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Verizon recently announced effective March 2nd that the limit on all 3G services that were previously "unlimited" will be limited to 5GB for the base rate and any overage will be at $.49 per Mb. AT&T and Sprint also have adopted the 5Gb limit for all 3G "unlimited" data plans but said they will work with any customers who go over for the month.

At this time I suggest you all ignore anyone who advises you there is no limit or these rules don't apply and at least be aware of your usage as you can see on the website for your account and if you are running close, contact Verizon to see where you stand.


I think I am a power user by most standards and I typically average 3.5 - 4 Gb per month on my phone. I use my phone far more for data than talk.

I poll e-mail every 5 minutes and poll about 25 RSS feeds including many podcasts, plus monitor sling CNBC and Bloomberg all day. That runs things up. If I get too close to the limit, I'll have to get off my butt and switch these bandwidth hogs to wifi.

Don Landis said:

Verizon recently announced effective March 2nd that the limit on all 3G services that were previously "unlimited" will be limited to 5GB for the base rate and any overage will be at $.49 per Mb. AT&T and Sprint also have adopted the 5Gb limit for all 3G "unlimited" data plans but said they will work with any customers who go over for the month.

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Source for the AT&T and Sprint change. Until my Sprint bill changes from saying Unlimited to 5GB then as far as I am concerned there is no cap on my service.

JAG72 said:

Source for the AT&T and Sprint change. Until my Sprint bill changes from saying Unlimited to 5GB then as far as I am concerned there is no cap on my service.

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FYI- On the Verizonwireless website they have removed all references to the word "unlimited" and now post all data limits at 5 Gb or less per plan with a definition of what a Gb is.

5 GB (5,120 MB)
of data usage for
Internet access

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Sprint: also has eliminated the reference to "unlimited" in their 3G plan offerings:

They still reference "unlimited" for the 4G laptop device

With this plan and your Mobile Broadband device, you have instant Internet access wherever you go on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network.
This plan includes

* 5 GB/mo. in total or 300 MB/mo. while off-network roaming. (1024 kb=1MB. 1024 MB=1 GB)
* Additional monthly usage over 5 GB costs 5¢/MB. You may not use more than 300 MB/mo. while off-network roaming. You can check your usage online anytime. Log into www.sprint.com/mysprint and click on usage details.
* International data roaming may incur additional charges.
* Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred. See what you can do with 5GB or 300MB a month.
* Learn more about what's included in this plan

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AT&T: Had trouble finding their plans but for laptops only:

DataConnect 5 GB

* Rate Plan Details
* Features

Rate Plan Details
Included Data 5 GB
Additional data $0.05 per MB
Canadian Data $0.015/KB
International Data $0.0195/KB

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For cell phones with data plans I had to dig deep into the fine print of the TOS contracts for this paragraph:

DataConnect Plans: DataConnect plans may ONLY be used with AT&T certified Laptop Connect (PC Data) Cards and other devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). On Data Connect Plans with a monthly megabyte (MB) or gigabyte (GB) allowance, once you exceed your monthly allowance you will be automatically charged for overage as specified in the applicable rate plan information (generally per Kb for any data used or a fee for additional MB allowances to be used during the month). All data allowances must be used in the billing period in which the allowance is provided. We may, at our discretion, suspend your account if we believe your data usage is excessive, unusual or is better suited to another rate plan. If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly MB/GB allowance and additional data usage rates, you agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month; provided that, prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Service.

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Note- Bold was mine:

Also in Bold on their TOS they had a whole list of prohibited uses for their data plans- to include but not limited to video broadcast from a PC to redirect TV programming, P2P connections, and tethering.


So as of now, it appears that the word "unlimited" has all but disappeared from these three carriers. Only AT&T is a bit cryptic about this by not posting specific limits of 5Gb on their plans web page.

Edit-
Forgot to mention about Sprint- When I was first advised that the 5Gb limit did not apply to cell phones or PDA's, only laptop devices ( last October), I went in and checked this out at a local Sprint store. I was told this is confusing but untrue. The data rate for non-internet usage is still unlimited on the Sprint PDA's and phones but for internet data it is the same limitation as for laptops. In addition, Sprint store manager explained that this was an FCC mandate for all carriers selling 3G service but it did not include 4G and that was still unlimited. If you have a PDA phone or internet surfing data connection it is subject to the FCC limit of 5Gb.

I believe the 5GB max on Sprint 3G ONLY applies to Data Cards, and not phones.

On my usage page:

Data/Others Included Used Remaining Additional Used Additional Charges
Sprint Data Unlimited 212302 Unlimited -- --

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that's just my phone.

Just got back from the Verizon store and got some new info on this 5Gb cap. According to the store manager, Verizon will grandfather in anyone who has an older plan with "unlimited" Apparently my TP2 has this older plan.

