“Unlimited data plan” is one of those terms of art that has an evolving meaning in the tech world.
from a most unpopular definition after its smartphone customers raised a ruckus about the way the company hemmed in “unlimited data” subscribers.
Despite the retooling, data use still is not unlimited, and at the end of the day, customers will decide whether it’s unreasonable. How? They’ll vote with their feet — or their business, as it were.
Potential relief for users and wireless providers, who’ve seen their bandwidth eaten up by tablets, smartphones and a bedazzling array of apps, may come via a little-noticed part of the .
The public auction of some $25 billion of broadcast licenses to the wireless spectrum is a long time coming and should provide a break for people feeling squeezed by their providers.
Those broadcast licenses had been issued by the Federal Communications Commission, and are held by television broadcasters. For years, the FCC has pushed TV to relinquish licenses to spectrum space they are no longer using or underutilizing.
But it was the need for revenue, more than anything else, that finally pushed Congress into action on the bandwidth crunch.
Lawmakers turned to a .
Once given free, the real estate on the spectrum will be auctioned to the highest bidder sometime in the next couple of years.
This is a welcome, though pricey, development for wireless companies that will bid for the capacity to better serve their customers.
CTIA, the wireless industry’s trade group,
The timing is fortuitous, as .
That’s a huge increase, and without additional bandwidth people will assuredly face the sort of situation that for slowing down his iPhone service.
Spaccarelli won an $850 judgment against AT&T, a development that came just a week before AT&T changed the parameters of its “unlimited” plan. The company is appealing the ruling.
As society increasingly turns to wireless access as a platform for communication and commerce, it’s important to ensure those “pipes” are big enough to handle the traffic.
It’s also incumbent upon carriers to manage their capacity in a way that’s fair and doesn’t take advantage of consumers who think they’ve bought one thing — say, unlimited access — only to find the rules have changed mid-stream.
