Here's something we can all agree on: data caps are a bummer, especially now that we've all got smartphones capable of gobbling literally gigabytes a day. Unfortunately, they seem to be a necessary evil in this crazy supply-versus-demand world of capitalism we all call home, particularly in light of the
spectrum crunch the FCC keeps warning us about. Or are they? One great band-aid rarely explored by North American carriers is the concept of bandwidth throttling, whereby you don't have a hard cap that results in overage -- instead, you just get slapped with a lower data throughput if you blow past your quota. That's what regional value carrier Cricket is doing with the launch of its new data plans today, offering buckets of 2.5, 5, and 7.5GB for $40, $50, or $60, respectively, at maximum speed on its EV-DO network -- but additionally, the quota is on a rolling 30-day basis, which means you can potentially free up some of that bucket each and every day of the month (depending on your usage patterns). If you exceed your cap, you risk falling down to a lower speed where you "may only be able to do basic email and web browsing." The downside is that this represents a $10 increase in the cost of Cricket's 5GB plan -- and bandwidth throttling still isn't fun, of course -- but at least you can keep using your modem without the dread looming in the back of your mind that you're going get a 20-page bill at month's end.
posted August 3rd 2010 3:31PM
For a second when I JUST started reading the title, I thought this post was something about Cricket...............
@statickeith Cricket and US will never appear in that context. But yeah, so did I.
@d0mth0ma5 And i've just realised that it is "us" not "US"
@statickeith TO much money! who has $60 a month to waste?
Might as well get a SIM for a laptop cell modem and stick it in a GSM phone add in VOIP like SKYPE and you have the cheapest phone in the world...
@DrScope
That sounds really convenient - I'm surprised more people don't do that.
@DrScope
And that's why I love Sprint. Truly unlimited data. NO 5 GB cap like all the other carriers. Thank you Sprint.
@dpitton
I've always wanted T-Mobile to offer a Data Only plan. Was really surprised back in the day that Vonage never figured out how to offer a voip only cellphone.
I don't think that US carriers have the bandwidth they'd need to cater to several million cheap bastards like myself, using voip services like Google Voice or Skype on their cellphones.
@d0mth0ma5 Haha, true enough!
@Dinochicken They DO and have for a while. Go to T-Mobile.com --> Shop --> Plans. Click on Internet and Email plans. They have a $40 a month unlimited data plan. No contract. And from the T-Mobile people I've spoken too, you don't need a voice plan! Why this isn't advertised more is beyond me. I've talked about this at length in other forums and our only guess is they'd be overwhelmed if everyone knew they could combine this + Google Voice. Imagine $40 / month and you get unlimited everything. Why does no one ever mention this!!??!!!??
"And that's why I love Sprint. Truly unlimited data. NO 5 GB cap like all the other carriers. Thank you Sprint."
Only on their phones. Their 3G modems for laptops still have the 5GB cap.
@d0mth0ma5 haha that's really interesting you thought that!!
Just kidding, nobody cares you attention whore.
@Elranzer Yeah and I'm pretty sure T-Mobile is the same way. 5GB before throttling on their webconnect service but the phones (love my Vibrant) are still unlimited.
@Jimi
Hey thanks for the heads up! I fully intend to try that out.
@The Dark Knight
Sprint most certainly does have a 5GB cap on their data cards, which is what this post is talking about.
@Jimi
Doesn't google voice require a phone number to call?
I'd rather have data throttling than get stung with a huge bill (in addition to a relatively large bill for the data in the first place).
@d0mth0ma5 True, but $40 for 5GB (former plan) is better than $50 for 5GB. Fail.
Cricket it it :)
Sprint not having data caps FTW.
@cloud858rk Agreed. Just got my Evo in the mail.
Also, this article's title is worded poorly...
@cloud858rk
But you have to pay $10 extra for the shrimp and crab.
@HaZaRd Only for the EVO 4G, and soon to be Epic 4G as well.
The whole concept of moving backwards to the way the internet was in the early 90's is stupid all around. I hope everyone goes to tiered and Sprint stays w/ unlimited and gobbles up the competitors customers.
