Cell Carriers to Web Customers: Use Us, but Not Too Much

CELL CARRIERS TO WEB CUSTOMERS: USE US, BUT NOT TOO MUCH
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma amol.sharma@wsj.com and Dionne Searcey]
In the past two years, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and other carriers have launched services that allow consumers to log onto the Web by plugging a small card into their laptops and signing up for a high-speed Internet plan. Unlike Wi-Fi "hotspots", which allow Internet access in public places such as coffee shops and airports, the cellular services allow roving connections almost anywhere cellphone calls can be made. But the new services, while offering the convenience of mobility, come with limitations tucked into their policies that are unfamiliar to users of land-line Internet connections. Applications that consume large amounts of capacity are prohibited. In practice, that puts off-limits popular activities such as Internet calling, video streaming and using routers that let multiple users share a single Internet connection. Verizon Wireless has sent service-cancellation notices to customers it says are using excessive network capacity. Sprint and Cingular Wireless, meanwhile, have moved to charge people for the amount of data bits they wirelessly transfer to their computers each month.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114730710262849676.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
(requires subscription)