Commentary
Would You Pay $70 For 100MB Of Mobile Data?
Today Verizon Wireless introduced a new laptop dongle that can handle just about any 3G wireless network you care to throw at it. Too bad data plans start at $130 per month.Today Verizon Wireless introduced a new laptop dongle that can handle just about any 3G wireless network you care to throw at it. Too bad data plans start at $130 per month.The USB1000 laptop dongle can access nearly every brand of wireless network in just about every region of spectrum there is.
- CDMA 1xEV-DO Revision A/Rev. 0: 800/1900 MHz
- WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA: 850/1900/2100 MHz
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Now, Verizon's regular laptop dongles will run you $60 for 5GB of data per month. That's the bare minimum plan to which you can subscribe with the USB1000. If you want to take it with you overseas and actually use all those different 3G radios, the minimum plan is $130. That get's you your 5GB of data in the U.S. and 100MB of data overseas (before overages are factored in). In order words, you're paying $70 for that 100MB of roaming data.
More Mobility Insights
White Papers
- How To Regain IT Control In An Increasingly Mobile World - by BlackBerry
- Red Alert: Why Tablet Security Matters - by BlackBerry
Reports
- Mobility’s Next Challenge: 8 Steps to a Secure Environment
- Time to Move: How to Ensure 'Mobility' Translates to 'Agility'
Webcasts
- Maximize ROI with Database Consolidation onto Private Clouds
- The ABC's of Cloud Computing in the Midmarket
Whoa. That's a huge price premium for the ability to roam overseas.
The whole pricing scheme is as follows:
GlobalAccess is available either as a monthly plan or a pay-per-use plan. GlobalAccess Monthly Plans start at $129.99 monthly access, offering a 100 MB allowance in 31 select destinations ($0.005/KB after allowance) as well as access in the U.S. and Canada (5 GB allowance in the U.S. and Canada and $0.05/MB overage). Additionally, for $219.99 monthly access, customers can have a 200 MB allowance in 31 select destinations and a 5 GB allowance in the U.S. and Canada with the same rates for overage as the $129.99 monthly access plan.While the ability to access mobile data when and where you need it is key (I use it almost every day), at those rates, I highly question the value. You're likely going to be better off seeking out Wi-Fi, which, heck, you might even find for free.GlobalAccess Pay Per Use must be purchased with a 5 GB monthly allowance Mobile Broadband service plan in the U.S. for $59.99 monthly access. The Pay Per Use rate is $0.002/KB in Canada, $0.005/KB in Mexico, and $0.02/KB in more than 175 other destinations.
Related Reading
| To upload an avatar photo, first complete your Disqus profile. | View the list of supported HTML tags you can use to style comments. | Please read our commenting policy. | |
|
|
T-Shirt Giveaway: Each week we're selecting one great comment from our readers. The author of the comment will receive an InformaitonWeek Community t-shirt. So get posting! |
Subscribe to RSSResource Links
This Week's Issue
Technology Whitepapers
- Mobile BI: Actionable Intelligence for the Agile Enterprise
- Creating the Enterprise-Class Tablet Environment - by Yankee Group
- The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet's Good Bones - by BlackBerry
- Red Alert: Why Tablet Security Matters - by BlackBerry
- New Visual and Wizard-Driven Paradigms for Exploring Data and Developing Analytic Workflows
Featured Resource
This white paper focuses on the critical need to manage outbound content sent via various avenues including email, Instant Messages, text messages, tweets, and Facebook posts. Read More












