5GB of data a month is not enough!
OMG! I went over my data limit! I bought a new Kindle Fire HDX. 7 inches. It replaces an android tablet whose battery life has diminished substantially. I use AT&T's "traveling mifi" to connect when I go out during the evenings. I like my new tablet, and especially enjoy watching the free TV shows and movies offered by amazon, in ultra clear HD (no, this is not a plug for amazon. So, over the weekend I watched 2 free TV shows on my new tablet. Suddenly, I get a text message from my carrier, AT&T, telling me I am over my 5GB a month limit. Holy Moly! And I have more than 2 weeks left in the month. What!? My average usage is 3GB. For a month. And it has been that for years. How could I possibly and suddenly go over the 5GB limit??? In less than 3 weeks? I called AT&T immediately. They could not tell me why I suddenly went over the 5GB limit and suggested that I take my mifi device into an AT&T store to have it checked out. I then called amazon and asked them if they knew why I suddenly jumped from 3GB of data usage to 5GB of data usage ... in 1 freaking day! They were not s
I was stunned! Now I am sitting here with NO data usage left and over 2 weeks to go before a new month started. Plus, I had a brand new tablet, a tablet I would have to stop using, due to data overage OR I could continue using the device and pay $10 more per gigabyte. That would cost me like $40 more a month and I was already paying $50 a month for the maximum 5GB plan. Oy vay. What to do? I was severely upset, confused and depressed.
I set out to figure out why and how my data usage suddenly jumped up and over the limit, in 1 day. Eventually, I discovered the culprit. The TV shows. I discovered that the two TV shows I had watched via streaming HD video had used 1.8GB of data. Nearly 2 gigs. What? Watching two stupid TV shows put me over the data limit, in 1 day?! WTF? Upon further investigation I realized that watching almost any streaming video, like TV shows or movies, can use up a ton of data.
By my calculation, I normally use about 3GB a month. No TV, no movies. That leaves me 2GB for things like mobile TV and movies each month. The extra 2GB amounts to 2 1-hour TV shows or 1 movie ... a month! WTF? My paid-for TV and movie internet entertainment fun is being seriously limited! Limited to 2 measly gigabytes a month. THAT'S what I'm getting. For $50. Come on, AT&T, Verizon, etc - don't be so cheap!
Hey, here's a news flash for all you major mobile service providers, like AT&T and Verizon: 5GB of data is not enough! And using more than 5GB costs too much!
5GB data plans will SEVERELY curtail video streaming of internet content delivered via cell phone, tablets and other mobile devices. 5GB data plans will SEVERELY curtail the profits of giant internet content providers like Amazon, Netflix and Hulu. Less mobile viewing of advertisement sponsored content means less revenue for the content providers. That being the case, why isn't Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and others, at war with AT&T, Verizon and every other company that has a ridiculously low 5GB data limit? I don't know. Why are we, the consumers, consumers who want to use MORE data, being restricted and penalized from doing so. I don't know. All I DO know is 5GB data plans are not enough. Double it to 10GB ... at the same price!
ON BEHALF OF ALL US CONSUMERS, GIVE US OUR CONTENT! AT A FAIR PRICE!
UPDATE: adding insult to injury, when I went to cancel my att&t wireless plan they told me I would incur an "early termination fee". They billed me $116, and took it out of my checking account. WTF!
