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T-Mobile will throttle instead of charge data overages

By: , IntoMobile
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 9:16 AM

There’s some interesting news out of T-Mobile, as the nation’s fourth-largest carrier is changing the way it handles those who exceed their limits on mobile data.

Those on the company’s webConnect data plans would previously face overage charges if they used more than 5 GB of data. These customers will now be throttled – face slower connection speeds – and won’t be charged fees. If you’re on the 200 MB monthly plan, you’ll still face overage charges, but this has been reduced from $.20/MB to $.10/MB.

This is a good sign but I’m wondering how big of an impact this will have. I’m a heavy mobile data user and haven’t come close to exceeding 5 GB in a month. I suppose as T-Mobile’s mobile data networks gets significantly better, this could become an issue. Still, it seem like the right thing to do. Kudos to T-Mobile.

[Via PhoneScoop]

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About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

  • Peter Tosh

    This is exactly what all of the phone companies should be doing instead of gouging us. Luckily I have an N1 and can monitor my data but what about everybody else? I shudder to think about getting 10k plus phone bills.

    New Rules:
    1) Never sign a long term mobile contract.
    2) Pay for your phone outright.
    3) Only use GSM carriers.
    4) Sell old phones on Craigslist or eBay.
    5) Profit!

  • Dennis Stockton

    Personally I think it stinks. When you sell an “unlimited” data plan then throttle people to 50k it is not truly unlimited. If for instance I exceed 5g or even 10g and have 5 or 10 days to go the reduction in speed will limit my use to a finite amount of data simply because there won’t be enough time in the day to download much more than another gig.

    I realize that is a lot of data but my gripe is that they shouldn’t advertise it as unlimited.

  • 4Geo

    You do realize everything is finite? All you can eat, only so much time, and so much food. Go to an amusement park and get an unlimited pass, and you can only ride so many times within a give timeframe, and within the use model of how many others are attempting to use it within their "application".
    Point is, you are given unlimited access, with a single price option. Before the 5GB limits, the network and the devices couldn't mathematically exceed the 5GB allotment, but now the net and devices can. If you need more than 5GB, buy multiples.
    Water is not unlimited, though you could turn your spigot on and let it run. Even it was, if we all did that, your pressure would decrease, so you'd be getting less flow than if everyone played by the rules of common sense and shared access to a finite resource.
    Basically, when you buy an unlimited plan, you are buying a fixed price use model, that is generous based on a finite commodity.
    People on planet earth who don't understand finite resources, and the consequences of the cumulative actions of many are part of the failure of the collective systems put in place to provide a reasonable expectation of the basics of the term "unlimited" from the physics of things. When you create your own world, your society, your own wireless network, your own application that needs unlimited resources, please let us know how that works out for you.