Newsflash: Offer All You Can Eat And People Eat A LotABI Research makes a not-so-startling discovery... 10:22AM Friday Apr 11 2008 by Karltags: business · wireless · bandwidth · Op/Ed · bundlesA new report by ABI Research comes to the not-so-startling conclusion that if you offer an "unlimited" product, people will use more of it. The firm's latest report claims that the unlimited plans being offered by wireless carriers will "test the limits of 3G networks" and potentially cause capacity strain. The report goes on to discuss the supposedly dire impact the use of unlimited SMS will have on the network, and the potential calamity of having your wireless customers consuming YouTube videos by the handful. Unlimited Internet access will have the biggest impact on the network, especially if users begin to visit sites such as YouTube to download videos. Continuous use of video applications, whether streaming, downloading or uploading pose the biggest challenge by significantly increasing network utilization and reducing per-subscriber data rates, or the number of subscribers able to access the network. ABI (at least in their summary) doesn't mention that many carriers' TOS prohibit you from doing anything but browsing or e-mail with these connections, or that high-consumption users are booted. Despite the press treating the recent round of announcements as the second coming of connectivity, the plans are still relatively expensive, also acting as a barrier to usage. Even if use is heavy, Verizon's 3G service has 50MB or 5GB monthly caps, and their new unlimited voice plan arrived alongside new (and less discussed) broadband overage charges. Unlimited plans may drive up consumption slightly, but consumers are certainly paying for it -- and carriers have prepared for it with a bevy of fees and fine print.
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 |  | | | benc
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
 ·Callcentric
 ·AT&T Midwest
 ·Charter Pipeline
| said by TK Junk Mail  :Sprint does unlimited internet better than Verizon does, with less restrictions and lower costs. But then again, Sprint is going down the tubes with their business plan and Verizon will make enough money to keep their infrastructure growing to support more users and video. Sprint is better for the customer (for now), but their system will soon be unable to keep up with the extra load. Which is better? I say Verizon will be around for a while, while Sprint may not. How much video can you get with 5GB? Are they even able to offer video calls on their mobiles at this time?
As for Sprint, I hope they keep going. They're the only real choice if you want broadband on your laptop.
5GB/mo.? What a JOKE. | |
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gaforces
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA
·Cruzio Internet
| Sprint is upgrading infrastructure to support higher demand and faster speeds.
Verizon is much more expensive and their TOS does not reflect their advertising semantics ATM.
Sprints network is truly open while Verizon just gives forked lip service.
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There is no greater sign of a general decay of virtue in a nation, than a want of zeal in its inhabitants for the good of their country. ~ Joseph Addison | |
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bobjohnson
join:2007-02-03
Titusville, FL | Re: Verizon's way better than Sprint's business plan I just switched to sprint's unlimited everything plan... I asked about tethering my ic902 to my laptop and the CSR said go for it "it's unlimited". We will see i suppose | |
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tiger72
NexaT duorP
Premium
join:2001-03-28
Kansas City, MO
clubs: | With Sprint bleeding customers at record rates, they have more than enough capacity to support more users and video. | |
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TK Junk Mail
Golf season has returned - hurrah
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
·Comcast
| Re: Verizon's way better than Sprint's business plan said by tiger72 :With Sprint bleeding customers at record rates, they have more than enough capacity to support more users and video. But that means less income and higher costs - not exactly a winning formula for a business plan.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page | |
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Sprintisbetter
@tds.net | Sprint is going down the tubes for different & reasons other than offering unlimited internet. We should keep the issue separate. | |
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Sprintisbetter
@tds.net | Sprint is going down the tubes for different & reasons other than offering unlimited internet. We should keep the issues separate. | |
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Sprintisbetter
@tds.net | Sprint is going down the tubes for different & reasons other than offering unlimited internet. Let's keep the issues separate. | |
| hogrunr
join:2005-10-21
Spring, TX
edit:
April 11th, @10:46AM
| ATT doesn't limit ....on their PDA Personal Unlimited plans. | |
| | benc
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
·Callcentric
·AT&T Midwest
·Charter Pipeline
| Re: ATT doesn't limit said by hogrunr :....on their PDA Personal Unlimited plans. Maybe not.
But seriously, how can one possibly use over 5GB on just a PDA alone?
The screen is too small to browse websites at great length. The keyboard buttons are also too small to use frequently.
