Disqus
In case you thought that $10 “unlimited mobile browsing plan” allows you to tether your phone to your computer, think again. A Canadian man from Calgary thought tethering was included in the price, hence he went forward using its mobile phone like a modem all the time. After a month of downloading HD movies and other bandwidth-hungry apps, he was slapped with an $85,000 phone bill. In an interview to CBS News, 22-year-old Piotr Staniaszek argued he wasn’t aware of additional charges for hooking up his phone to the computer.
Bell, Piotr’s carrier, has since made a “goodwill gesture” and reduced Staniaszek’s bill to $3,243, even adding he got the “best data plan available for using cellphones as a modem.” Bell’s spokesman Mark Langton said Piotr should have known that using the cellphone as a modem wasn’t part of his data plan, and that it wasn’t “accidental” as their customers receive a warning message informing them that an additional data charges on top of the mobile browser plan will be added for using a their phones in this manner.
[Via: The Register]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
