[Jake]

I was trying to help a friend pick out a new cell phone and plan. I must admit the packages, add-ons, buzz words etc are quite intimidating these days. She wanted a BB (because her friend had one) so that eliminated quite a few options. I think she ended up picking a plan that does not do what she thought (or was told). She finally got a $40 'social' plan. Unlimited TXT and evenings. Anyway, my el cheapo pre-paid VM phone can send TXT to email accounts. But her new shiny BB Bold cannot. She can FB, twit and chat on Live but emails are a no go. I guess I have a lot more to learn. Another thing I don't understand is why they offer unlimited web browsing for $10 and why would you pay extra to get email access? I am thinking of Gmail or Live mail which are accessed while browsing. I assume they block access to sites like GMail. Or they do not allow you to send email. I have not used POP or IMAP for years. I guess that is what you are paying the extra for.

 

[BGY11]

In terms of the $10 Mobile Browser options, that is typically meant for the scaled-down Web (WAP browsing). Carriers generally don't offer that plan for smartphones, since they would no longer be able to justify the $30+ data add-on packages.

 

[high_octane]

I bought my smartphone, bought my sim card, and told Rogers I wanted the data plan only

I can do anything you can do on the internet which includes VoIP, voice mail to email, SMS-email etc. I use Gmail and it works great

Paying for any SMS plan is ridiculous if you ask me. Paying for voice is worth it if you use it enough. VoIP works great for me

 

[Jake]

See now that makes sense to me. I come from a home internet user environment. I understand WWW, VOIP, email and how to send an SMS via email. Just not the complicated cellular plan structures and terms.

What type of phone do you use for that? Also, mind telling me the price? I have no idea what monthly usage would look like in that scenario?

 

[taxtwit]

See now that makes sense to me.

What high octane appears to have arranged - a "data only" plan for a smartphone - isn't supposedly officially available from any of the cell cos. Every one that I'm aware of forces you to have a voice plan along with a data plan. There are work arounds, (e.g. putting a SIM card from , for e.g. a Rocket Stick into a smart phone), but doing this arguably puts you in breach of the TOS of your plan.

1I understand WWW, VOIP, email and how to send an SMS via email. Just not the complicated cellular plan structures and terms.

Here's the dirty little secret the cell cos try to keep - it's ALL data now - voice, texting, web browsing, etc. are all digitized and transmitted the same way over the network. By maintaining the fallacy that, somehow, you are using different parts of a network when you make a phone call (especially a LD phone call), send a text or surf the net, the cell cos ensure they can continue to exploit their customers by premium pricing certain uses of the data (texting being the service subjected to the biggest price gouging) over others.

What type of phone do you use for that?

According to his profile, he has an iphone 3GS and a Blackberry Curve

 

[Jake]

Rocket Stick into a smart phone

OK. Rocket Stick SIM into an iPhone or BB. Are the SIMs actually removable?

 

[robsaw]

Here's the dirty little secret the cell cos try to keep - it's ALL data now - voice, texting, web browsing, etc. are all digitized and transmitted the same way over the network. By maintaining the fallacy that, somehow, you are using different parts of a network when you make a phone call (especially a LD phone call), send a text or surf the net, the cell cos ensure they can continue to exploit their customers by premium pricing certain uses of the data (texting being the service subjected to the biggest price gouging) over others.

Whether the pricing is reasonable or not for various services is a debatable point, but it is NOT ALL DATA now. Voice, SMS and to some extent MMS and web do all use different parts of the end-to-end network and protocols. Just because they are all digitial, doesn't make them all "data" in the usual sense. How the various services get routed (local cell-to-cell call on same network, long-distance to cell or landline, SMS, web data (IP traffic) is all different) and has different cost structures. How the telco's decide to distribute the costs and profit margins is a business and competitive decision but it isn't a secret anymore than the inner workings of IP/TCP-IP/UDP, GPRS/HSPA/UMTS, etc, etc are secret - perhaps indecipherable to the non-telecom professional, but not a secret. Could the telco's repackage services in a way that reflects actual costs more rationally? Sure, but it would mean some services would go up in price and some would go down with the net revenue having to remain equal or better (or investors will go elsewhere).

 

[high_octane]

Could the telco's repackage services in a way that reflects actual costs more rationally? Sure, but it would mean some services would go up in price and some would go down with the net revenue having to remain equal or better (or investors will go elsewhere).

This is somewhat true however the Cdn telco oligopoly makes a killing (I own most of their stocks).

My data does email and you can do email-txt with mobile email or a email-txt app for free. You can also do MSN-txt etc. I'm not paying nickels and dimes for every short sentence thank you. I also do voip over data which works for me, but it isn't the best for people who need a lot of voice or aren't tech savy

My total iPhone bill is just over $30 and I should have taken the $25 plan as I never use 1GB (there's free WiFi everywhere)

What high octane appears to have arranged - a "data only" plan for a smartphone - isn't supposedly officially available from any of the cell cos. Every one that I'm aware of forces you to have a voice plan along with a data plan. There are work arounds, (e.g. putting a SIM card from , for e.g. a Rocket Stick into a smart phone), but doing this arguably puts you in breach of the TOS of your plan.

It's quite available. Back in the day they used to say dry DSL wasn't available either (heaven forbid you want DSL without a phone line?). You just have to buy your smartphone and then ask for a data plan or you go to the next company willing to take your money.