It seems the future of wireless will not be unlimited

Verizon stated that their unlimited data plan that new iPhone 4 users enjoyed, is only temporary. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo stated that tiered data plans, much like AT&T's, will be implemented this summer. This is bad news for users who enjoy the freedom of unlimited data. Although the tiered data plans will be cheaper, it will limit users to 2 Gigs a month. WIth more and more people getting smart-phones the unlimited data plan will soon be a thing of the past. 


AT&T users like my self who started with an unlimited plan, can grandfather their Unlimited plan when they upgrade their phone, any changes made to a plan will result in never being able to go back to unlimited. It is assumed that the Verizon Unlimited plan will work the same way. 


 Some were hoping that since Verizon was offering unlimited data that AT&T would have to go back to theirs eventually to keep up with demand. It seems that this will not be the case. The days of the unlimited plan are numbered. By summertime the only companies offering Unlimited will be Spint and T-mobile, most likely due to their low user base. 


The iPhone creates a lot of data usage because it is the most popular handset in the country. and it's users enjoy sucking data through it, or do they?


When I looked at my data plan I saw that the highest I have ever sucked down has been 741 MB, well below the highest $25 2 Gig plan that AT&T offers. I consider my self a heavy data user. I upload photos all the time, listen to NPR streams constantly, watch youtube videos all the time, and email steady throughout the day. When I really thought about it tough I realized that I use WiFi a lot when I am doing a lot of these things. 

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I bought the iPone 4 in early Feb, and since then my data has went up about 200 MBs. 


So do I really need an unlimited data plan? With the new iPhone 4's HD Video capabilities I feel like that I might. I have not really done so but I expect in the future that I will be downloading/uploading HD video more. I also have been useing video chat over 3G more, thanks to Skype and Fring, which uses up a lot of bandwidth (at least I think it does). Never the less my unlimted data plan is $30 a month and the 2 Gig plan is $25 dollars, so I don't really think it is worth it for me to change just yet. 


One thing that worries me is, with more and more technology coming through the pipe, is sooner or later 2 Gigs will not be enough, and I think this will be very soon. However on the other side, WiFi is becoming more and more ubiquitous around us allowing users to take a break from their 3G/4G/LTE data plans and use as much as their hearts desire.  


Users should be aware of is that the switch from 3G to 4G(or LTE), especially on AT&T may never be unlimited. With the lightning fast speeds of these networks, it will become a lot easier to go over the limit. I hope that this will not be the case, or that the caps will be well above 5 - 10 Gigs, but nothing is certain. 


I do encourage you all to go check you data usage and see how much bandwidth you are using and see if you should switch to the tiered package. You can do so by going to your wireless provider's website and logging in to you account much like you would play your bill.  I am very interested in seeing how much data people use every moth so if you would be so kind to report on it in the comments I would really appreciate it.