Mobile Broadband Data & Fair Usage
Posted: 26th Jun, 2006 By: MarkJ
Last week saw several mobile operators launch broadband 3G data products, offering speeds of up to 1.8Mbps. Typically some of the packages classed as 'Unlimited' also had a 'Fair Usage' policy attached, thus raising a few questions:
According to the fine print on Vodafone Web site, its data price plans are "subject to Vodafone's fair usage policy. This means that a customer's UK usage must not exceed 1GB per user account in a month" even when the package offers supposedly "unlimited" data.
The terms and conditions continue: "We don't expect customers to go over this limit, however if a customer's usage is in excess of this, we may ask them to moderate their usage. If a customer then fails to do so, we reserve the right to move them to another Vodafone Data price plan or to charge for all excess usage. Long-term or persistent usage in excess of the limit may also result in suspension or termination of the service."
However, Lillistone said on Thursday that "to date, we have not disconnected or charged anyone under the fair usage policy", thus raising the question of what the policy is for. A spokesperson for Vodafone said on Friday that the limit was a "deterrent for some people who may misuse the network", although the vast majority of its customers would never do so.
O2's package and policy somewhat mirrors Vodafone's, while T-Mobile offers 2GB, yet threatens to reduce speeds once this limit has been reached.
In any case, describing a package as 'unlimited' only to define a low 1GB cap is misleading, not that the ASA would care. More @ ZDNet.
According to the fine print on Vodafone Web site, its data price plans are "subject to Vodafone's fair usage policy. This means that a customer's UK usage must not exceed 1GB per user account in a month" even when the package offers supposedly "unlimited" data.
The terms and conditions continue: "We don't expect customers to go over this limit, however if a customer's usage is in excess of this, we may ask them to moderate their usage. If a customer then fails to do so, we reserve the right to move them to another Vodafone Data price plan or to charge for all excess usage. Long-term or persistent usage in excess of the limit may also result in suspension or termination of the service."
However, Lillistone said on Thursday that "to date, we have not disconnected or charged anyone under the fair usage policy", thus raising the question of what the policy is for. A spokesperson for Vodafone said on Friday that the limit was a "deterrent for some people who may misuse the network", although the vast majority of its customers would never do so.
O2's package and policy somewhat mirrors Vodafone's, while T-Mobile offers 2GB, yet threatens to reduce speeds once this limit has been reached.
In any case, describing a package as 'unlimited' only to define a low 1GB cap is misleading, not that the ASA would care. More @ ZDNet.
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