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UK internet providers will lift data caps during COVID-19 pandemic
The UK is echoing others in lifting internet restrictions to keep people online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major telecoms like BT/EE, Openreach and Virgin Media have struck an agreement that will remove "all" data caps on current landline broadband services. Mobile and fixed providers also have to offer "generous" new packages to help people stay connected (particularly the vulnerable), such as data boosts at lower prices and free calls.
MMObility: Data caps, throttled signals, and blocked sites
One of the main reasons I enjoy covering mobile MMOs is the fact that many gamers have access to a poor connection at best, and my articles might offer these fellow geeks a selection of games to play. I often take some of the things in my life for granted, like my healthy dogs or the one cup of coffee I have in the morning, but I never take my internet connection for granted, especially when I'm reminded every time I pay the bill just how much it costs me. It's an awesome 150/65 Mb/s, and I tend to get speeds pretty close to that. I often tell people that because my wife works at home with me, our internet connection is our "work vehicle." But many of my friends complain about having a really bad connection to the internet. Some of it is the result of location, but a lot is because companies can actually throttle the signal, providing unlimited yet barely workable internet. While there are several titles out there that are playable on almost any connection, throttling can kill gaming for many of us. So just how bad is it?
Europe votes to cap data roaming prices, will make it cheaper to tweet from Ibiza
European Union countries already had a data roaming cutoff law in place to prevent bill shock after your next Balearic vacation, but the price of the data in question should get much cheaper very soon. The European Parliament has just voted 578 to 10 to cap the price customers pay at no more than 70 Euro cents (91 US cents) per megabyte starting from July 1st, with that price eventually dipping to 45 Euro cents (58c US) a year later and just 20 Euro cents (26 US cents) in 2014. Voice and text price caps are going down to as little as 19 and nine Euro cents (25 and 12 cents US) in that two-year span, and if you're visiting from outside the EU, you'll be glad to hear that the anti-bill shock rule will apply to you this year as well. So, while you still might want to avoid uploading large videos from your phone while in Spain, you'll at least have the option of checking in on Foursquare without having to take out a small mortgage.
T-Mobile confirms Full Monty subscribers are capped at 1Mb/s, risqué plan becomes tame (updated: no speed caps)
Uh-oh. Looks like T-Mobile's Full Monty subscribers in the UK will be getting much less than they'd originally bargained for. T-Mo's British support unit recently confirmed that the carrier has capped speeds on its "all-in" unlimited plan at a rather dismal 1Mb/s -- in other words, this Full Monty act doesn't really go all the way. Perhaps T-Mobile representatives were too caught up in the moment at the launch event and merely forgot to reveal this little tidbit? Our Magic 8-Ball says, "Don't count on it." You'll find the confirmation tweet immortalized after the break.Update: While it's immortalized below, the tweet's now been nixed and T-Mobile has added a fresh one, stating that it won't be capping mobile traffic speeds on the Full Monty Plan. Data addicts, breathe a sigh of relief.
Sprint undercuts AT&T and Verizon with new Mobile Broadband data plans
Sprint just tossed some new data options our way for those of you who tend to sip gulp gigs of data each month. Under the new plans, 6GB of data will run you $49.99, while an extra 30 bucks will let you boost consumption to 12GB -- an amount exceeding Verizon's standard offering (but not the holiday LTE promo) by two gigs, while blowing away AT&T, which doesn't offer an option quite so beefy (12GB there will run you $120, after overage fees). Sprint customers with lighter use can add a 3GB plan to their tablets, mobile hotspots or USB cards for $34.99, while tablet users can opt for 1GB of data for just $19.99 per month. All plans include overage rates of 5 cents per MB for in-network usage (a whopping $50 per additional GB), while roaming will run you 25 cents per MB. All of these plans apply to data-only devices, and don't affect smartphones. Jump past the break for the full PR from Sprint.
Verizon starts 'optimizing' (read: throttling) network for the most data hungry users
We can't say we weren't warned, since Verizon updated its data policy way back in February, but it's still a punch in the gut to hear its "network optimization" plan went into effect yesterday. A new policy page pointed out by Droid-Life explains how the policy will affect only the "top 5 percent of data users with 3G devices on unlimited data plans" (LTE and tiered data users are in the clear) by managing their speeds when connected to towers it has deemed are congested. Those conditions, termed network intelligence by Big Red, are what it feels separates this scheme from mere data throttling since it will only affect a few users (those consuming 2GB or more of data per month) at certain times and places, but it's hard to see it any other way. If you're one of those affected, expect a message on your bill or My Verizon account, although you may go into and out of the affected group depending on your usage. Hit the source link below for all the details -- anyone else think it's not a coincidence this policy popped up just before the iPhone 4 came to Verizon and is being implemented only weeks before the next iThing is expected to arrive?
Rogers listens, bumps data caps, lets you stream a few extra Netflix movies a month
Rogers hasn't exactly made a lot of fans with the rather draconian caps on its cable modem service. But the company wants you to know, it has heard your complaints and doesn't want to cut you off from your precious, bandwidth-intensive Netflix streams. That's why it's raising the limits on its three top tier plans later this month. Extreme subscribers are getting a bump from 80GB to 100GB, Extreme Plus users from 125GB to 150GB, and Ultimate customers from 175GB to 250GB. The company is even boosting speeds, you know, to help you make more efficient use of that newly raised data ceiling -- from 15Mbps to 24Mbps for the Extreme and 25Mbps to 32Mbps for Extreme Plus. It's always nice to see a company listen to its customers, and come on, data caps aren't all that bad.
