nikecar
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i have 2 more years to jump ship. At that point, I'd hope Sprint is farther along with their LTE.
I went to verizon yesterday. i have 2 smartphones on unlimited data i wanted to turn on my kids used iphone and add data then add a line for my other kid and add data plan. they tried their best to analyze what i use and justify getting a shared plan. it worked out to the same money but i would loose unlimited on my 2 phones......hmmmmmm No i said! she said but it wouldnt matter you dont use enough looking at the past 3 mo. to even worry about unlimited. i said but yeah i may need it because if i take a trip and play slacker radio for 10hrs while driving i will run over then what???? she had no answer.
Well said. Wish he'd read somethin like this and take a hint.Narsil said:Unlimited doesn't mean anything? How about unlimited cuts to his salary? It would begin to mean something to him rather quickly.
He's a technological moron.
I'll bet if you asked America Online's CFO in the mid to late 90's whether AOL would ever provide unlimited access for the same monthly price, he would have choked on his martini olive laughing and crashed his Countache. The idea that data access is not going to move towards unlimited at a fixed price is counter-indicated by the last 20 years of technological history regarding the sale of data access.
Franny's argument?
So ever since this whole unlimited going away debacle I have had an interesting response to it. I have a server with about 6TB of storage and I like to download x264 movies and save for future use. So I threw a Wireless N PCI card in and connected to rooted Bionic using FoxFi. I plug the phone into power and commence to downloading everything I can get my hands on from UseNet over the weekends. First weekend hit 320gb of usage on plan. Being without the device is a little bit of a downfall, but the 3 consecutive weekends of this totaling an ~750GB monthly usage. The funny thing is Verizon has been burning up my phone wanting me to use the available upgrade on my plan. All I have to say is suckit Verizon. :lifting:
My contract is up in December also and we are switching. T Mobile advertises unlimited data BUT if you look at their plans it is up to 5 GB then overages. How can anyone offer unlimited then change for overages???Man....Come December I'm canceling my Verizon contract. I want to the Note 2 and it would be cheaper to pay the early termination fee of probably 300 dollars (My contract ends next September so it should be cheaper to cancel), sell my Galaxy Nexus on eBay to help with the fee, go to Sprint and sign up with an unlimited data contract with the Note 2 for 300 dollars, which is what the phone should cost. With my military discount, the bill should be cheaper than what I pay with Verizon. So either end up paying about 400 dollars to switch and get a new phone or I could just stick with Verizon, pay 800 dollars for the Note 2 and still get reamed....That's a tough choice wouldn't you say?
[Editor's Note: There are a few of problems with this argument. First, if most consumers are not really using that much data, as he suggests, then there would be no reason for the carriers to switch to tiered data plans. Second, it doesn't matter if a person doesn't regularly use up that much data on a normal basis. The fact they might need to at some point and will have to pay exorbitant fees in order to do so, is simply a way for the carrier to price gouge the customer. In fact, it's possible that the reason some users come in lower than their data allowance is because they are afraid of overage charges. The idea of an unlimited data plan is that it offers the "peace of mind" option for customers. Lastly, Verizon's Shared Data Plans would likely be more palatable if they were a bit more cost effective and less aggressively tilted in the carriers favor. It just makes Verizon look greedy.]
Of course, that was just my editorial rant above. There are multiple perspectives to this, and we would like to hear yours.
Source: Verizon
I was a rep for VZW and I can honestly tell you why VZW got rid of unlimited data.
1. Business decision - Everyone is out to make money, and lots of it. We know this already. But VZW is the most experienced company in the world - flat out - when it comes to communication. They know that everything is going mobile, and data is the next big commodity, so they needed to be prepared WELL in advance for the future. The way the world will communicate 5-10 years from now will mostly be through the internet. Yes let's all be honest, if you control that, you control everything.
2. iPhones - Originally, VZW was going to get the iPhone first (*gasp*), but because of disagreements between them and Apple, it didn't happen. When the iPhone finally did come, a HUGE influx of users grasped onto it and began to pile down on the 3G network, making data speeds much slower than they should have been. Thank Apple for VZW's huge advancement in 4G LTE, because it was this situation that forced VZW to protect its reputation and look for other (faster and stronger) means of data transit for future phones (iPhone 5) so this situation wouldn't happen again. In the mean time, unlimited data for phones meant iPhones and data abusers would make VZW's network look like trash, so that helped fuel the decision.
3. That 5% - Here's some interesting statistics for you:
- At the time VZW made this decision, only about 8% of VZW customers were on 4G.
