Unlimited Data Plans make unnecessary return

By Juan Villanueva | Big Stick Editor

With the skyrocketing amount of smartphone users in the U.S. estimated to grow to 222.9 million this year*, it seems that there’s no looking back…at least for smartphones. Whether that smartphone is the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or a much less costly phone, all smartphones come with a price. A smartphone means picking insurance, a payment option and most costly, a data plan.

Recent announcements by Verizon have brought back unlimited data plans to all 4 major carriers: Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T. While all carriers include a different price ranging from $50 through $100 for a line, all options also come with ups and downs such as slower speeds for one network or a hotspot only available to three of the four networks.

Furthermore, after a certain amount of data used, all networks slow down their speeds meaning that in reality, no plan is unlimited.

The truth is that unlimited data plans are unnecessary. Being gone for some time now, users have adapted to looking at other solutions such as limiting their data usage or paying for wifi to reduce their monthly phone bill.

Sure, there are users who will not limit their data consumption and eat it all up within a few days of their billing cycle, however for the most part users tend to pick smaller plans with smaller prices.

While it can be said that the trend brought by Verizon is beneficial to corporations, the same can be said about customers.

By no means are unlimited data plans bad, they are in fact a great option for large families and big data consumers, but for the most part the benefits given simply do not mach the price being paid, unless consumers have a big budget.

*Research according to Statista