T-Mobile's new plans get official: starting at $60 for unlimited everything, throttling included
T-Mobile's just gone official with the new unlimited plans we caught wind of a few days ago, and while they are truly unlimited by numbers, they're not completely unlimited in functionality. The plans cost $79.99 for Even More customers (buy a subsidized device on contract) and $59.99 for Even More Plus subscribers (bring your own phone commitment-free). Either way this gets you unlimited data, domestic calling, and domestic messaging, with a $5 surcharge for BlackBerry users. Unlike Sprint's similar offering, once you pass the 2GB bandwidth mark, "data speeds will be reduced for the remainder of that bill cycle," essentially informing users that throttling will most certainly take place. In all, we're pleased to see the compromise T-Mo's put in place for data (whereas most other carriers are simply axing the unlimited option altogether), and we hope some of the competition takes heed. It does sound like a pretty sweet deal for those of you not grandfathered in on unlimited data plans. Still, for those of you interested, we suggest getting a jump on, as the (potentially leaked) press release reveals that these plans might only be available for a limited time.
Verizon can now throttle top five percent of bandwidth hogs, downres multimedia transfers
Nice timing, Verizon. Just as thousands -- possibly zillions -- of smartphone users are pondering the switch to Big Red for Apple's iPhone 4, the carrier has slipped in two critical policy changes that are apparently effective immediately. Tucked within loads of fine print in a new PDF that surfaced on the company's site, there's this: "Verizon Wireless strives to provide customers the best experience when using our network, a shared resource among tens of millions of customers. To help achieve this, if you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5 percent of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand. Our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95 percent of data customers aren't negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users." To our knowledge, this is the first time that VZW has taken a notable position on throttling, and the link to its stance on net neutrality (as it applies to wireless, anyway) is fairly obvious. What's most interesting to us is the five percent of data users figure; the top one or two percent isn't a huge amount, and there's a good chance that bandwidth abusers are up in that echelon. But we're guessing that quite a few business travelers will fall within this particular range, and given that VZW now holds the right to throttle data for your existing billing cycle and the next one... well, good luck gritting your teeth and lasting through that two-year contract. In related news, the company is also implementing optimization and transcoding technologies in its network, which is a politically correct way of explaining that it can downres any multimedia you try to send through Verizon's pipes. Head on past the break for the full quote.
Validas study finds Verizon smartphones consuming more data than iPhones
You know how we've good reason to believe that Verizon Wireless is at least mulling the switch to capped / tiered data plans? Yeah. An independent Validas research report has found that, between January and May of this year (pre-AT&T caps), Verizon's stable of smartphones collectively averaged more data consumption per month that Apple's iPhone. Of course, this quite literally compares an Apple to every smartphone on Verizon save for BlackBerries, but given how much squalling we've heard from Ma Bell about this rampant iPhone data usage, we're pleased to see a few facts that spin things the other way. The company's full report is due out in September, but investigation of over 20,000 wireless bills found that VZW smartphones "are consuming more wireless data than AT&T iPhones by a ratio of roughly 1.25:1," with the average Verizon user eating up 421MB per month and the average iPhone user consuming 338MB per month. It also points out that "nearly twice as many Verizon Wireless smartphone users are consuming 500MB to 1GB per month compared to AT&T iPhone users." You learn something new everyday, right?
AT&T 3G MicroCell now available in all markets
Completing a phased roll-out that kicked off back in April, AT&T has finally gotten around to launching its 3G MicroCell in all of its markets, giving the entire customer base some flexibility when "more bars in more places" doesn't happen to include your place. Interestingly, the announcement was made in passing during comments by AT&T director Gordon Mansfield at the Femtocells World Summit in London this week, where he spent much of his time trying to quell a minor furor over the carrier's continued application of data caps when using the MicroCell. He makes some pretty strong arguments: even though all MicroCell voice and data traffic starts off traveling over your own internet connection, it ultimately ends up within AT&T's core infrastructure -- and a legal requirement that the carrier be able to intercept traffic for law enforcement use prevents it from diverting that traffic elsewhere. More importantly, though, if you're within range of a MicroCell, odds are very good that you're also within range of a WiFi connection -- and since all of AT&T's data-heavy handsets offer WiFi, the whole complaint is kinda moot. So just get one if you need one and don't worry about it, okay?
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."
AT&T says internet data caps and overage fees 'inevitable'
Is a time really coming when internet use in America will be capped? AT&T sure seems to think so and we're inclined to wonder if they're right. Internet service providers could go about capping bandwidth in a couple of ways. They could be reasonable (hah!) and set the cap up high where it will only hurt people who're constantly downloading large amounts of files through P2P networks or -- and this is more likely, we think -- they could setup a tiered system. This could be problematic for online gamers depending on how the tiers are setup. A higher cap means a higher price. So then depending on your gaming, surfing and -- most importantly -- downloading habits you could feel some monthly bill-burn. If you were recently involved in the Age of Conan betas just think back to all that downloading you did. Consider all the game trailers you've either streamed or downloaded. Also, one computer playing an online game may not hurt much but we're fairly certain there are plenty of homes with upwards of two or three computers hooked up to the network.Another issue is how this system reeks foul of classic greed. As time goes on and the internet infrastructure hopefully improves throughout America, will the internet service providers fairly adjust the monthly, weekly or daily caps to represent that? We also have to wonder whether or not this problem is stemming from a lack of infrastructure investment from these companies to begin with, which is a possibility as well.
