Virgin mobile - new internet on phone restrictions?

You

I have just joined Virgin mobile and see that the things you can use your 1gb 'unlimited' internet on your phone is restricted by the following in the terms and conditions:

"Unlimited Mobile Internet: Unlimited mobile internet is subject to a fair use allowance of 1GB per month. If your usage exceeds this amount then we reserve the right to charge you for the excessive element of your usage at the per MB data rate for your tariff outlined in our Tariff Table. Unlimited use is within the UK and is for your personal, non-commercial use only. It doesn’t include making internet phone or video calls, peer to peer file sharing, using your phone as a modem, or while you are abroad and any of these uses will be charged at the per MB data rate for your tariff outlined in our Tariff Table."

I don't expect to go over the 1gb allowance, but was hoping to lightly use the Skype app on my phone, internet radio, slingplayer and perhaps on the very rare occasion use it as a modem for my laptop if need be.

Does anyone have any experience with Virgin mobile on this issue? Can they tell if you are using skype rather than another application? Is it just something they look into if you go over the 1gb allowance? I was on T-mobile before and there was also a 1gb limit, but they apparently warn if you are exceeding the limit and also they don't seem to have a restriction on internet calling, or using the phone as a modem for example.

Anyone who can share their experiences on this, it would be appreciated. I did a search but was surprised to find no other thread discussing this. Is it a new clause in their contracts and so no discussion on it?

You

Nobody with any experience of Virgin'f fair use restrictions? Nobody tried using skype or their phone as a modem on Virgin?

ultrak3wl

I have some similar wording on O2. I just ignore it; they probably can tell but they don't do anything.

I did have to google for new settings though as the standard ones would not let me do anything at all except look at web pages. None of the apps on my phone would work for example the GPS satnav needs an initial network connection to start it off locating the satellites etc.

You can see what they want to do i.e. not let you clog up their network torrenting huge amounts and stuff. But given that modern phones come with all sorts of apps that need data it is a bit daft IMO.