Plus, could one get that plan with just a SIM card (instead of a phone locked to AT&T)? Do that and you'll have a much better choice for laptop broadband. | |
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Brazbit
Randomness Personified
Premium
join:2003-10-22
Port Orchard, WA
·wavebroadband
edit:
April 11th, @04:00PM
| Re: ATT doesn't limit said by benc :Maybe not. But seriously, how can one possibly use over 5GB on just a PDA alone? The screen is too small to browse websites at great length. The keyboard buttons are also too small to use frequently. Easy. My Tilt has a built in GPS and Google Maps streams Satellite photos to my GPS as my wife drives along. Meanwhile I also tether it to my laptop and downloading several large files while playing WoW. Waiting for something to happen in WoW I call up YouTube and watch videos until my turn in the Battleground Queue comes up. Commuting is far less boring these days.
I could really test the limits of their plan if I had the need or desire to. As it is I am sure I have had heavy but not unreasonable use as the scenario above was just a stress test I did one day and not normal behavior.
Edit: While I was researching the Tilt I found several reports of people canceling their home broadband accounts and simply tethering their computers to the phone as their only internet access. If someone doing various video services were to do that the 5GB barrier would be broken in no time.
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At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall ROFL! | |
| benc
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
·Callcentric
·AT&T Midwest
·Charter Pipeline
edit:
April 11th, @11:07AM
| Let's put this all in perspective SMS:
SMS...just how much data is in an SMS message? 160 bytes? 10 kilobytes means 64 SMS messages. Verizon's cost per kilobyte? $.015. So $.15 for 64 SMS worth of data. That's also the retail price. Any cost they actually incur is, I'm sure, far less.
Yet, carriers still have the guts to charge people to receive them, an event users have no control over. This is why I have SMS block.
Voice:
At Verizon, the prices are as follows:
Unlimited, Two Lines - $200
4,000 minutes, Two Lines - Also $200
4,000 minutes for two lines means 2,000 minutes per line.
Free nights and weekends means roughly 20 weekdays each month. 2,000 minutes / 20 weekdays = 100 minutes/day.
Are you REALLY going to use your mobile for an 1 hr. 40 minutes every single weekday?
I'm trying to figure out how exactly the carriers are going to be losing out.
Other types of Unlimited, or "Unlimited:"
Buffets -
I don't go to them because they cost a lot, and I'm a small guy who doesn't eat a lot. Plus you can't take the food home. It might be worth it if I could take a couple meals worth of food home with me when I leave.
Buffets are also, in some cases, "unlimited." I've heard of very fat people being told they can't take any more food.
Home Phone -
Totally worth it. The cost of the unlimited plan is equal to the cost involved for a few long distance calls. That and over half my calls are long distance. I call my parents a lot, what can I say?
There are some restrictions, but they aren't a big deal. This stuff isn't allowed:
- Broadcast/Junk faxing.
- Long distance dial-up. Dial-Up Internet has to be a local call.
- Long distance modem to modem, where I'm the caller. | |
| | jp10558
Premium
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY | Re: Let's put this all in perspective Buffets - depends on where you go. There's a chinese buffet I go to that's $6 for lunch and $9 for dinner. That's about equivelent to Fast Food. And I get more food that I would otherwise. More selection too. | |
| b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA | So hwo much does it really cost? I mean really?
Does it cost say Verizon any more to send 10 megabytes of data that it cost to send 10 kilobytes of data?
This is so typical of American business, offer "all you can eat" then complain that people are eating too much. | |
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telcolackey
The Truth? You can't handle the truth
join:2007-04-06
Death Valley, CA
edit:
April 11th, @12:30PM
| Re: So hwo much does it really cost? said by b10010011 :I mean really? Does it cost say Verizon any more to send 10 megabytes of data that it cost to send 10 kilobytes of data? This is so typical of American business, offer "all you can eat" then complain that people are eating too much. Yes it does cost more. The game changer is speed increases. A cell phone or even DSL with restricted bandwidth does not use much traffic at peak and an unlimited plan does less impact to the network. As speeds grow to 8, 10, 20, 50+ Mb unrestricted plans and the use of these speeds 7x24 has a serious impact on network scaling.
If you use these speeds in a similar fashion as you to today or even increase usage with more video and downloads, the economics still work... But if you are the 10 HD DVD / day library that allows the Internet to upload all your content, then yes... This has a serious cost to handle.
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"Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear." - Dinah Craik | |
| | bgraham
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon VoiceWing
·Verizon Online DSL
| They need more people like me. Unlimited is only worth anything to the customer if they use it.
I was thinking recently that I am paying through the nose for my telephones.
VOIP $25 a month unlimited. I actually use 200 minutes = 12.5 cents a minute.
