AT&T Charges $15.36/MB for International Data

Travelers beware, if you take your AT&T-powered iPhone to another country, make sure you either turn off data roaming or call ahead and buy yourself a international data package add-on (link).  This is a SMS alert sent to me when I was driving into Toronto, Canada this weekend warning me about the charge of $15.36 per MB.  I wonder why they bother with extra 0.36 cents at the end; atleast they were kind enough to send everyone a warning.

Whats your Mobile Internet Data usage?

Lately, it seems like everywhere you look, the topic of unlimited internet usage "cap" seems to pop up and upset the general public either for your smartphone or home broadband. While I find it as much oxymoron calling a plan "unlimited" data with a cap as the next guy, I was curious to find out just exactly how much unlimited data I was using up, the results are not that extreme (approx.):

July: 89MB
June: 76MB
May: 114MB
April: 125MB
March: 63MB

I am using an iPhone 3G with AT&T's $30 unlimited data plan (w/ a 5GB cap). I use my iPhone in the morning and afternoon to get the latest news and check on emails. Occasionally throughout the day, I'd check on emails, weather or directions/maps. I find myself using the mobile internet more when I am out of the house (waiting for an appoint), out of town(business trip) or on vacation. I'm kinda curious to know how many of you actually come close to the 5GB cap because you stream live music via Pandora or listen to MLB broadcast through respective apps. Furthermore, if you are a Palm Pre, Android user, what is your monthly data usage?

Some interesting data I found on the web:
Hong Kong: average 44MB per user (as of April, 2009)
UK Orange: mobile data doubled year over year (as of May, 2009)
Sweden: increase 4.5x year over year (as of Aug, 2009)
Australia: iPhone Browser avg session is 2.07MB vs. 0.30MB (as of Sept, 2008)

AT&T Network, Where R U?

I was visiting the beautiful state of New Hampshire this weekend and really had a great time visiting the town of Conway, however there was one little issue left lots to be desired, my AT&T network. One thing for certain, 3G data is nowhere near the area I was in, depending on what parts of the area (around the White Mountain), I might lose signal completely. Aside from the leisure of web surfing 2,850ft above sea level, I was more concerned about what if motorists needed to use there calls out here; in all fairness, our family's Tmobile BlackBerry couldn't get reception either. My wife's Sprint BB8830 managed a couple of bars however. I sure hope the GSM guys could get around to put up a few of 'em fake tree cell towers soon.

iPhone Users Making Pain for AT&T Data Network

Wall Street Journal's article "Demands on Network Are an iPhone Hang-Up" has given me a whole new perspective on AT&T's charge for its unlimited data plan for iPhone 3G ($30/mo). I have made countless remarks against the higher rate on this blog; my argument has mostly been based on that increasing data plan cost may keep consumers from engaging, hence taking a step backward in the mobile evolution.

Boy, was I wrong on two counts.

1). $30 per month unlimited data did not deter people from signing up. It turns out the $199 iPhone entry price is more than enough of a sweetener for people to sign up for data. It could be that I work in NYC and live in a town full of young professionals, but the amount of people I encounter with iPhone 3G is insanely high. Perhaps this was their strategy all along, going after people with higher disposable income whereas I am speaking for general public as a whole.

2). At $30 per month, I guess AT&T isn't making out like a bandit considering average iPhone owners use up to 4x the data bandwidth compared to other smartphone users. This puts a huge amount of stress on AT&T's network thus requiring them to invest more money into system upgrades to keep up with demand (otherwise, users will complaint and may even be driven away to competition).

I am at a lost at this point. My old data plan from AT&T was $20 per month w/ 200 free SMS (Media Max 200); this plan is nearly identical to the original iPhone data plan. When I upgraded to a 3G iPhone, I had to pay $35 per month to get equivalent service. That is a 75% increase from before, yet, we are being told even with such increase, AT&T's network could be hurtin. I gotta tell ya, something is not adding up right.