Verizon, AT&T Made $600 Million in Overage Fees Alone in 2016 (dslreports.com)

A new study claims that Verizon and AT&T made $600 million alone in 2016 just on overage fees. And while both telcos unveiled new plans that let you avoid $15 per gigabyte overages in exchange for just being throttled (Verizon's "safety mode" and AT&T's Mobile Share Advantage) the study by Nerd Wallet found that thanks to buried surcharges and other fees, users on these new plans may not save much money. DSLReports adds: That said, the report claims whether or not you save money under these new plans depends on your (or your family's) usage behavior. "If you're on an average-sized plan and your data overages exceed 8GB per year, choosing one of the new plans will save you money, according to NerdWallet and My Data Manager's analysis," says the report. "The individual Verizon Plan will save you money if you have an average plan, even if you never go over your data limit," it continues. "Otherwise, the new Verizon plans and AT&T's Mobile Share Advantage plans won't save you money. In fact, most consumers on legacy plans would be better off sticking to them and paying the occasional overage fee."

Comments

so....let's fine them $12million

[turkeydance]

they'll never notice

Of course

[somenickname]

The options are A) Spend $600 million to upgrade the infrastructure so there is enough bandwidth. B) Gain $600 million by not upgrading the infrastructure and just charge more for people who try to use it. This seems like a pretty easy decision for a business and, as long as all competitors choose option "B", there is no real risk of losing customers.

Re:Fee Subcription

[houstonbofh]

If you understood your bill, there is no way you would pay that much. Confusion is intended. That way they can say $30 a month, knowing you will still pay the $70... ("It is all taxes and fees...")

Re:How much do all the ads on webpages cost?

[fahrbot-bot]

When we were on vacation to a nice cabin on a lake that had no Internet, I tethered off my phone. Just my wife & I doing normal surfing in the evenings

You were vacation with your wife, in a cabin by a lake and you both spent the evenings surfing the web? Dude...