“Today the biggest US carrier announced that its existing unlimited data plan is being divided into three new options: Go Unlimited (starting at $75 for a single line), Beyond Unlimited ($85 for first line), and Business Unlimited. Unlike the relatively straightforward unlimited plan that Verizon surprised customers with in February, these new monthly plans are chock-full of fine print and caveats,” Chris Welch reports for The Verge. “And in a move sure to anger net neutrality advocates, the regular ‘Go Unlimited’ plan throttles all smartphone video streaming to 480p / DVD-quality.”
“Before this latest change, the unlimited data plan placed no limits on mobile video whatsoever,” Welch reports. “This move on Verizon’s part was perhaps inevitable since nearly all of its chief rivals have already put in place some arbitrary restrictions on video quality or overall data speeds… [At AT&T] the cheapest unlimited plan similar limits you to 480p. And at all times, the fastest data speeds you can get are 3Mbps, which is… slow.”
“The baseline T-Mobile One unlimited data plan also throttles video to 480p; you’ve got to pay an extra $10 per month for the “Plus” plan to get HD video. But unlike Verizon and AT&T, the company doesn’t restrict everyday data speeds for apps and web browsing; you’ll just face the risk of slower speeds after crossing 32GB in a month if the network is congested. That’s generous compared to T-Mobile’s competitors,” Welch reports. “Sprint offers full HD streaming as part of its unlimited plan. Woohoo! But the company enforces stricter network management in other areas. Music streaming is limited to 1.5Mbps, for example, and you can’t exceed 8Mbps when playing games on your phone. Boo. And now with Verizon having joined the throttled video ranks, it might only be a matter of time before Sprint follows the crowd.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s “unlimited,” limited.
“Unlimited Go?” They should’ve named it “Unlimited GFY.”
Obviously, these 4G networks can’t handle what we’re trying/wanting to throw at them. Oh, 5G, where for art thou?