Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Cell Phone Choices
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Verizon
The news that AT&T is buying T-Mobile has got me thinking about how evil cell phone companies appear to be. There seems to be an evil side to a lot of corporations in America, but not all of them get to the level of trying to squeeze every cent out of Americans that they possibly can. This seems to be even more true when it comes to cellular phone carriers in the United States. Of the remaining big 3 carriers in the US, only Sprint has not announced plans to get rid of unlimited data plans. Data and tethering pricing on cellular devices is the one of the largest forms of screwing over American consumers. My "unlimited" data plan with Verizon is $30 per month. Unlimited really means don't go over 5 GB a month. By comparison, my Comcast dedicated connection does not have these limits and I only pay $10 more a month. I get a connection that is at least 15 times faster than my cell phone that is always on for not much more money. Something is wrong with this picture.
When the iPhone 4 was released on AT&T, they announced tiered data pricing. You no longer get your "unlimited" connection, but you can get 2 GB of data for $20 a month. My mom uses 2 GB a month on her connection at home just checking her email. AT&T is screwing people over. They are going to make a lot of money on data overage charges
Verizon is going to do the same thing, as they have at least hinted that they will have the same kind of plans when they finish rolling out their LTE network. Why do they have to squeeze every last penny that they can out of their customers?
When the T-Mobile acquisition is complete, surely AT&T will find a way to get T-Mobile customers to pay the same rates that current AT&T customers pay.
So why do we even have cell phones? Why do we let the carriers push us around like we do? I am just as much at fault here as everyone else is. Can we not live without our mobile devices?
I want to hear from people as to why they pay what they do. Why do you have a cell phone? What phone and on what carrier do you have service? Do you have a smartphone with data capabilities? If you don't, is it because of the high premiums you pay for data? Have you considered getting one?
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I have a Palm Pre 2 on Verizon. It is my second smartphone. I got my first smartphone, a Palm Pre Plus, a year ago. I won't ever be able to look back. I love having the full capability of the Internet, email, GPS, instant messaging, social networking, and everything else that comes with it. The thing that finally pushed me over the edge to get a smartphone was that my company gets a corporate discount with Verizon, so the data plan isn't as expensive as it should be. I have been with Verizon since November 2005. I initially chose Verizon because they seemed to have the best rural coverage of any carrier and I still feel like that is true today.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently on my family's T-mobile plan with an old school phone. I have a cell phone because it's chePer and more convenient for me than a landline, and since I'm on the family plan I talk to my siblings and parents for free. Jessie has an iPhone with AT&T through work and we love it. But we would probably never pay for it ourselves. I've thought about upgrading to a smartphone, but the data charges mean I probably won't. It seems superfluous when I have an iPad and wireless at home, and I can borrow Jessie's phone if I'm out.
ReplyDeleteCami, Ruth feels the same way that you do. She doesn't need a phone with a data plan when she is at home and has 3 computers all at her disposal. My work has offered to get me an iPhone, except that they won't pay full retail for it, so I have to wait until my contract is up in December. They don't give employees their own business line anymore. They make everyone get their own personal line and then they reimburse the employee for the privilege of being able to call their personal cell phone. If they had company lines then I would already have an iPhone on Verizon.
ReplyDeleteActually, Comcast does have a data limit, but most people aren't going to use over 200GB of bandwidth a month so it's pretty much unlimited. I switched from Verizon to Sprint in part because of the unlimited plan. Now I just wish Sprint would get the iPhone!
ReplyDeleteExcellent question. I've often asked myself why I have the 2GB/month plan on my Iphone 4, but I think what it boils down to is that the carriers really have you when you buy a premium smartphone, because getting optimum use out of your smartphone requires data. For example, I use Pandora about 6 hours every weekday at work. It doesn't take much data, but it does take some. I've tried the 250MB/month plan, but I can only barely stay under the cap if I try. In the end I guess the real question is not why we have our phones or data plans, but why we need them so badly.
ReplyDelete-Andrew
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