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T-Mobile is killing overages on all plans starting this June
T-Mobile hasn't quite been as UnCarrier as some would like. Despite the network's turn toward overage-free service, there's still occasional chances that you'll pay extra for heavy use -- especially if you're on a grandfathered plan. That won't be a problem for long, though, as the carrier will soon eliminate overage fees across the board. You shouldn't be seeing any rude surprises on your bill from June onward. The move won't deliver huge savings unless you regularly pay surcharges -- and you'll still have to deal with throttling -- but it's good to have some reassurance that your costs won't get out of control in the future.
T-Mobile brings out new mobile data plans mainly for the suits and ties, makes overage optional
T-Mobile just updated its prepaid data plans a month ago, and now it's the corporate crowd's turn for a shakeup. The new (and quite frankly daunting) array of primarily business-minded plans is based around whether or not you'd rather face throttling or overage fees if you push past a set cap. Overage Free plans for subsidized (Classic) and unsubsidized (Value) devices are largely self-explanatory and slow down that bandwidth cap-busting hotspot, modem or tablet until the next month. The High-speed plan range costs lower as a matter of course, but you'll be dinged to the order of two to 10 cents for every megabyte over the limit. That said, there's some bargains to be had versus other carriers, especially with the 5GB and 10GB plans. Provided you're happy with T-Mobile's coverage, it may be worth signing up to eke out a few extra dollars in savings every month.
FCC begins tracking wireless carriers' implementation of bill shock notifications
If you've ever mistaken your wireless bill for your phone number, only to discover a dollar sign in front of all those digits, you're far from alone. The CTIA estimates that one in six mobile subscribers have experienced bill shock, but thanks to the efforts of the nation's wireless carriers -- along with a bit of help from the FCC -- consumers will start to receive notifications of any potential overages, along with alerts when the threshold has been crossed. The program is still in its infancy, but the FCC has launched a website to track wireless carriers' implementation of the notification system, which will alert consumers to any voice, data, SMS or international roaming charges. Carriers have until October 17th to have alerts for at least two of these categories in place, and will have until April 17th of next year to implement all four. Consumers may track the monthly progress of individual carriers at the FCC's bill shock website, but for a current peek at their progress, just hop the break. [Bill shock photo via Shutterstock]
Virgin Mobile targets March 23rd to throttle data, take candy from children
It's been a long time coming, but after much backpedaling, Virgin Mobile is throwing down the gauntlet -- it'll begin throttling data speeds come March 23rd. Like expected, each month that a user exceeds 2.5GB of data usage, he or she will have their downloads capped at 256Kbps for the remainder of the billing cycle. Data hungry users will receive a text message once the governor kicks in, and for those who simply can't stand to be held back, Virgin Mobile will allow subscribers to begin a new month of billing at the drop of a hat -- talk about unbridled generosity. Looking to dig deeper? You'll find a complete rundown of the new contractual terms just after the break.[Candy photo via Shutterstock]
T-Mobile to begin charging overage on its 200MB plans on August 14th?
Say it isn't so! T-Mobile, flooded by larger-than-expected demand on data, may be just a matter of days away from making a polarizing change to its 200MB internet plans. As the feature currently stands, going over your limit results in a throttling of broadband speeds, forcing your browser to surf and download at a ridiculously slow pace. The rumored adjustment to the plan, however, would take away the option completely and replace it with usage charges. Each additional MB used, according to the leaked docs, will tack an extra dime onto your monthly bill. Fortunately, the overage is capped at $30 -- preventing several potential panic attacks at the mailbox -- and only affects the lower plan; additionally, anyone currently on the 200MB plan will be grandfathered, thus retaining their unlimited (albeit throttled) internet. Those on the 2GB plan can breathe easily for now, but there's no telling when the policy will spread like wildfire throughout the remainder of T-Mobile's data offerings. The change, slated to take place on August 14th, has yet to be officially confirmed by Bellevue. Meanwhile, we continue to watch as our options for limitless internet slowly fade away into the darkness.
