In the year 2012 I find it frustrating that we buy unlimited cell data plans and we cannot use the data how we want. For example, if I buy an unlimited 5GB monthly data plan I can only use that data on the phone or tablet that I buy the data plan with. If I did not pay for tethering of my PC I am unable to use the data for that purpose. I cannot take my other cell based products and just use my account with those devices. I am only allowed to use that 5GB of data for one device.
I know as well as all of you that there are ways to get around these limitations. Koush's new tether app for instance will let me tether my phone to my PC and supposedly it is undetectable by the carriers. There are wireless tether apps that will let me use my phone data plan to connect my other wireless devices and share the data that I am paying for. However, if I am caught doing this, which is a violation of the terms of service, I could be charged additionally or even cut off. I do not want to go around the terms of service or take the chance of additional charges. But shouldn't I be able to use the 5GB of data I pay for each month and use it how I see fit? I have paid for it and I am entitled to use it. If I use the data to the limit on my phone I would not be penalized. The carriers know that we could potentially use that much data. Why does it matter so much to them where it is being used?
I pay for cable TV each month with the expectation that I will use as much as I want. In fact, I have five tuners hooked up to the system and I could very well leave them all on 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. The shows that I watch are not throttled because I have watched too many episodes this month of The Big Bang Theory. The cable company does not charge me extra because I am watching TV on a large screen and an old TV. In other words, they do not care how or what I am watching TV on. And if we get down to it, isn't TV just a digital media being sent down a cable? Much like the data we consume, IP traffic is data being sent over a wire. I know there are technical differences but essentially it is all the same principal of data going down a wire. One type the carriers want to charge you for if you don't buy a plan for each device and the other is an unlimited supply.
We pay for home Internet services and I have (surprisingly) never hit a data limit on the amount of information I can download. At one point I was a trainer downloading training materials from an unnamed Redmond based OS company where the materials were all 1GB or larger. In one month I downloaded 20 of these manuals. In addition to downloading all of these manuals I also surfed the web and streamed music. My wife surfed the web from her PC and my kids were playing online games. Multiple devices all using a shared data plan.
Ok, I know that cell services are a different technology and there may be constraints. That is where the data plans come in with caps. I am not saying that I should have a truly unlimited plan without paying a premium. What I am saying is that I should be allowed to not only be able to use that data however I want, but also only have to buy one plan for myself and be able to use that data across all devices. I bought a wifi only tablet because I did not want to incur another cell bill for a tablet that I only use some of the time. Imagine if I could share the data plan. I would have bought my tablet from the same carrier that sold me my phone. I would have been willing to pay full price for the tablet since it already would have had a data plan that I could use with it. I would have been willing to pay for another 1GB of data at a higher rate some months if I went over. Instead, I bought the wifi only version and I did not pay the carrier for the device and I did not buy an additional data plan. They did not make any money on me. I would have been inclined to pay more if I could have shared that data that I am already paying for and not getting close to using each month. I would probably have opted for a larger data plan if I could tether my PC to my service just for the convenience of having it whenever I need it while I am out. The carriers are missing the big picture.
There were truly unlimited data plans years ago and no one took advantage of those because the technology and speeds were not there. Today we have the data speeds and the devices to really use the data we are given. Carriers could monetize on overages and by selling other cell based devices to tech hungry consumers. Instead, they worry about trying to sell us a data plan for each phone, tablet and hotspot they offer. I think they could make much more money if they allowed us to use the data they tell us is ours and would allow us to tie all of these devices to the same plan. How would your usage differ if you could buy one data plan and use it however you wanted?
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