But, the reason I was in there is because I plan to completely revamp my accounts to a family plan from a business plan soon. The bad news I will lose that grandfathered no limt data plan. The good news is by restructuring my service on all three of my lines, I will save $200 a month.

Seems there are lots of changes surfacing that heats up the rate war among the cell carriers.

Don Landis said:

Sprint: also has eliminated the reference to "unlimited" in their 3G plan offerings:

They still reference "unlimited" for the 4G laptop device

Edit-
Forgot to mention about Sprint- When I was first advised that the 5Gb limit did not apply to cell phones or PDA's, only laptop devices ( last October), I went in and checked this out at a local Sprint store. I was told this is confusing but untrue. The data rate for non-internet usage is still unlimited on the Sprint PDA's and phones but for internet data it is the same limitation as for laptops. In addition, Sprint store manager explained that this was an FCC mandate for all carriers selling 3G service but it did not include 4G and that was still unlimited. If you have a PDA phone or internet surfing data connection it is subject to the FCC limit of 5Gb.

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FYI - Sprint still has plenty references to their 3G data plans being unlimited. This has to be for the tethering plans only.

http://nextelonline.nextel.com/NASA...lans_Filter&id12=CHP_PlansTab_Link_SharePlans

Everything Data Family - with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM

Unlimited data: Web surfing, email, BlackBerry Internet Services (BIS), GPS Navigation, Music Premier, TV Premier, NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup MobileSM

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If this is a FCC mandate then there should be some documentation out there. I personally call BS on this one as why would the FCC care if they offered unlimited data or not.

All I know is I am not worried about any 5gb data limit on my everything family plan. This same spat of 5gb caps went round and round a year ago and even with all the fuzzy wording out there, in the end, it only applied to the data card plans and had nothing to do with the phones.

I also cannot find FCC statements regarding anything to do with 3g data. To me that is a another carrier cop-out similar to the "bandwidth shortage" created by the HSI providers to justify caps and extra fees.

Don, I think the verbiage is confusing. Mobile Broadband in the past only referred to the data cards, not the phones. Now carriers could have changed it, but this certainly would be a TOS change and if they started applying this to the phones, we would have all gotten notices and the forums would be abuzz about it, which they are not. I would even bet you'd see stuff on engadget and other sites.

Btw, if you search sprints online customer service forums (which are monitored by sprint reps and they actively post on them), the 5gb caps are only referenced with data cards, not a single thing about data capable phones.

Edit:

Just got done with online chat with sprint rep, they confirmed what I have in an email from earlier this month

You: Can you clarify the 5gb data cap
Kate: The 5GB cap only applies to data cards or PAM plans, not data capable phones.
You: What about tethering?
Kate: Tethering would be a PAM option unless you used 3rd party software to enable tethering, in which case it would be at Sprint's discretion if you violated your TOS of your phones data plan. Also please noted, no caps exist on the 4G network, just 3G.
You: Thanks, just wanted to check.
Kate: Thank you for choosing Sprint.

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Now I use my phone alot, but honestly I have only reached 5gb + a few times in the years I've had a smartphone with sprint. But I'm sure if sprint saw my usage all of a sudden jump it would cause a flag in their system. For me, it's pretty hard to hit 5gb of phone data, whereas using a datacard or tethering, it's would be relatively easy to hit the cap with just normal use and loading non-mobile optimized websites and downloading (I don't do much downloading of items to my phone and what I do download is very small phone related stuff)

I personally call BS on this one as why would the FCC care if they offered unlimited data or not.

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That's what I was told by SPRINT store manager! Something about a power play by AT&T to get this cap the same for all carriers.


Satinkzo-
Like you, I have not seen any docs from FCC but then I haven't looked that hard either. However, I have been getting more and more validation that the 5Gb data limit IS definitely for all data plans and Verizon and Sprint have told me it applies to all. Obviously Sprint people do not relate the same story. Figures! It was good you specifically addressed the issue of tethering. I thought the answer in the chat was excellent.

In my case with Verizon, the limit hasn't applied due to a grandfathering on the laptop card they claim I'm allowed. When reviewed, I did exceed the limit on my laptop twice which was due to watching sling player. On my cell phone, I poll e-mail every 5 minutes and download it as well as RSS services and download several 15-50 Mb podcasts per day and stream media while the phone is docked. That runs it up. Consequently, this subject is important to me.


"Mobile broadband device" Seems Sprint and Verizon define it differently. Sprint, it appears by your interpretation, determines the application of the 5Gb limit based on the device using the data while Verizon determines the application of the limit based on the plan and how long you had it, new plans have the 5Gb limit and old plans are grandfathered, but apply to all devices, PDAs, smartphones, and laptop cards and myfi devices. Well, mifi devices aren't old enough.