PSA: AT&T DSL and U-Verse landline internet caps begin tomorrow, if you can see this website
Tomorrow is May 2nd, 2011, and you know what that means -- tomorrow is the day that AT&T will impose data caps on DSL and U-Verse Internet, and begin tallying up overage fees. At least, that was the plan on March 18th -- when the company formally announced 150GB DSL and 250GB U-Verse caps -- but even if you're a paying customer who chows down several hundred gigabytes in a month, you may not have to worry about paying extra right away. AT&T specified that folks like yourself will have access to an online tool to self-police your usage before the company even begins to calculate the cost of your formerly all-you-can-eat bandwidth buffet, and as you can see in the picture above, the tool isn't quite ready for public consumption across the entire country. Scoot on over to our source link, enter your AT&T ID, and if you see the same, perhaps you won't have to cancel your 700-hour Star Trek marathon quite yet.
AT&T will cap DSL and U-Verse internet, impose overage fees (update)
Ladies and gentlemen, the days of unlimited broadband may be numbered in the United States, and we're not talking wireless this time -- AT&T says it will implement a 150GB monthly cap on landline DSL customers and a 250GB cap on subscribers to U-Verse high speed internet starting on May 2nd. AT&T will also charge overage fees of $10 for every additional 50GB of data, with two grace periods to start out -- in other words, the third month you go over the cap is when you'll get charged. DSLReports says it has confirmation from AT&T that these rates are legitimate, and that letters will go out to customers starting March 18th. How does AT&T defend the move? The company explains it will only impact two percent of consumers who use "a disproportionate amount of bandwidth," and poses the caps as an alternative to throttling transfer speeds or disconnecting excessive users from the service completely. Customers will be able to check their usage with an online tool, and get notifications when they reach 65 percent, 90 percent and 100 percent of their monthly rates. We just spoke with AT&T representative Seth Bloom and confirmed the whole thing -- rates are exactly as described above, and the company will actually begin notifying customers this week. He also told us that those customers who don't yet have access to the bandwidth usage tool won't get charged until they do, and that AT&T U-Verse TV service won't count towards the GB cap. Update: What prompted this change to begin with? That's what we just asked AT&T. Read the company's statement after the break.
FCC set to approve rules compelling carriers to alert you when you're about to go over your limit
Politicians do love themselves a sharp and emotive turn of phrase, of which few are as good as "bill shock." That's the term the FCC has used to sum up all those instances when you've had unexpected surcharges on your monthly wireless bill, caused by unknowingly going outside the bounds of your geographical coverage or monthly allowance. Seeing this issue as something it could help alleviate, the Commission set up a Consumer Task Force back in May in an effort to seek out solutions, and now it has returned with perhaps the most obvious one: getting your network operator to shoot out a voice or text message warning you when you're about to incur costs outside of your normal plan. That's basically what AT&T already does with iPad owners approaching their monthly data limits, which the federales see as a good practice that should be extended across all carriers. We can see no good reason why it shouldn't.
US Cellular launches The Belief Project, a slew of customer initiatives rolled into one
So US Cellular just spilled all the beans on its mysterious Belief Project today, and basically, they've just rolled up a whole bunch of policy tweaks under one neat, tidy name for marketing purposes. The list of changes is a long (and generally good one), featuring "one and done" contracts -- meaning you can get contract benefits forever after you serve out your first two-year contract -- along with free phone replacement for accidentally damaged handsets and $100 replacement for lost or stolen ones, three to five percent plan discounts based on payment method and paperless billing, overage caps and warnings, and a new rewards program that lets customers exchange points for discounts and free stuff. Follow the break for USCC's full press release.
