Petition: Use mobile phone data in any way you wish

technoboy_2

You may wish to 'sign' the e-Petition which states:

"Mobile phone data should be free to use, unhindered, in any way you wish."

There are more details on the web site.

You will be aware that mobile phone companies sell blocks of data and then, depending on the company, they will restrict its use in some way. For example: T-Mobile block SIP Voip traffic, some do not permit tethering a phone to a computer.

We need a lot of signatures for the Government to take action on this, so, if you agree with this Petition, please tell you friends about it. :-)

I found that links are banned and I can understand the reason for that. However, this is a genuine consumer issue where there is no commercial interest on my part. So please put a dot between each line to make up the web address.

epetitions
direct
gov
uk/petitions/6191


(N.B. If you have the 'AdBlock Plus' extension, on Firefox, then you'll need to switch it off on this site otherwise the 'Sign' button won't work)

corbyboy

If this happened what would be the inevitable result? Prices would go up and those of us who didn't need tethering would end up having to pay for it.

Techhead_2

I shan't be signing.

At the heart of the issue is that, by regulation, bandwidth is limited. The networks cannot obtain more spectrum and they are not licensed to use more efficient technologies.

For every person having a long free chat using VOIP or downloading movies, then other paying customers cannot use that bandwidth. At the moment mobile data is best used in short chunks using a handset. If you want to use it in a different way then pay for a tethering add-on or mobile broadband.

But don't turn this into one of those situations where the majority lose out to save costs for a few.

JJ_Egan

Techhead wrote: »

I shan't be signing.

At the heart of the issue is that, by regulation, bandwidth is limited. The networks cannot obtain more spectrum and they are not licensed to use more efficient technologies.

For every person having a long free chat using VOIP or downloading movies, then other paying customers cannot use that bandwidth. At the moment mobile data is best used in short chunks using a handset. If you want to use it in a different way then pay for a tethering add-on or mobile broadband.

But don't turn this into one of those situations where the majority lose out to save costs for a few.

Says it all thanks .

jje

technoboy_2

Techhead wrote: »

I shan't be signing.

At the heart of the issue is that, by regulation, bandwidth is limited. The networks cannot obtain more spectrum and they are not licensed to use more efficient technologies.

For every person having a long free chat using VOIP or downloading movies, then other paying customers cannot use that bandwidth. At the moment mobile data is best used in short chunks using a handset. If you want to use it in a different way then pay for a tethering add-on or mobile broadband.

But don't turn this into one of those situations where the majority lose out to save costs for a few.

It may surprise you to learn that I agree with many of your comments. However what I am seeking is clarity. A move away from this 'unlimited' saga etc. Why not give users an stated amount of data that is perfectly adequate for phone use, instead of really large amounts, as is sometimes the case, knowing that phone users would never get to that usage. One company advertised their phone data as 'unlimited' then, in the small print, it was only something like 220MB. Why not say, you've got 500MB download/month - use it any way you wish. If you want more you can buy another block of data.
As far as VoIP is concerned, personally, I only want it for incoming calls not outgoing. I already have more minutes than I can use for outgoing calls. However, if people want to use it for outgoing VoIP calls then why not? They are still paying the mobile company for data - it isn't free.
I could draw many analogies. For example, this is a silly one but it illustrates my point: An electricity company could offer you unlimited electricity for a month and then say you could only use it for low energy light bulbs and nothing else - what would be the point of that? Far better to say you've got 2kW of inclusive electricity to use in a month - use it however you like.
I haven't to date, 'tethered' for anything more than test purposes - and, anyway, it is allowed on my tariff. There are many accounts I have read, on the Net, where people say they do tether to their mobile phones, so a change in regulation would only legitimise what is already going on. People have been copying their CDs to other media for personal use for many years. It is only now when it is about to become legal to do so.
By stating a realistic amount of data use allowed the mobile, companies can limit their data use instead of all this sales hype of large amounts of data, which they don't want you to use, so they place restrictions on it in the small print.

When I was on a standard tariff on '3' I called customer services and asked about tethering. They said it was OK to do that but they couldn't guarantee quality.

To the best of my knowledge: O2 don't block VoIP and they are still in business. T-Mobile do block VoIP and don't allow tethering on standard tariffs.

corbyboy

technoboy wrote: »

It may surprise you to learn that I agree with many of your comments. However what I am seeking is clarity. A move away from this 'unlimited' saga etc. Why not give users an stated amount of data that is perfectly adequate for phone use, instead of really large amounts, as is sometimes the case, knowing that phone users would never get to that usage. One company advertised their phone data as 'unlimited' then, in the small print, it was only something like 220MB. Why not say, you've got 500MB download/month - use it any way you wish. If you want more you can buy another block of data.
As far as VoIP is concerned, personally, I only want it for incoming calls not outgoing. I already have more minutes than I can use for outgoing calls. However, if people want to use it for outgoing VoIP calls then why not? They are still paying the mobile company for data - it isn't free.
I could draw many analogies. For example, this is a silly one but it illustrates my point: An electricity company could offer you unlimited electricity for a month and then say you could only use it for low energy light bulbs and nothing else - what would be the point of that? Far better to say you've got 2kW of inclusive electricity to use in a month - use it however you like.
I haven't to date, 'tethered' for anything more than test purposes - and, anyway, it is allowed on my tariff. There are many accounts I have read, on the Net, where people say they do tether to their mobile phones, so a change in regulation would only legitimise what is already going on. People have been copying their CDs to other media for personal use for many years. It is only now when it is about to become legal to do so.
By stating a realistic amount of data use allowed the mobile, companies can limit their data use instead of all this sales hype of large amounts of data, which they don't want you to use, so they place restrictions on it in the small print.

When I was on a standard tariff on '3' I called customer services and asked about tethering. They said it was OK to do that but they couldn't guarantee quality.

To the best of my knowledge: O2 don't block VoIP and they are still in business. T-Mobile do block VoIP and don't allow tethering on standard tariffs.

In that case, start a petition calling for the word "unlimited" to be banned in mobile phone contracts and I will gladly sign.

banger9365

corbyboy wrote: »

In that case, start a petition calling for the word "unlimited" to be banned in mobile phone contracts and I will gladly sign.

that i will sign

pseeker_2

good points made about finite bandwith and lack of clarity.

it's borderline scam, when each company has its own definition of "unlimited".

transparency would made everyone happy, wouldnt it?


also, 'tethering' has been metioned - that's where the minority high usage customers come in.
again, tethering is just a common correlated sign of high data usage - it makes it much easier, than on a phone.

i am on giffgaff who have *unlimited internet* [= no FUP], but does not allow tethering. it makes sense: you pay for data connection on your phone, not for mobile connectivity.

it was iphone's required full data plan that arguably started a shift in the mobile market: pay & play is the new mantra.

iphones are brazenly data-hungry, and all the new smartphones are very quickly catching up, so the market will need to evolve...

internet will become near free as soon as people will understand they have to pay for it directly, or through added services, or simply by shopping online.

technoboy_2

It is interesting to note that the BBC's 'Click' programme, this week, raised some very similar points to those in the petition.