/Big Mouth/ Mobile moans
19/10/2006 | Filed under Discover > Big Mouth
The net should have been the great leveller: a way to share information with everyone. Easier access and download times are great but even Croesus would balk at the bill for accessing the web on the go
For a few years now, we’ve been talking about a world where everything’s connected to everything else and the internet is everywhere, like air. So I’d like to apologise. We’ve been talking utter bollocks. There’s nothing wrong with the concept, but if you actually want to enjoy the mobile internet you’ll need to sell a kidney.
The problem isn’t the technology but the cost of getting online when you’re on the move. As 19-year-old Rebecca Gibbs discovered in July, a few weeks of using the net over a GPRS connection will result in a bill of £3,327.
According to the Guardian, Gibbs is one of several people who got a nasty shock in July when their mobile phone bills hit the doormat. She’d been connecting her laptop to the net courtesy of O2’s free browsing offer, and when O2 shelved the promotion in June many customers (including Gibbs) either weren’t informed or didn’t spot the text message notification. That means they started accumulating normal data access charges, which are pantwettingly expensive.
In the wired world, even BT’s entrylevel service gives you 2GB of data transfer for £9.95 per month. That’s just under a fiver for a gigabyte. Mobile networks, on the other hand, charge a bit more than that – and by “a bit”, I mean “holy crap!” In the case of O2, if you go for the basic £8 per month data plan you get 5MB of data transfer and then pay £1 for each additional megabyte. That’s a grand per gigabyte.
Of course, the more expensive the plan the cheaper things get. So if you go for BT’s most expensive broadband (which isn’t the most competitive package on the market) you pay £22.99 per month for 40GB; that’s just under 60p per gigabyte. O2’s most expensive data plan is £75 per month, and you’ll see that while it’s billed as unlimited the small print notes that unlimited means an average monthly transfer of less than 1GB. So while BT’s billing 60p per gig, O2’s billing £75. Other mobile operators charge similarly scary fees, and Wi-Fihotspots aren’t cheap, either.
Of course, there are sound reasons why mobile internet access costs more than fixed access, not least the insane sums paid by mobile phone networks for their 3G licences. However, at £1,000 per gigabyte the mobile networks can afford not just to get your data, but to engrave each of your emails on a solid gold pony and have them delivered to your door by Girls Aloud in a helicopter made entirely of diamonds.
On average Brits change their mobiles once a year, so chances are you’ll be changing yours soon. When you do, listen to the salesman extol the virtues of 3G, of Googling on the move and of streaming MP3s wherever you may roam. Smile sweetly, and then kick him where the sun doesn’t shine. It’s only fair: if you use your phone for data access, that’s exactly what the networks will do to you.
Comments
Tom Morris / 22/10/2006 / 18:41 / http://blogs.opml.org/tommorris
You're right that the mobile networks are severely retarding the progress of the mobile Internet. That said, I'm using GPRS on Orange and not paying very much at all for it - £1 a day for unlimited access on that particular day. I commute three days a week - £3 a week for mobile access is a no-brainer.
Anthony Fryer / 24/10/2006 / 19:34
The mobile operators are still trying to reclaim some of the money spent on 3G licenses many years ago so are a bit reluctant to open the doors on mobile data services just yet. Also if there was massive demand on the networks they would not be able to cope. So all this talk by them to want you to use the internet. They do but not too much as things may break.
Saying that both Orange and T-mobile have offered unlimited (within reason) data packages but will not allow VOIP or streaming services to your phone. So basically unlimited as long as you do not use too much.
One thing you have not mentioned here and one of the biggest changes that will ensure the bigger use of the mobile internet is WiFi enabled phones. Nokia already has a few wifi phones and some of O2s own brand business phones are wifi and the amount is just getting more and more. free wifi in the pub, 10/20 minutes to wait for your mate. Surf the net! There are quite a few mobile Voip companies coming in off the back of WiFii enabled phones and that will be a hot space nextt year!! (my tip for the top)
I do believe the mobile internet is coming, if you connect via WiFi. 2/2.5 or 3G will be harder question to answer but you will be using your phone for the internet!
Gary / 26/10/2006 / 11:58
Tom, that sounds like a reasonable package. Needless to say I went for the most pricey option so I could whinge about it.
Anthony, you're absolutely right about wi-fi, but in my neck of the woods - near Glasgow - there are very, very few free wi-fi places so you have to rely on (insanely expensive) commercial providers. But hey, I'm an optimist - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that free wi-fi will spread and that commercial wi-fi will get cheaper.
chris knight / 29/10/2006 / 11:23
I had been using O2 via GPRS for occasional email send/receive and the occasional surf for over 2 years (prior to any promotions) then suddenly my monthly bill doubled. O2 then informed me that a text was sent out stating "end of active promo" even though I did NOT receive this text they now insist that all GPRS is now charged for at ridiculous rates and previously I had been on their "demo" - obviously not for 2 years so that's B***S**t. I now only use my XDA2 for calls and text's . I obviously complained and was told by members of their own staff that they were inundated with customers furious over this sneaky underhand way of conning their customers to screw more money out of them. They have lost a customer in me and I will be signing up with ANY other provider as soon as my current contract ends. Even now a Pay-As-You-Go customer can get monthly 1MB free data allowance but as a long standing Prepaid customer of over 2years still remains at 100Kb. I presume all this happened when O2 were taken over by Telefonica? Disgusting !!!
jim / 28/11/2006 / 13:31
I use the mobile internet a lot on Orange with a 3g Nokia N70. Download times, particularly to pages including graphics or images, seem to take an eternity since about 4 weeks ago. These same pages were really quick before. Is it just me or have Orange done something?
Gemma / 16/12/2006 / 22:24
Hey ther.... I have recently got an o2 geni sim card. My fones memory isnt too good but wen i put money into my fone i receive a text message saying i know have my 200 hundred text messages and 1mb of data. but it does not let my upload music, any ideas hw i can use my 1mb of data?