- 95% of VZW customers averaged about 1GB-1.5GB of monthly data usage
- 90% of users carrier-wide avg'd less than 2GB monthly on unlimited plans
- 5% of data users on VZW's network could account for well over 60% of the data used monthly by subscribers
Here's another related statistic. 4% of the U.S. population can account for 90% of the wealth in the United States
See the correlation?
Hey Mitt Romney fans, I know some of us INCLUDING MYSELF would have loved to keep unlimited data, as even on my employee line (which isn't unlimited) I've used nearly 30GB of data myself one month just to test out how much I could possibly use in a month on a 4G Razr MAXX. I did the test without metering anything, this included downloading, tethering, HD Vid streaming, radio, GPS you name it. I pruposely tried to abuse it, and I'm averaging about 10GB regularly now. Yes it would be nice if we all still held on to that freedom of unlimited Netflix not over WiFi, and great workout sessions with Pandora everyday. But even for us tech-savvy users, most of us really don't use that much data in comparison to that 5%. It's people like ^BRAINIAC^ here from the quote that slow down the network for EVERYONE else, and force VZW, AT&T, and SOON SPRINT to get rid of unliimted data. Downloading 320GB in a ****ing weekend tethering from your phone is crazy. The phones or networks were NEVER designed to do that. On top of that you are using the network "NOTICEABLY" for illegal **** like downloading HD movies all day long. Grant it I'm not indicting you for it, but from VZW's biz perspective which they know about, they don't like users using their network for things like that, including business ventures and other things that require exuberant amounts of data, without paying them for it. That is why AT&T throttles unlimited data users when they get past 5GB because they don't want their networks impacted for anyone else. Consider this to be why your home internet FiOS or XFINITY Bundle advertises that you can get up to 50mbps downloads but during "peak hours" you only get about 15-20mbps. This is because the traffic in the area is at a very high level and just like a highway, the more traffic, the slower the drive. Wireless performance is much more sacred than wired, which is why when you have a 750GB/month bohemith in your area taking up 90% of the data usage on a particular tower, VZW would get mad. Hell, AT&T would call you directly and tell you politely to **** off from their service altogether, ETF fees waived and all. It's like the stupid kids in school that used to ruin recess for everyone when they kept doing stupid **** in the back of the classroom. You know you were doing just fine, but it had to be that dickhead from bum****-ville to ruin it for everyone. VZW takes the most pride in it's network, investing over a billion bucks a year into it, and having it slowed for any reason would cost them their reputation. So don't totally blame VZW for trying to f*ck over everyone else, give some of your cold hard feelings to assholes making it harder on everyone else. Give it about 3 years, and EVERYONE will have tiered data lol. It sucks, but our world in every way is corrupted. O well, onto the next.
4. VZW is like any other business: They are out to make money. The punk ass crybabies that keep *****ing about how VZW is after your money and want's to rape them and keep threatening to switch... go ahead and switch. Switch to AT&T and find out later on that AT&T has 2 "4th Generation" networks. (how there can be two fourth generation anythings from one company still baffles me, but then again, theirs the iPhone 4 & 4s lol). Then watch every AT&T commercial and see how ATT says they have the largest 4G network around and be LIED to. Then start b*tching about how AT&T has this problem and that problem. Or go to Sprint, and in 2 years get a rude awakening when you find out they are getting rid of unlimited data too. Be in another quarrel about how Sprint sucks and you want to switch. It will never end. Consider facts first before making impulsive decisions, because flat out, LTE is where the real speed is regardless of network. Sprint barely has any LTE coverage, and their WiMax pails in comparison to LTE. T-Mobile has upgraded 3G not 4G, and cricket, U.S. cellular and all the rest of the lower level companies can't be in the same conversation (not calling them bad but just irrelevant in this topic). AT&T and Sprint will be doing the SAME thing VZW is doing now, which is stopping unlimited data because they'll have to. All of the carriers will soon be trying to control your pockets, honestly. VZW was just the first to do it. Data is the wave of the future, and a goldmine for suppliers. Don't expect too much dignity from any of your carriers, including VZW. All of the companies are corrupted, as our world is. The only real way to keep unlimited data on VZW or AT&T is paying full retail for a phone (*cough* eBaycraigslist *cough*) and activating it - which IMO is worth it to me - or upgrade a different line on a family plan and switch the devices around. I still have to say VZW has the best network for the U.S., AT&T is the best internationally, Sprint has the best bang-for-your-buck, and T-Mobile is the cheapest. Make your 2-year contract term decisions based off of that, because the data-bug is going to bite you all over. IMO they all suck lol if I had my way I'd be using WiFi for every call, text, and surf that I make and not pay any of the carriers a DIME !