60 a month. I looked at mobile broadband as a solution, but 80 a month for unlimited is even worse!!! The cheapest i have seen unlimited mobile 3g service is with a newer provider named Cricket. They want 40 a month for unlimited 3g wireless broadband service, without a contract, and it will cost you 60 for a usb modem that you plug into your computer.
When EDVO is the *only* broadband around, you suck it up and pay.
Modest cell phone plan: $40
Text messaging: $15
BlackBerry data plan: $45
Tethering enabled: $15
Misc taxes & junk: $5
Man, Verizon gets a lot of my money every month.
yup.. sure i only get a measly EDGE connnection but hey i'll take my $6.99 grandfathered-in Tzones unlimited. which lets me tether and use my jailbroken iPhone
:P
growth = affordable pricing
again another reason i hate the usa and its mobile markets; two networks that don't work with each other: cdma vs gsm.
Sweet deal, but since it's a grandfathered plan, a new T-Mo customer can't walk in and get it. Badass that you have it, sucks for the rest of us lol.
I pay $100 for data on 4 smartphones
And $40 for home Internet ,. So $1680 year for Internet .in California
No voip or xboxlive capability with g cards .
Deee deee deeee!
Serious question
R u able to post engadget comments with a 3g card?
I loving my dell sxps 1340 with intergrated evdo card; my plan through telus is $33 for 5gb, which is resonable..good thing the plan is grandfathered, the current connect data plans are way more expensive.
Why don't these cell phone companies charge you based on use rather than a ridiculous flat fee. If they just charged it on how often you use it, I guarantee more people would buy wireless cards and the growth would GROW.
I absolutely refuse to pay for a data plan, either on a phone or a separate data card. There is no earthly reason for the shy high cost of data and text messaging, other than greed!