After getting a taste of Verizon’s free 4G hotspot feature on my HTC Thunderbolt, it was disappointing to lose the capability when the free trial ended and the $30 price kicked in. But, as I said then, there’s no way I’m adding a hotspot fee on top of my existing 4g data plan. I pay for a fixed amount of data. Why should I have to pay just to share it with other devices too?
The reason is because telcos want us using as little of our available data capacity as possible. As GigaOm reported yesterday, Juniper Research has released projections that show wireless delivery costs going up 700% from 2010 to $370 billion by 2016. That could put a serious dent in profits, even with revenues forecast to hit $1.1 trillion in 2012.
It’s similar in many ways to what’s happening with wireline ISPs. A source at Comcast once told me that the operator would be in serious trouble if a significant number of people signed up for its 105-Mbps speed tier – hence the reason it’s priced beyond most household budgets. In the cable operator’s case, significant increases in data usage would require massive capex spending for network upgrades. In the wireless world, it sounds like the issue is more about operating expenses, assuming 4G network upgrades are already accounted for. What both have in common, however, is a tension between balancing capacity costs with demand and revenue. And until competition tips the scales in the future, our wallets aren’t going to get a break on data plans. Long live free public wi-fi.
No, long live rooting and jailbreaking, which allows us to use our devices and data plans as they should be – free.
Especially with the current trend of throttling after XGB of data. T-Mobile or soon AT&T shouldn’t care *how* I get through my 2GB of data – they only know that once I do, I’m throttled until the next billing cycle.
Bravo on this point. Baffles me that I have to pay to use my data across devices. It’s not like I can share it with anyone/anywhere. You have to be within a certain distance of the device to tether!
I would pay say $5/mo for such a thing. Any more is just plain gouging.
From the article: “And until competition tips the scales in the future, our wallets aren’t going to get a break on data plans”
Unfortunately, we’re heading into an era of *less* competition, not more, due to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. I’m not too optimistic data will get cheaper, or more shareable, anytime soon.
Mari, have you tried PDAnet on the Thunderbolt? If so, does it work?
It works well on my Evo. I use USB tethering but that’s fine since wireless would just drain the battery anyway.
I’m not sure if it still worked on other carriers besides Sprint anymore…
Whether you share it or not, chances are you’ll hit the 4G data cap if you use it as it’s advertised.
Public Knowledge has a paper showing that if the 4G network actually got the speeds they say, you’d hit the cap they put on it in well under an hour….
http://www.publicknowledge.org/4g-data-caps-magic-beans
For those tethering “under the radar” with PDANet or something else on a jailbroken phone, be aware that they’re looking for you now. You should at the very least be using the Stealth mode of PDANet to “hide” your data. Otherwise I’d say there’s a reasonable chance they’ll flag your account and add a tethering charge in short order.
Verizon is now following in AT&T’s footsteps and taking action against unauthorized tethering. The article is poorly written but you get the gist – Droid X owners are being told to buy a tethering plan:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/verizon_blocks_hotspot_tethering_for_jailbroken_de.php
Glenn, I’m sure they have ways to identify the traffic… “stealth” mode or no.
I wish someone would take on the carriers. They should be able to determine data/cap per plan, but not usage. If I want to tether as part of my 2GG, 5GB, whatever that should be my business. We need to force these guys into dumb pipe utility.
“I wish someone would take on the carriers. They should be able to determine data/cap per plan, but not usage … We need to force these guys into dumb pipe utility.”
Good (expletive delete) luck.
I agree with you on the merits, but politically speaking, if you want to force the wireless providers into following rules of the road, which would have the effect of converting them into dumb pipe utilities, first concentrate on doing the exact same thing for wireline providers.
If the precedent of real rules of the road gets set on the wireline side, which is much lower hanging fruit, it’ll be politically much easier to do it on the wireless side.
Also, speak up against the AT&T / T-Mobile merger in the short-term.