[Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)] Oridus:
I don't know why people are so up in arms about this stuff. Most carriers are going to tiered data.... it's the way it is and nothing's changing that. It's already been in the rumor mill based on some things done/said by sprint that they too, will be going to throttled/tiered methods to controlling data. I don't know about you guys, but I know that ever since tethering became very popular, TONS of people have been trying to use their mobile data connections as primary internet sources. While it's all fine and dandy that you feel that you should use your data how you want, the networks (and when I say networks, i mean ALL of them) are not yet ready to support everybody's daily habits and still be strong enough to support the current flow of telephone calls or data calls.

When that day comes, by all means, have the carriers put out unlimited data plans and have your telephone be your primary internet connection, but until that day when the networks are strong enough to support it, I still want to be able to make phone calls if need be, especially in an emergency.

By having service, it doesn't give anybody the right to unlimited data, or if they do have it, to use it however they wish. There are still terms and conditions with each company. I know it's not something that everybody likes, but it's the way life is. I am personally pretty glad that the carriers are approaching it this way, because in my area, I see first hand how tethering on smart phones can easily cripple networks at this current time.

I'll give you all an example. I work in a town of 45,000 people, with a "metropolitan" style town surrounding with a grand total of like 80,000 people. That's not a whole lot, which means there's not a ****load of towers here to support our mobile data/calling habits. The thing is, we're in Wisconsin, and there's a lot of places in Wisconsin that you can now get 3G service but can't even get Satellite internet service more than 700kbps. 3G service in those areas average 1-2 megs of service. HSPA/HSPA+ service in some of those areas range from 3-9megs of service. With a cost of $30-80 for sat. service, it's obvious what people would rather use for their internet. If even a 3rd of those 80,000 people started using their phones as primary internet connections, our network would quickly become stressed.

It's becoming more and more obvious to me every day too, that people are wanting to use their phone as a primary internet connection because they can't get land line service or want to save money on a more frequent basis. At least once or twice a day I get a customer coming in and asking us about our mobile internet service because they want to get rid of their land lines to save money, consolidate bills, or can't get land lines at home.

With the rate of how many people are now getting their hands on phones that are capable of tethering, that could very quickly change the work load of the towers on ANY network, be it sprint, at&t, tmo, verizon etc etc.... and it's not going to be for the better.... for now.

I guess the moral of the story is, as a person who still utilizes land line services as his primary source of internet (especially for streaming content/downloading content), I would love to have the cell phone towers I utilize still be able to support my telephone calls, instead of straining to support everybody's netflix addictions. Until the networks are built to support that kind of stuff, I can't say I disapprove of the way things are going on the carriers. Nobody's entitled to anything when it comes to service, and that being said, is what gives freedom of choice when it comes to your carrier choice. Just keep in mind that Sprint is looking more and more likely to follow suit with the tiered/throttled plans... seeing as they've already done it (according to articles, don't know if it's actually implemented) on their hotspot devices. If it's true, and has happened, It's not long till they do it to their smartphones, since every single one is ALSO a hotspot device.

*rant over*

P.S. This post is not meant to directly flame, offend, or belittle anyone for their habits. Everybody is different and has their own opinions, so keep in mind that this is MY opinion and the way I feel. Please keep your responses to it civil, because if they turn childish and mean hearted, i'll make sure the mods know and maybe close it because there's no need for that.