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Saturday, October 31, 2015

Data Overage Charges Crushing Cellphone Customers

American cellphone customers are paying more data overage fees than ever before.

More than a quarter of AT&T customers and 20% of Verizon customers said they paid an overage charge in the past six months -- both records, according to a survey by Cowen & Co.

The overage charges are exacerbated by tablets -- a record 24% of tablet owners with a 4G plan paid an overage charge.

The problem isn't going away: The wireless industry expects mobile data usage to double each year for the next several years.

"I simply think our usage is outstripping our plans," said Colby Synesael, analyst at Cowen & Co.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny how Verizon declined to comment. We haven't been on the internet any more than usual and are still being told we are going over our data and being charged extra money. When we inquire about it, we are told they "cannot explain it.". They are scamming people and they know it. If there were another carrier with coverage like them, we would drop Verizon in a heartbeat.

Anonymous said...

This is where they F*** you. I have a 3G unlimited data and every dealer will look up your account and say you should upgrade because you don't use that much anyway. Bullcrap! You people should have never upgraded because you lost your unlimited plan.

Anonymous said...

I changed to Verizon from AT&T about a year ago. For many years prior to that I did not go over 10G with AT&T - ever. With Verizon, I'm lucky to keep it under 20G with absolutely NO change in my usual usage.
I called Verizon about it, and was just given some sort of technical answer that I really didn't understand.
If the government wants to get involved with this with some sort of investigation, I would welcome it. Leave Fantasy Football alone!

Anonymous said...

You were given the answer, nobody else is at fault if you couldn't understand it.

The government does NOT need to "get involved". Read your contrave carefully and act accordingly to modify your usage if necessary. It isn't rocket science.

And what the hell does ridiculous "fantasy football" have to do with anything? Line there's not more than enough football on tv as it is!

Anonymous said...

Part of the problem is that websites are loaded with data consuming graphics/ads/auto playing videos. It is difficult to get an article to read without video and ads eating up data. In addition, phones/tablets that sync with the cloud or share photos eat up data whenever connected. There is now way to contest or monitor your usage just like DPL saying you used that much electric. Whatever they say goes. Solution - go to a plan like straight talk where you pay 45/mo. for unlimited everything. Yeah, somebody is going to say that it is slower...blah, blah blah. I have 4 TV's and i'm not watching tv/movies on my phone.

Anonymous said...

If on android, go to settings then data usage. You can see what apps are eating up your data. Alot of people don't realize that some apps run in the background consuming data, or they have auto update apps on.

I love Verizon because of my grandfathered unlimited plan. I used almost 600gb of data last month lol. Don't have cable tv/internet so I use my phones 4g connection for WiFi tethering my TV for Netflix and KODI.

Anonymous said...

TING. Look it up! $3 buckets, no "overage".

I love it,

Stop being stupid!

Anonymous said...

First: Not that I didn't understand it, it just the explanation made no sense. How could I possibly go from under 10G - to over 20G the following month? My usage didn't change one bit. Basically they gave me the shuffle.
Secondly: Government get involved?? You're talking to a Libertarian. But if the government has to get involved (as it always does), they could start here. It would save citizens a ton of money.
Thirdly: Read the news. I've found that one does not have to 'dumb-down' posts and replies on this forum for the most part. Lots of smart people write on this venue. I think most readers would catch the reference from the last debate. Obviously, you didn't.

Anonymous said...

TING charges a lot for data if you have to use it, not much different in my opinion. All of them are scamming us.

Anonymous said...

The government isn't likely to get involved to save citizens any money, unless they stand to profit off the taxes levied on it.