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AT&T Caps Netflix Streaming Costs At $68K/Yr
theodp writes "What would you say if you went to join a gym and were told that it could cost you anywhere from $360 a year to $68,000 a year for the exact same usage? Don't be ridiculous, right? Well, that's really not so different from what the potential costs of streaming video on an AT&T smartphone are. According to AT&T's Data Usage Calculator, 1,440 minutes worth of streaming video consumes 2.81GB, which — if you manage to keep Netflix fired up all day and night — would result in a $360 annual bill under the grandfathered $30-monthly-unlimited-data plan, or $68,376 under the new $20-monthly-300MB plan. Still, that didn't stop a spokesman from characterizing the new AT&T data plans as 'a great value' for customers."
Wireless bandwidth is still limited and expensive. AT+T tried to buy out T-Mobile to get access to their 4g bandwidth, but that was shot down by the feds, so maybe you should be blaming the gov.
You don't have any "God-given rights". There is no God.
Now since that's out of the way, let's help you down from that shiny pedestal and talk about how ridiculous, unreasonable, and borderline fraudulent it is for an ISP to bill $68,376 for residential usage.
Why is it unreasonable ? Because for $68k you could get an all-you-can-eat 100mb fibre loop, erect a damn cell tower on top of your house that will cover a 40 mile radius and still have some change left over for a hot dog and a few hundred cases of beer.
The only reason AT&T can make up any price and get away with it, is because THERE IS NO COMPETITION. Back in the 80's, the DOJ forced AT&T to split into smaller companies over antitrust concerns. Now 30 years later, they've reabsorbed half of those pieces and continue to gobble up every telco they can find. Soon it will be time for another antitrust battle.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
And can I say, and I'm sure I'll get hate for pointing this out, that the world was a better place before the iPhone? Sure the iPhone junkies just looove to fiddle with the damned thing, got 3 relatives that can't keep their hands off the time waster, but in most of the country the network simply can't take the load so now the cell network is back to being like it was when it was first rolling out, with dropped calls, lots of congestion, hell i don't care where you go anymore its like being in the damned stick again thanks to the damned iPhone!
Why is it sooooo hard for folks to understand it ain't no damned land line and you can just plop your fat ass down and have the world pumped to your damned little iPhone, okay? would it REALLY kill you to wait until you fricking got home to watch that guy get nutted on YouTube? Now I can understand if you're say a business person and have to stay on top of your email for your job, I get that. or if you have a sick or frail family member and you are checking for an email on their status, hey hope they get better. Just don't be douches, okay? its a shared resource and your constant iFiddling is sucking up all the damned bandwidth and making things suck for everybody alright? its like nobody in this damned country learns common courtesy anymore, like how i can't even go to the movies anymore thanks to iPhone fiddlers playing with their damned iToys and flashing throughout the movie. I get you like your iShiny, but the rest of us would like to tell you to shove that thing up your ass!
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.