T-Mobile drops some overage charges in favor of bandwidth throttling
Well, it looks like T-Mobile has some good news and some bad news for customers using its 5GB webConnect data plan. The good news is that the carrier will no longer be charging its $0.20 per megabyte overage fee for any data used beyond the 5GB limit, thereby effectively making the 5GB plan an unlimited plan. The bad news is that in place of an overage charge, it will be implementing bandwidth throttling on any data used on top of the standard 5GB, although it's not saying exactly how much it will slow things down. Customers using T-Mobile's basic 200MB monthly plan aren't left out of the changes either -- while they won't see any bandwidth throttling, they will see their overage charges cut in half from $0.20 to $0.10 per megabyte. Both changes are apparently effective immediately.
AT&T's Data Connect overage rates much lower now, still too high
In a perfect world, we'd one day all be guzzling from an endless font of virtually free bandwidth, streaming 1080p video straight to our WXGA handsets with stereo Bluetooth beamed straight to implants in our ear canals. Turning our attention back to reality for a moment, though, and the situation is a little more bleak: carriers are plagued with crappy, overloaded networks, backhaul issues, and a 4G rollout that could easily span a decade. To that end, caps are still firmly in place on US carriers' so-called "unlimited" laptop data plans, and overage rates make the occasional slip-up nasty enough to bankrupt you if you're not offered clemency from customer service. The good news is that AT&T's data overage rates have dropped significantly as of November 6, going from 49 cents per megabyte to 5 cents on the $60 5GB plan and 10 cents on the (nearly useless) $40 200MB plan. That still means you're paying over $50 for each gigabyte of overage -- but as AT&T points out, it's a hell of a lot better than the $500 you were paying before. [Thanks, Kal]
AT&T DataConnect overage: $480 per gigabyte
As much as we hate that true, no-strings-attached unlimited data plans are being killed off one by one, we appreciate that carriers have had the common decency (well, sometimes) to impose caps as "soft" ones -- going over repeatedly might irk 'em into throttling your bandwidth or tearing up your contract, but at least you wouldn't be getting a bankruptcy-inducing bill in the mail without any warning. Watch yourself, boys and girls, because that's now changed on AT&T, where the one and only domestic DataConnect plan offered for laptops -- 5GB for $60 -- now features an overage charge of $0.00048 per kilobyte. Running the numbers, that works out to a staggering $480 per extra gigabyte -- and on a laptop, a gig isn't hard to burn through at all. We guess AT&T would probably either cut you off or give you a call if you went way over, but by then, you've dug yourself a pretty deep hole. It's all pretty ridiculous, and we're hoping they're only a few lawsuits away from reconsidering the way they're handling this.[Thanks, Bill]Update: Several tipsters have written in to let us know that AT&T shuts you down after you've racked up $100 in overage, which seems awfully arbitrary. If we're seriously going to keep going with this per-kilobyte model, can we get a configurable hard cap or something? Thanks, everyone!
Rogers announcing new data plans, peace of mind in October
Now that Rogers' iPhone users have had a month to play and Rogers have had time to look at usage, it comes as no surprise some new data plans are in the works. First off, the good news is that the $30 6GB plan will be extended until the end of September from the end of August -- mind you, this is less generosity and more wanting to sign new BlackBerry Bold owners on to the plan. On October 1st Rogers -- and Fido -- will launch a new $15 2MB plan, $25 500MB plan, $30 1GB plan, $60 3GB plan, and an $80 8GB plan. These new plans will apply to smartphones, data cards, tethering, and of course BlackBerry devices. Most notable in the good news binge are a few "peace of mind" protection tools also being launched in October, including SMS data alerts, Freedom of Data, and a $100 data charge maximum. SMS data alerts will let subscribers know before, when, and after they've emptied the data bucket for the month. Freedom of Data will give 3 months of real unlimited usage just on the off chance you completely blow it out, the overages will be zeroed out and you can learn, adjust and move on. The $100 maximum idea means that no matter what data plan you're on, your monthly bill will never be higher than a hundred bucks as a combination of your fixed cost plus your overage. It seems this may spell the end of outrageous data bills in Canada, and we're thinking that deserves some applause.
