Mobile Cell Bandwidth: How Unlimited is Unlimited?

Bandwidth is an issue for cellphone providers because, unlike cable companies, they have to share the available spectrum of the public airwaves with many other providers and services, whereas cable more or less controls the entire spectrum that is pushed down their private coaxial cable 'pipe'.

I'm very happy to see this unlimited plan from Bell, and I hope people don't abuse it. My bandwidth needs are quite frugal, but others may be tempted to stream video all day long, using a lot of bandwidth. Although they clearly allow you to surf freely, there is an 'Acceptable Use' policy that could result in the closure of your account if you were to abuse it.

I'm not sure where that 'acceptable use' limit boundary is; I asked, but they won't define it numerically. I occasionally have to upload a larger file to my server, but I can usually wait to do this when I get back to my office and use a cable modem.

One day I had to upload a big file while I was away, and I was able to use FTP on my Touch to upload a large CAD file to my server. I then downloaded it to test the speed, then my client downloaded it, so there was a significant amount of data transfer that day. There didn't seem to be any problem doing this, and the Bell Police didn't show up at my door the next day.

If you need to do this, Resco Explorer has one of the best FTP programs I've seen, and it also has a registry editor (among other things).

Here's what Bell said (verbatim) when I inquired via email about a data connection card for my laptop:

Acceptable use terms state that usage that consumes excessive network capacity in Bell's reasonable opinion, or causes our network or our ability to provide services to others to be adversely affected, is not permitted.

• Your data usage consumed excessive network capacity and is adversely affecting our network.
• Activities such as web broadcasting, file sharing services, streaming video for the purpose of surveillance, and operating an email, web, news, chat or other online service will drive data consumption to excessive levels. We consider normal use to include, for example, web surfing, email, Instant Messaging, music downloads, and corporate network access. These types of activities on a daily basis are considered examples of normal use. We consider excessive use to include, for example, web broadcasting, file sharing services, streaming video for the purpose of surveillance, and operating an email, web, news, chat or other online services.
• Unfortunately there is no number in the formula for deeming usage as 'excessive'. There are numerous factors that come into play in terms of what is taking up the majority of our network's bandwidth. Below are some examples of approximate data usage while doing the below activities using a connection card (Note: these should not be assumed as completely accurate for billing purposes).
  • - Access a web page = 100-600kb
  • - Watch a 1 minute video on youtube.com = 3+ MB
  • - Send a text or email = 20-30kb
  • - Download a song = 4-5MB

It's also interesting to see how the different providers define their 'unlimited' plan on their various websites:

Bell add-on, $7 per mo: "Mobile Browser service lets you surf the wireless Web without paying extra data transport fees. Surf the Internet and download all you want."

Rogers add-on, $7 per mo: "Unlimited access to mobile social communities like Facebook, Flickr, MySpace™ Mobile, news, sports, weather, entertainment and more!"

But wait, there's more on the Rogers site:

Important: Plan includes unlimited on-device mobile browsing using the Rogers Mobile Internet Browser only and is only available on select Rogers certified devices (PDAs such as Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, PC cards and non-Rogers certified devices are not eligible). Data usage incurred on ineligible devices or while tethering (use of device as wireless modem) or while using applications is subject to pay-per-use charges of $15/MB for the first 5MB, $10/MB for next 5MB, $5/MB for next 10MB and $0.50/MB thereafter. Data usage incurred while using certain Rogers approved applications may be included in the plan. 36-month term commitment required for Rogers Vision bonus eligibility.

What's Not Included:

• Tethering - tethering is when you use your phone as a wireless modem to connect to the Internet. The phone can be connected via cable, or infrared Bluetooth. Once connected, you can access the Internet wirelessly on your laptop using the Rogers Wireless network.
• Non-Rogers Certified applications that you download to your device via Rogers Mobile Internet Browser like Yahoo!® Go, Google Maps, Opera Mini, Mobile Firefox, Mobile Checkbook, Mobile Bartender, or Daily Comics.
• Non-Rogers Applications already embedded on your device. Use of applications supplied by the device manufacturer that are pre-loaded on the Nokia N95 such as Nokia Maps, Ngage games, Nokia Music Player and others including:
  
  1. RoadSync Email
  2. Yahoo!® GO
  3. WorldMate
  4. GPS/Location
  5. Productivity
  6. N95 Games
  7. Nokia Internet
• Data roaming charges apply, in addition to regular subscription or plan fees when accessing the mobile Internet while roaming outside the Rogers GPRS/EDGE/HSPA network. Please visit the Data Roaming Calculator for more information.

So their plan actually has a whole host of restrictions. For instance, I don't know what they mean by 'Rogers Mobile Internet Browser', but if it means you are forced to use Pocket Internet Explorer that comes with Windows Mobile 6 Pro, like I have on my Bell Touch, that's going to be a problem as there are many websites that can't be read with that browser (like government tide tables, for instance). One of the first things I did was download the Opera Mobile browser, it is far superior. I certainly don't like this complicated collection of restrictions.

Then again, any discussion about Pocket Internet Explorer vs Opera on the Rogers system is somewhat moot because Windows Mobile Devices (and Blackberries) are in the exclusion list anyway, and can't be used with the $7 unlimited plan!

NEXT: Monitoring Mobile Internet Usage