Cell Carriers to Web Customers: Use Us, but Not Too Much

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Kurt Albershardt <kurt () nv net>
Date: May 11, 2006 11:43:43 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Cell Carriers to Web Customers: Use Us, but Not Too Much

<http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB114730710262849676- 
lMyQjAxMDE2NDE3MTMxMDE3Wj.html>
Cell Carriers to Web Customers:
Use Us, but Not Too Much
By AMOL SHARMA and DIONNE SEARCEY
Wall Street Journal

May 11, 2006; Page B1


Leading U.S. wireless operators have spent billions of dollars to  
offer consumers the ability to connect to the Internet on the go, but  
now that such services are gaining popularity, the companies are  
taking steps to make sure subscribers don't use them too much.

In the past two years, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and  
other carriers have launched services that allow consumers to log  
onto the Web by plugging a small card into their laptops and signing  
up for a high-speed Internet plan. Unlike Wi-Fi "hotspots", which  
allow Internet access in public places such as coffee shops and  
airports, the cellular services allow roving connections almost  
anywhere cellphone calls can be made.

But the new services, while offering the convenience of mobility,  
come with limitations tucked into their policies that are unfamiliar  
to users of land-line Internet connections. Applications that consume  
large amounts of capacity are prohibited. In practice, that puts off- 
limits popular activities such as Internet calling, video streaming  
and using routers that let multiple users share a single Internet  
connection.

Verizon Wireless has sent service-cancellation notices to customers  
it says are using excessive network capacity. Sprint and Cingular  
Wireless, meanwhile, have moved to charge people for the amount of  
data bits they wirelessly transfer to their computers each month.

"They market it in such a way that you would think it's Internet-on- 
the-go, then they start piling on restrictions," says Bill Roland, an  
information-technology administrator in Ocala, Fla., who uses a  
Sprint high-speed connection. "What they want you to do is just  
basically surf the Internet and nothing else."

Those policies represent a dramatic shift from the nearly unfettered  
Internet access consumers have enjoyed with wired high-speed service  
from cable and phone companies. The wireless carriers say they are  
taking this approach because cellphone networks, which transmit  
signals over radio waves, inherently have far less capacity than land- 
line networks. Internet applications that consume lots of capacity,  
such as movie downloads, are taking their toll on all Internet  
service providers, but wireless carriers face an even greater challenge.

...

Kevin Beebe, group president of operations for Alltel Corp., a  
smaller national carrier that has its own unlimited-data high-speed  
service, predicted the usage-based models would backfire because  
consumers are already too used to all-you-can-download plans.

"The pricing scheme is established," Mr. Beebe said. "It's flat-rate  
unlimited. That's what consumers are used to, and that's how it's  
going to be."

...







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