T-Mobile UK is ruffling a few feathers after telling customers that they’re going to be limited to downloading just 500 MB of data per month starting on February 1st and that if they want to stream video they should wait until they’re at home so they can use their WiFi connection. It’s odd since when the mobile web was first starting to become popular and adopted en masse T-Mobile was a pioneer with their “Web N’ Walk” data plans that were cheap and plentiful. After merging with Orange UK last year and calling the new joined network “Everything Everywhere” things haven’t been going too smoothly. Massive job cuts took place and customers hoping that they’d get increased coverage were forwarded to a web form where they had to apply for permission to roam on what was once a competitor’s network.
When it comes to mobile data in the UK, and if you’re someone who really needs every last bit you can take, then you should switch to 3 UK; they’ve been getting a ton of praise for their “One Plan“. Said tariff used to have a 1 GB limit, but that was recently removed thanks to the numerous investments that 3 has been pouring into their network. They want you to use data and they’re not charging much to do it: less than 30 GBP.
The next few years are going to be rather interesting to watch as operators tweak their business plans to handle the explosive growth that cheap smartphones, mainly powered by Android, are going to bring. The high end devices of 2009 and 2010 are going to come in at under 200 Euros by the end of this year. Whether or not people will pick them up and starting using it like we do, that is constantly web browsing and checking Facebook and Twitter, remains to be seen, but we think they will.