@jzh797s If they do all go to tiered and Sprint stays the same, I'll definitely jump. Tiered data plans are a gigantic, unnecessary, and prohibiting step backwards.
@jzh797s
Yeah, this whole data cap thing is making me consider Sprint for the first time, ever.
Who the hell uses Cricket?
@s2m0 Um, 4.5 million Americans.
@s2m0
They're one of the smaller carriers, like MetroPCS and US Cellular.
@ThreeDee912 Dont forget Revol, Virgin and Boost.
Gigabytes a day?? I guess that's technically possible, but I haven't met or even heard of anyone who consistently consumes multiple gigabytes per day.
@John H A few hours of SlingPlayer and you're there. I know from personal experience, unfortunately.
got to agree with @Chris Ziegler - i've easily done 10GB in a single day before.
@John H
Again, agree with Ziegler. When I'm working out in my garage, I always plug my phone into my garage stereo, and listen to Pandora ALL DAY LONG. And I lose my wifi out in the garage. Never really cared, as I have Sprint.
@PeterJames
Easily the most impressive statement i have heard all day. Tip of the hat to you sir.
@jfreckles23 streaming HD makes it easy to be reckless with bandwidth.
"smartphones capable of gobbling literally gigabytes a day" I wouldn't go that far...
@Pryomancer have you done 720p streaming on your smartphone yet? and with the new phones having HDMI out and even supporting higher resolutions.... bandwidth utilization is only going to rise.
Or networks could regularly upgrade their equipment to keep pace with demand.
Sprint FTW!
This is actually pretty reasonable at least they actually have a top level plan of 7 Gigs.
I guess it's better than nothing. I mean AT&T already set the bar pretty low, 200MB, so I guess it's not that hard to look better than that. Having roll-over data is a nice though, and a must imo with these low caps, it's only fair. AT&T can do rollover minutes, so why not do the same thing on data.
on sprint 4g coverage, data is unlimited, so I rather stay with sprint and pay those 10 extra dlls.
@Minotauro, "phone data" is unlimited on Sprint's 3G as well. If a Sprint customer was lucky enough to get their wireless data card grandfathered with the new plans, their data is unlimited on 3G also.
"...crazy supply-versus-demand world of capitalism we all call home..." Capitalism? I'm pretty sure supply-versus-demand is a direct function of physical reality. Of course, I guess we could get the government to legislate more resources into existence...
Don't laugh. It's been tried.
Now only if Cricket had decent phones
Apparently people think that bandwidth is doled out by the Internet Pixi's and can just magically appear.
Infrastructure costs. Maintaining said infrastructure costs.
At least they aren't charging you for going over your chosen allotment.
@NKTizzle
Why should I have to pay for companies to implement data limiting hardware, monitoring, and pricing stuff?
If Linksys, Netgear and the other router companies would sell a $50 unsecureable (on the internet side) wireless/wired router that would have 5 fiber optic ports to connect to your neighbors router, we could have a extremely fast network, with no ISPs and no monthly fees in a few years. Some tax money might have to go toward hooking up one city to the next, and a few channels of DTV might have to go towards WAN connections for those people not close to any neighbors.
@rcappo
And who pays for your neighbors broadband bill? This makes no sense...
Again, infrastructure is not free.
@NKTizzle
That's making the assumption that there are two options for broadband pricing: free or what it currently costs. What about something in between? Wanting prices cheaper than the status quo does not have to mean mean free, but perhaps significantly less than what we typically pay now.
@Wilco
And obviously these companies feel the market will bear these pricing plans. They don't just do it out of spite. I'll say it again, infrastructure costs.
To make the improvements to keep up with the growth in data usage is a pretty big task. And then to have users cry for even more speed and more bandwidth?!?! Capacity and speed growth on a cellular network is quite expensive in both equipment and licensing.
Here is how much I would be willing to pay:
$10/year - Basic
$30/year - More
$60/year - Premium
Although I still support $0 anonymous internet access for all.