For some time now, Sprint has been bashing the 'other guys' for their shady practices surrounding their data plans - and the hidden costs associated with them. Today, Verizon Wireless becomes the latest casualty of the 'unlimited data wars' by releasing the plans for their tiered data structure going in to effect next month.
For some reason, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Wireless all think that it is OK to charge more per GB than most can possibly imagine - all the while touting the amazing things their devices can do. For instance, 'the average user' only consumes around 500MB of data per month. Using this thinking, the big 3 decide that they will make a 'cheaper' $20 a month plan that includes 2GB of data with a $10 charge for every GB the user goes over. This really makes the carriers seem like heroes since the data rate 4 years ago was $50 a month.
Fast forward to the modern smartphone, with Flash, Netflix, Crackle, streaming radio, cloud storage, instant photo sharing and all the other amazing amenities that the Droid Charge, LG Revolution or any other monstrous new device that they are hocking this week offers and watch those data totals climb. In the last year, the average data user has gone from a mere 200MB to the amazingly high 500MB per month. When you think about a single Netflix movie running over 400MB alone, you will quickly see that number climb even higher.
The carriers will continue to push these new services, and will eventually get rid of voice minutes all together. It's not fair that you see an ad for Netflix on the LG Revolution - only to find out that you need to sign up for the $50 plan to watch more than 30 minutes of the service a week. It's not fair for Verizon to sell you their Navigator service when it counts against your data cap. It's not fair for NFL Live to cost an extra $10 a month, and then have that also count against your data cap. The carriers are bleeding customers dry with their, "Look what your phone can do if you just pay a bit extra..." attitudes.
The bottom line for smartphone users is that these plans are going to become the norm. Unlimited data is a thing of the past - and even Sprint isn't immune to it. With AT&T purchasing T-Mobile and Verizon finally raising their rates and going tiered, look for Sprint to follow suit as their LTE expansion plans come to pass. Building out networks isn't cheap, and we understand that, but when you have to sacrifice dinner to pay for Facebook updates, people will eventually stop caring and go back to having a phone.
Until then, get your Evo for free at http://www.getsmartphones.info and get locked in to a 2 year deal with that $79.99 all you can eat data/text/mobile plan. You can thank us later!
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