CELL $50 a month for 500 minutes. I actually use 150 minutes = 33 cents a minute. | |
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bobjohnson
join:2007-02-03
Titusville, FL
·RoadRunner Cable
·Vonage
edit:
April 11th, @01:39PM
| Re: They need more people like me. I switched to unlimited with sprint for the extras not the voice minutes... I had 900 minutes for 59.99 added unlimited text for 15.00 and unlimited data for 15.00... I never came close to 900 b/c of direct connect but for $10 more I get everything they offer unlimited why not... But I will use twice as much now cause I got rid of my home phone.
edit: spelling | |
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telcolackey
The Truth? You can't handle the truth
join:2007-04-06
Death Valley, CA
edit:
April 11th, @12:55PM
| Business economics don't appear to apply As said by espaeth :
quote:
These key fundamental truths are ubiquitous in threads throughout the site:
1) All companies are trying to screw you.
2) There's infinite bandwidth available, it's "the man" trying to keep you down
3) FiOS > *
4) P2P traffic causing congestion issues is a myth, like global warming. See #2.
5) Companies should invest significant capital to upgrade their networks and reduce pricing at the same time. Basic laws of economics do not apply to the broadband industry.
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"Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear." - Dinah Craik | |
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Hereisareply
@tds.net
| Re: Business economics don't appear to apply Yes and...
1) All companies ARE trying to screw us... Why do companies exist? They exist in order to get as much money out of us as possible through legal ( mostly ) means. If something isn't illegal, it's fair game, even if it's likely unethical. Morality doesn't seem to matter to many of these entities. It's always about "the angle". How about you just supply a good "fast dumb pipe" and let us take care of the rest?
2) There isn't infinite bandwidth available on the internet, but there SHOULD be a lot more since many of these companies got tax incentives to build out their networks to handle this known period. I guess that relates to #1, eh?
3) Right now, FiOS > *. Yup, it's the best technology, Billing is a problem though...
4) The P2P traffic causing congestion issue is NOT a myth... However, when considering #1 and the lack of proper action this is what the broadband industry gets. You reap what you sow... Maybe they should have invested MORE in their infrastructure while getting all those tax breaks. Then they could have not had a problem with the natural & logical growth we're having. This is just the cost of being in business. The internet is still growing and maturing. There will be a point where technology, capacity, and economics will catch up with the business created demand for all of these services.
5) Companies should have ALREADY invested capital to upgrade their networks since they receive HUGE tax breaks and monopolies. We also know that basica laws DO apply to the broadband industry. Economics of scale play a role in the purchase of fiber and equipment... Too bad you didn't mention that. Please don't insult our ability to see what's going on here... | |
| | EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA
| On number 5, the Cellular companies are still building out their 3G networks, which is why there are such harsh restrictions. I would not be suprised to see even VZW grow its caps at some point- perhaps not to infinity, but still higher than 5GB- when "the network" can handle higher traffic better. | |
| 
Freeze
Laboratory
Premium
join:2001-05-13
Columbus, OH
·RoadRunner Cable
|  Thanks, Sprint
My service across the country has worked flawlessly and reliably in both rural and urban areas. Even during football games.
I have many free java applications on my phone from GPS to weather maps to gmail. My only additional expense on my plan is $2/month for wireless backup of my phone contacts in real-time to a sprint website. It's peace of mind in case I ever lose my phone - I won't lose my numbers.
I don't ever worry about going over any text, internet, or roaming limits because my only limit is 500 minute talk time per month. But anything after 6pm or weekends is unlimited. Sprint-sprint is unlimited. And voice roaming and digital data roaming is unlimited. I rarely spike 300 of my 500 minutes in a given month since most of my long calls occur at the end of my day. Either way, I tend to turn roaming off since it increases my battery life. No issues.
I know people like to give Sprint a hard time. I'm not denying the many bad experiences with customer service or billing - I've definitely had a few issues too. But when I'm nice and polite to the often overworked CS rep, they tend to reciprocate and leave me with even more respect for such a large company. The fact that the new CEO is taking all the right steps to turn this company around really makes me smile too. I would much rather prefer a 'terrible company' trying to improve rather than a 'terrible company' go bankrupt with the top executives lining their pockets.
Overall, I have to say my personal experience has been great. In fact, it's been fantastic. Even after 20 months of having this plan, I have yet to find any other US carrier come close to having all the features I have at a price like this with a strong signal everywhere I go.
Thanks, Sprint.  | |
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Verizon's way better than Sprint's business plan
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How unlimited is...
